Orange Shirt Day T-Shirt Design 2022
Each year, the Centre works with an Indigenous artist to create a unique Orange Shirt Day t-shirt design. This year’s shirts feature the work of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) artist Darryl Blyth.
Filmed, directed and produced by Indigenous multimedia artist Graham Constant.
Artist’s Statement
Reconnecting with my roots for artist expression has been a recent journey for me and I use that framework for the theme for the 2022 Orange Shirt Day designs. The issues that have impacted Indigenous people, and the cultural genocide that has occurred, have caused me and I believe others to really look at where we have come from and what our culture means to us. I wanted to explore a theme using a design with concentric circles, with each ring or circle representing a different theme, such as understanding, acknowledgment, connection, learning, etc.
With that intention, each ring in the 2022 design has a different animal representation and meaning. The hand around the perimeter creates a sun motif to represent growth. Moving inward, the next ring is made up of wolves to represent the community and coming together. The next ring are bears to represent strength and wisdom, and then finally in the centre is a loon to represent peace and tranquility.
Artist’s Bio
Darryl Blyth is an artist, graphic designer, and member of the Musqueam Nation. Darryl works as a graphic artist for a sign company and does freelance artwork and graphic design. He specialises in contemporary digital design for print and media and is also emerging as a traditional Salish artist. Darryl is passionate about combining modern graphic design with traditional minimalist Salish art.
Shirts with the new design will be available for sale at the UBC Bookstore and the MOA shop by September 1, 2022. Profits from the sales will be donated to the Orange Shirt Society and the Indian Residential School Survivor Society. A listing of orange t-shirts with Indigenous designs can also be found here.
“When you wear an orange shirt it’s like a little bit of justice for us Survivors in our lifetime, and recognition of a system we can never allow again.”
—Phyllis Webstad