Dayna Danger
[2] As well, Danger participates in feminist and Indigenous activist work as acting Programming and Campaigns Coordinator at the Centre for Gender Advocacy in Montreal.
[6][7] Through their work, they aim to empower and create space for those who are largely excluded from media or who are misrepresented, with a focus on Indigenous peoples and those who identify as 2Spirit, queer, trans, and non-binary.
[5] Danger believes that BDSM and kink have unique meaning for Indigenous peoples, and can facilitate conversations about consent, trauma, and healing while building a sense of trust and community.
[5][10] Danger acts as a board member for the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective/Collectif des commissaires autochthones (ACC/CCA), a non-profit organization founded by Indigenous curators.
[6][11] Through their work with the ACC, Danger promotes and furthers the goal of the organization to support and connect Indigenous curators, artists, writers, academics, and professionals.
[12] Another major theme is exploring and deconstructing relationships of subjectivity and power, often to create space "for people traditionally excluded from galleries and mainstream media to represent them in new ways".
[12] Danger's work contributes to women, trans, and non-binary people's representation in the art world, and aims to return the colonial gaze.
[14] Exhibited at the Gallery of Student Art at the University of Manitoba in 2010, Bad Girls is a photo series inspired by "scandalous and intriguing women throughout history.
"[15] Danger takes the Renaissance genre of historical paintings and sexualizes them, reworking them in a modern light to empower, and give control to, the female subject.
[15] In an interview with The Manitoban, Danger explained "It made me realize, heck yes, I would love to be a bad girl if it meant I could rise above what society expected of me and what I needed to accomplish.
For us these factors include the first-hand experience and/or the intergenerational effects of residential schooling, sexual abuse, and the unrealistic portrayal of our bodies by the media.
They explain how their responsibility as an artist requires a constant awareness of the consent and safety of their subjects—which is why Danger often slips into their shoes: "[My subjects] essentially let me use their image to represent my work.
"[5] Dayna Danger's life pursuits frequently cite or work towards the liberation and representation of Indigenous-Queer, Two-Spirited, and gender variant peoples.
This work hinges on converting existing spaces, such as BDSM, porn, and fashion, into areas which empower Two-Spirited, Queer, and gender variant peoples.
[24] For Danger, BDSM opens a dialogue which could be characterized as limited within more "traditional" spaces which might otherwise marginalize gender variant, Indigenous-Queer, Two-Spirited, and Trans peoples.
[25] This work negotiates the line of power and objectification, while relying on an inherent consent model in BDSM which promotes the positive sexual agency of engaging parties.
Danger further explains that losing that sense of place "where we migrate away from our land, our territories and away from out teachings" puts non-binary people at risk.
[19] "Not the Camera, But the Filing Cabinet: Performative Body Archives in Contemporary Art" was exhibited from September 13 to November 24, 2018, at Gallery 1C03 at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba.
[13] The multi-artist exhibit featured the diverse artwork media of ten national and international artists who were women, queer and/or non-binary: Susan Aydan Abbott, Sarah Ciurysek, Dayna Danger, Christina Hajjar, Kablusiak, Ayqa Khan, Luna, Matea Radio, Sophie Sabet and Leesa Streifler [4].
[31] The multi-artist exhibit featured ten Indigenous artists: David Garneau, Caroline Monnet, Dayna Danger, Sonny Assu, Skawennati, Natalie Ball, Leonard Getinthecar, Nep Sidhu, Kent Monkman and Jessie Ray Short.
[32] The multi-artist exhibit featured five Two-Spirit artists: Kent Monkman, Dayna Danger, Fallon Simard, Preston Buffalo and Jeffrey McNeil-Seymour.
[33] The multi-artist exhibit featured Dayna Danger, Hannah Claus, Maria Ezcurra, Sandeel johal, Kama La Mackerel and Nadia Myre.
The curators Lori Beavis, Maria Ezcurra and Natasha Reid explored addressing sexual violence in relation to the body through the exhibit's displayed works.
"Sovereign Acts II" was exhibited from July 21 to April 1, 2017, Concordia University's Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery in Montreal, Quebec.
[34] The multi-artist exhibit featured Rebecca Belmore, Lori Blondeau, Dayna Danger, Shelley Niro, Adrian Stimson, Jeff Thomas, Robert Houle and James Luna.
[35] The multi-artist exhibit featured Eleni Bagaki, Maya Ben David and Tobias Williams, Maisie Cousins, Dayna Danger, Erika DeFreitas, Danièle Dennie, Lotte Meret Effinger, Doreen Garner, Talia Shipman, Molly Soda, Ambera Wellmann and Zhu Tian.
[2] In addition, the exhibit explored what representation can look like when not produced within settler colonial frameworks that reject values of consent and reciprocity.
Danger began these endeavours through offering social services and healing programming as a frontline residential support worker at the Native Women's Shelter of Montréal.
A significant amount of Danger's visibility and existing work addresses the importance of Indigenous peoples claiming space to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their communities.
[5] Programs that Danger has facilitated while at the Centre of Gender Advocacy include solidarity healing groups and event collaborations with Concordia's First Voices Week and Winter Pride in Montreal.
