Canada’s extensive Black history has often been subject to erasure – not necessarily in the public record, but in the public consciousness. Uncovering these important stories not only helps Black communities feel directly tethered to their ancestors, it reinforces the deeply rooted sense of belonging and self-determination needed to confront ongoing injustices. Trinidadian-Canadian artist Anique Jordan’s Mas’ at 94 Chestnut proves that digging up forgotten legacies is the work of both archeologists and artists.

In her multidisciplinary practice, Anique Jordan utilizes photography, sculpture and performance to create what she calls “impossible images”. Often drawing on historical data, she challenges dominant narratives by reinterpreting archives and offering a new vision of the future. It’s no wonder that after discovering the powerful story of Toronto’s British Methodist Episcopal Church (BME), Jordan was moved to pay homage to its legacy. 

Originally erected in 1845, at what would later become 94 Chestnut Street, the BME Church was a spiritual, political and communal hub for Toronto’s Black community during that era.  A stronghold for the abolitionist movement, the church provided a safe haven for the large influx of freedom-seekers arriving in Toronto via the Underground Railroad. After replacing their original wooden building with a large brick temple, the BME congregation thrived at 94 Chestnut for over a century, until relocating in the early 1950s. The building was later demolished to make way for a parking lot, which remained until 2015 when a construction project for a new provincial courthouse commenced on the site. What started as a routine excavation turned into an extensive archeological dig when the original foundations of the BME temple were discovered, along with hundreds of thousands of related artifacts.