Compelling, enigmatic and ultimately real, Shani Mootoo’s photographs of her childhood home in Trinidad chronicle a life. This is one in a series of images the artist calls the ‘History Revisited Series’ that provide richly detailed, uncurated records of neglected places and objects. It is a home that remained in her family, even as it was unlived in, and falling apart. The patio is surrounded by lush tropical greenery, an open umbrella shades three dirty plastic white chairs; glass from the table that once served as a place of gathering is scattered on the patio stones. What do you see?

“It is there in that house that I see my roots and I wanted to record the marks on it before time takes it away forever.” Shani Mootoo

An accomplished writer, filmmaker, painter and photographer Shani Mootoo earned a BFA from the University of Western Ontario, and an MA in English from the University of Guelph. She has been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Her most recent novel, Polar Vortex, was shortlisted for the 2020 Giller Prize.

Mootoo's paintings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions locally and internationally, most notably at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Queen’s Museum in NYC, the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, and at the Venice Biennale. Her videos include “English Lesson”, “Wild Woman in The Woods” and “Her Sweetness Lingers,” and have been screened in film and video festivals and art exhibitions locally and internationally, including at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Shani Mootoo was born in Ireland and raised in Trinidad. She now lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.