As we continue to navigate the current pandemic, we have witnessed both the value and adaptability of communities. While development, population changes, housing affordability, gentrification and, indeed, viruses that impact social and cultural lifestyles, challenge concepts of community, they can also demonstrate the strength, perseverance and character that define said communities. Whose Chinatown?, curated by Karen Tam, looks at various depictions of Chinatowns and Chinese communities through the lens of historical and contemporary artworks, archives and artifacts.
Whose Chinatown? brings together an art history of Chinatown neighbourhoods and their residents through paintings, drawings, photographs, videos, sculptures, architectural blueprints and artifacts. Examining these historical and contemporary works will allow us to look back at the history of Chinatowns, of anti-Asian sentiments and also allow us to question how we can hold space for the community as well as how we can imagine the future of Chinatowns. Complementing the exhibition is a robust variety of public programs to be hosted digitally.
"In thinking about the stories, histories and spaces of Chinatowns and their importance to their communities as centres, what are the ways that artists, art collectives and community groups are changing public discourse, planning and perceptions around Chinatowns?", asks curator, Karen Tam as she reflects how the exhibited works share a spirit of activism and advocacy by creating dialogue around cultural community and place.
Karen Tam is a researcher who focuses on the various forms of construction and imaginations of cultures and communities. She was a finalist for the Prix Louis-Comtois in 2017 from the Contemporary Art Galleries Association and the Ville de Montréal, a finalist for the Prix en art actuel from the Musée National des beaux-arts de Québec in 2016, and long-listed for the Sobey Art Award in 2016 and 2010. Tam lives and works in Montréal and holds a MFA in Sculpture from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a PhD in Cultural Studies from Goldsmiths. She is a contributor to Alison Hulme’s The Changing Landscape of China’s Consumerism (2014) and to John Jung’s Sweet and Sour: Life in Chinese Family Restaurants (2010). Her journal article, Acheter un petit Chinois: The Jesuit Museum of Chinese Art In Québec, will be published in a forthcoming issue of Kunsstexte.
Event Details
Exhibition dates and times: January 29 - May 1, 2021
Admission: Always free and open to all!
Gallery hours: Saturdays, 12-5pm