The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg will present Nobody’s Listening, an immersive exhibition examining the Ezidi Genocide of 2014 and its unresolved consequences, from April 2027 until January 2028.
Featured photograph by Marcio Pimenta (@marpimenta)
Scheduled for the museum’s Level 1 Gallery, the exhibition will combine survivor testimony, visual art, photography and virtual reality to document the crimes committed by the Islamic State and the experiences of Ezidis who continue to live with displacement, separation and loss.
On 3 August 2014, ISIS launched its assault on Sinjar, the ancestral homeland of the Ezidi people in Iraq. Thousands were killed or abducted. Men and boys were subjected to mass executions, younger boys were forcibly recruited and indoctrinated, and women and girls were abducted and enslaved. Homes, Sharfadin sanctuaries and other parts of Ezidi cultural heritage were also destroyed.
Although ISIS subsequently lost territorial control, the consequences of the genocide remain present. Ezidis are still searching for missing relatives, survivors continue to face the effects of captivity and violence, and many displaced families have been unable to return permanently to Sinjar because of insecurity, damaged infrastructure and insufficient public services.
Nobody’s Listening will address both the genocide itself and this continuing aftermath. By presenting personal accounts alongside artistic and technological forms of documentation, the exhibition intends to give visitors a closer understanding of what survivors endured and why demands for justice, recovery and a secure return have not been resolved.
The Winnipeg presentation is expected to include the complete The Forgotten Voices of Sinjar art exhibition alongside its immersive virtual-reality experience. The virtual component is intended to place visitors within reconstructed environments and survivor narratives, while the artwork and photography provide additional forms through which experiences of persecution, survival and displacement can be communicated.
The exhibition will also give Ezidi history a prominent place within a major Canadian institution. Jamileh Naso of Dara Advisory, who is serving as the museum’s Ezidi adviser for the project, has emphasised the importance of recognising the genocide as living memory rather than treating it as a distant historical episode. Its presentation in Canada is particularly significant for younger Ezidis who are growing up in the country and seeking to understand how their history forms part of Canada’s wider public memory.
The project was created and organised by Upstream International and curated by Dijon Dajee and Ryan D’Souza. Thikran Mato serves as director, Easy Tiger Creative produced the exhibition, and Surround Vision developed its virtual-reality component. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is presenting it in partnership with Upstream International.
The exhibition’s organisers describe its purpose as extending beyond remembrance. Through survivor testimony and public engagement, the project seeks to encourage action concerning justice, recovery and the restoration of Ezidi life following the genocide.
Exhibition Information
Exhibition: Nobody’s Listening
Location: Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Level 1 Gallery, 85 Israel Asper Way, Winnipeg
Dates: April 2027–January 2028
Presented by: Canadian Museum for Human Rights in partnership with Upstream International
Features: Survivor testimony, visual art, photography and virtual reality
Related exhibition: The Forgotten Voices of Sinjar
Admission and visiting hours: To be announced
