Art for Human Rights Exhibition — Toronto City Hall

A powerful call for justice through art.

The Art for Human Rights exhibition, organized by the Canadian Turkish Friendship Community and Advocates of Silenced Turkey (AST), is more than an art display — it is a call to action.

Through the universal language of art, this exhibition sheds light on the ongoing human rights crisis in Turkey.

Each story, each piece of art displayed here, represents real lives — people who have endured persecution, imprisonment, and exile.

Behind these works stand the voices of more than 500,000 individuals imprisoned and over 2 million people directly affected by government-led purges.

Among them are countless children, families torn apart, and professionals stripped of their rights to work and travel.

Many victims face employment bans, labeled as security risks or even “terrorists.”

They cannot feed their families, cannot leave the country legally, and often have no choice but to escape through dangerous routes like the Maritza River between Turkey and Greece.

Tragically, many lives — including those of children — have been lost in pursuit of freedom.

This exhibition calls this systematic targeting a “social genocide.”

Just as history remembers the suffering of the Jewish people in Germany, the atrocities in Rwanda, and other dark chapters of humanity, today’s injustices in Turkey demand awareness and solidarity.

Even after finding refuge in safer countries, survivors continue to struggle with trauma, PTSD, and social exclusion.

They change schools, jobs, even the way they dress — carrying invisible scars that art helps them express.

Through these powerful visual narratives, Art for Human Rights invites us to remember, to feel, and to take a stand — because silence, too, is a choice.