Jin-me Yoon’s exhibit entitled Here Elsewhere Other Hauntings (an experiment in pandemic times) is currently on display at Carleton University’s Art Gallery (CUAG).
The artwork is a retrospective window into Yoon’s experiences as a Korean Canadian exploring gender, colonization and what it means to be diasporic.
The exhibit consists of photos and videos and is on display from June 9 to August 22. According to Fiona Wright, CUAG student and public programs co-ordinator, the exhibit was initially intended to be in-person, but is now available virtually through CUAG’s website.
Yoon said her artwork is meant to elicit emotions that are commonly suppressed in everyday life. She credited art’s ability to spark vital conversations about topics such as colonialism, tourism, war and militarism as the catalyst for opening audiences up to these emotions.
The exhibit questions the core ideologies of these subjects and creates an alternative approach to the official narrative of the past and present, according to Yoon. She said her artwork reminds viewers that the present and future cannot be separated from the past: it all coexists.
While creating the exhibit, Yoon said it was complicated to balance her understanding of her family’s history with colonialism and what this personally meant to her.
“Coming from a country like Korea, with a living history of my parents having gone through Japanese colonialism, I was sensitized to the fact that I also came to a colonial country and [there is] a reckoning with that history,” Yoon said.
Yoon said she includes her family in this exhibit because they represent part of her identity as a diasporic artist.
“Through all those complexities in the way we move from one place to another, my family is history, my family is from [Korea] and my family is [in Canada] and that’s my reality, as a diasporic subject,” Yoon said.
During the process of choosing to feature Yoon’s artwork in CUAG, Wright said Yoon’s exhibit stood out because it continually revisits important relationships, has a poetic theme and provides an opportunity for emotional conversations.
“Art can provide a jumping-off point. It can provide something tangible to reflect on and there is a lot of deep and emotional conversation which is helpful in creating empathy in terms of experiences and connections,” Wright said.
Anti-racism workshop
Yoon’s artwork also touches on the topics of xenophobia and racism towards Asian people. Alongside the exhibit, CUAG is hosting a workshop entitled Cultivating Growth and Solidarity: an anti-Asian racism workshop on July 8. The workshop is exclusively open to Asian community members.
Based on a digital zine entitled Cultivating Growth and Solidarity: An Anti-Racism Zine for Asian Youth (and Adults too!), the workshop was created in response to the growing xenophobia and anti-Asian racism that has worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qwisun Yoon-Potkins, a Korean English graduate of the University of Victoria’s sociology program, and Macayla Yan, a Cantonese counselling psychology graduate student at the University of Victoria, are co-authors of the zine and the leaders of this workshop.
“This zine was created in response to the particular time and place we are in, with anti-Asian racism coming to light during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Yoon-Potkins said in a written response. “We wanted to create a resource that mitigates and heals the harm perpetuated both by and towards Asian folks.”
The workshop was created to provide mental health resources to Asian individuals and delve into racism through a framework of intersectionality that breaks down colonialism.
According to CUAG’s website, the zine workshop will provide individuals with a safe and non-judgemental space to explore their ancestry, experiences as a person of colour and anti-racist solidarity.
“The workshop is an opportunity for Asian community members to gather in a shared [virtual] space and cultivate individual and collective healing growth,” Yoon-Potkins said.
When asked, Yan explained why the work they are doing is necessary now.
“This work continues to be necessary because we live in a settler colonial society that continues to harm, exploit and marginalize our communities. Fortunately, we are two people among many who are working for justice and liberation,” Yan said in a written response.
According to Yoon-Potkins, the need for anti-racism work will not be disappearing anytime soon.
“The work we are doing is necessary, has been necessary and will continue to be necessary if we ever want to live in a world free from harm,” Yoon-Potkins said. “Anti-racism work is connected to so much more. What we are doing would not be possible without all of the work that has been done before us.”
Yoon-Potkins said the mental health of Asian individuals is strongly affected by how the media frames anti-Asian sentiments as something more novel rather than historically systemic.
“We know that blatant acts of anti-Asian racism have skyrocketed since the onset of COVID-19 and become more mediacized, but this has always been the reality for Asian folks,” Yoon-Potkins said.
She added that not all acts of racism are always recognized by society, despite their harmful effects.
“I think our society needs an overall better understanding that the things we’ve normalized are, in fact, oppressive and a realization that these seemingly harmful things, such as microaggressions, can have a lasting impact on a person,” she said.
CUAG has more workshops featuring Asian artists planned for this year, according to Wright. She said these workshops will feature artists Amy Wong and Don Kwan and include a symposium entitled Say No to Anti-Asian Racism.
To view the exhibit and learn more about the workshop, visit CUAG’s website.
A previous version of this article misrepresented a quote from Macayla Yan by stating the anti-racism workshop aimed to fix societal issues. In fact, the workshop is not meant to fix issues, but rather aims to create a shared space. The Charlatan regrets the error.
Featured image by Saarah Rasheed.
