Having just completed an exhibition of contemporary Canadian landscape art in China, iSchool alum Zhou Yan (MMSt ’11) was a natural choice to mount a project in Beijing celebrating the normalizing of diplomatic relations between Canada and China. Because they had worked together to mount an exhibition of Chinese women artists in Canada, Yan invited her former Professor to collaborate on the exhibition.
Ten Canadian artists’ work are now on display at the National Art Museum of China as part of an Beijing exhibition co-curated by Professor Matthew Brower, Director of the Museum Studies Program at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, along with his former student.
The Canadian Focus Exhibition at the Beijing International Art Biennial (which occurs every two years) marks the 45th anniversary of the normalizing of diplomatic relations between Canada and China. The exhibition, “Mediated Memory,” uses Marshall McLuhan’s ideas to engage with the theme of “Memory and Dream.”
“This was a fascinating project for us, beginning many months ago, when we successfully navigated channels of intercultural differences. We needed to select works that were culturally Canadian, but at the same time, had to pick works that were accessible to the Chinese audience.”
Despite some obstacles such as shipping internationally, both Professor Brower and his former student say “It is exciting to be able to bring some of Canada’s foremost artists to the Chinese public. We are grateful to the Biennale for providing us with this opportunity to showcase Canadian talent abroad,” in a press release.
Connections between the countries are strong since the normalization of relations between the two nations on October 13, 1970, Chinese immigrants and Canadians of Chinese descent have become a significant part of Toronto’s diverse tapestry. And with 10,000 international students at U of T, more than 7,000 are from China.
The exhibition features Canadian artists Sara Angelucci, Douglas Coupland, Wally Dion, Pierre Dorion, Angela Grossman, Yam Lau, Gord Peteran, Ed Pien, Max Streicher, and Carol Wainio.
Professor Brower summarizes the theme of the exhibition by describing the art of Mr. Copeland, one of the featured Canadian artists. “The name of the piece is Magic Hour. Stylistically, it’s similar to Lichtenstein’s pop art but it’s part of a series of paintings that combine that style with contemporary data patterns like QR codes and baggage tags. In this case, he presents the digital information in the form of a sunrise.” Professor Brower explains. “It is instrumental data transforming into aesthetic memory.”
While Dr. Brower describes his current project with modesty, he speaks highly about the opportunity to work with former students and graduates. “It’s always great to work with alumni from the program, whether it’s researching or engaging in professional practise as service based learning.”
Preceding their current curation project, Professor Bower and his former student, as well as third independent curator, Fu Xiaodong, co-curated “Through the Body: Lens-based works by Contemporary Chinese Women Artists,” organized by Scotiabank’s CONTACT Festival and The University of Toronto Art Centre (UTAC). The exhibit featured ten contemporary Chinese female artists’ works in Canada.
The 6th Beijing International Art Biennale is a major contemporary art festival hosting approximately 600 artists from around the world. The Canadian Focus Exhibition is one of six special focus exhibitions hosted by the Biennale this year. Further funding and support was given by The Canada Council for the Arts.
Photos from the opening:
