Far and Near: the Distance(s) between Us, curated by Master of Visual Studies alumnus Henry Heng Lu, brings together several generations of Canadian artists of Chinese descent, offering perspectives onto the Chinese Canadian community’s historical and cultural evolutions and developments. The works included in the exhibition investigate overlooked narratives by exploring notions of distancing and being distanced in relation to race, identity, sexuality and their intertwining with Chinese Canadian history.

The idea of distance unfolds in multiple layers: in the geographic sense, as in going through a distance from point A to point B, like the construction process of the Canadian Pacific Railway; in the cultural sense, through the mainstream’s imposition of stereotypes, as in how the Chinese Canadian community has been culturally differentiated and essentialized; and in the context of the Chinese community itself, as in who is “Us”, and the distances between different groups of ethnic Chinese.

This exhibition is produced as part of the requirements for the MVS degree in Curatorial Studies at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Toronto.

The exhibition will run from September 6 to October 29, 2017.

Read more on the Art Museum website.

Opening Reception
Wednesday, September 6, 2017 Justina M. Barnicke Gallery

Re:Visiting Desires
Friday, September 15, 7-9 pm Video screening followed by Q & A Featuring works by Jennifer Chan, Richard Fung, Brenda Joy Lem, Ho Tam, Lisa Wong, Wayne Yung Music Room, Hart House

Artist Talk: Chih-Chien Wang
Tuesday, September 26, 1-2pm Room AA304, Arts & Administration Building, UTSC

Chinese Diaspora in Canada: Chinese Canadian Art as an Apparatus of Revisiting History, a talk by Henry Heng Lu
Saturday, October 14, 2-4pm Hinton Learning Theatre, Toronto Reference Library

Public lecture: Ken Lum
Thursday, October 19, 6:30-8:00pm Room 200, Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design

Discovering and preserving the history: Chinese Canadian Archives at Toronto Public Library, a talk by Annie Fan
Saturday, October 21, 1-2pm Justina M. Barnicke Gallery

Curator’s Tour with Henry Heng Lu
Saturday, October 21, 2-3pm Justina M. Barnicke Gallery

Artist Talk: Karen Tam
Thursday, October 26, 2-4pm Moderated by Professor Lily Cho Justina M. Barnicke Gallery

Off-site Projects
Gu Xiong’s photographic intervention “I am Who I Am” and a selection from Karen Tam’s Chinese restaurant menu collection John M. Kelly Library, St. Michael’s College, 113 St Joseph St, 1st floor

Gu Xiong’s work will also be on view at the E.J. Pratt Library, Victoria College, 71 Queen’s Park Crescent

Title Image: Morris Lum, Wong Kung Har Wun Association, 40″ X 50″, Archival Pigment Print, 2016.