NSCAD University honouring École Polytechnique massacre victims Sunday

By Chris Stoodley

Members of NSCAD University's community will project a light installation in honour and remembrance of the women who died in the École Polytechnique massacre.

On Dec. 6, 1989, 14 women died in an anti-feminist attack in Montreal. A man entered École Polytechnique — an engineering school affiliated with Université de Montréal — and opened fire in the school.

On top of the 14 women who died, 10 women and four men were injured; the shooter also died by suicide.

At 5:10 p.m., NSCAD University's installation will project the names of the women who died in the mass shooting:

Geneviève Bergeron
Hélène Colgan
Nathalie Croteau
Barbara Daigneault
Anne-Marie Edward
Maud Haviernick
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz

Maryse Laganière
Maryse Leclair
Anne-Marie Lemay
Sonia Pelletier
Michèle Richard
Annie St-Arneault
Annie Turcotte

The installation will be shown at the Fountain Campus in downtown Halifax on the building's north-facing wall.

051220 - NSCAD North WallThe light installation will be projected onto the university’s north-facing wall (Chris Stoodley/HalifaxToday.ca)

“NSCAD recognizes that gender and partner violence have increased in the wake of COVID-19,” says NSCAD Interim President Sarah McKinnon in a news release. “By standing together, remembering the École Polytechnique massacre and committing to concrete action to prevent gendered violence, we honour the struggles of its victims.”

As part of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women, member's of the university's community are also invited to observe a moment of silence at 4:10 p.m. — the time when the shooting began — in honour of the women who died.

“Wearing a white ribbon is a way of commemorating this day by raising awareness of the prevalence of male violence against women,” says a news release, “with the ribbon symbolizing the idea of men giving up their arms and making a commitment to stop gendered violence.”

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