Community arts project honours lives lost to toxic drugs

More than 18,000 people have died from toxic drugs since BC declared the overdose crisis a public health emergency on April 14, 2016. A decade on, nearly five people a day are dying. The scale of loss is hard to comprehend. We know these people. They are our family, friends, partners, neighbours, and coworkers. Their lives are valued. They were, and continue to be, loved.

Our multimedia arts installation seeks to show the magnitude of this crisis, one name at a time.

The Naming a Crisis audio and Constellations video installations debuted in April 2026 at the Naming a Crisis community art show at the Victoria Arts Council space in the Bay Centre on lək̓ʷəŋən Traditional Territory. Thank you to everyone who came together to make the show happen. We truly could not have done it without you.

This powerful memorial is an act of collective grief that challenges the silence and stigma that often surrounds drug-related deaths. It is also a call to action. Ten years later, how do we stop people from dying in this public health emergency? ​

Participate in Naming a Crisis

Thank you to everyone who has sent names and photos of your loved ones for our Naming a Crisis installation. Seeing their photos, reading their names and stories, and hearing their names spoken aloud has been very moving for us, and for the artists involved in putting together the piece.

We are hoping to continue collecting names and photos to add to our installation and bring it to new communities. More details are coming soon.

Learn more about our team

Artist bios and contact information can be found on the About page.