To help us get in the spirit of WorldPride (Toronto, June 20 ­ 29, 2014) Francisco-Fernando Granados redirected focus back to the roots of Pride activism. Under the York@WorldPride motto “United We Are Different” Granados invited students to re-imagine the palette of the queer flags by filling in the stripes with colour combinations of their choice. Leading workshops and participating in social festivities Granados asked the youth activists to focus on what Pride means to them and allow new individual flags to be born. The accumulation of the flags contributed by students was the basis of the true colours video and the parade banner that was seen by millions on the long route. Both as a work of abstraction and relational process the project, true colours, created an open-ended visual experience that aimed to illustrate the incalculable multiplicity of queerness and the wealth of individuals that make up the diverse LGBTQ+ community.

Commissioned by the Art Gallery of York University (AGYU) for WorldPride 2014 (Toronto) in collaboration with the Trans, Bi, Lesbian and Gay Allies at York (TBLGAY), York Federation of Students (YFS), Centre for Human Rights (CHR), and SexGen York committee for York@WorldPride, “United We Are Different”, campaign.

To see the true colours project at the Streetfair and WorldPride Parade visit http://yorkatpride.tumblr.com