The Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) hosted a performance by Hong Kong Exile and fu-GEN Theatre, along with Theatre Conspiracy. The performance art piece, titled “No Foreigners,” explores Chinese shopping malls as “racialized spaces of cultural creation and clash,” according to the CUAG website.
The performance is the second one to use the gallery’s “Open Space Lab” format, which allows artists to use the gallery space as part of their work. The open nature of the lab allows artists to interact with others and discuss ideas related to their art with the public and other artists.
“We came up with the idea of using the space of the gallery between exhibitions as a research development space,” said Anna Khimasia, who is curating the performance.
“It seemed like a great opportunity to open up the space and say ‘how can we use this space alternatively and how can we build communities around the space in different ways?’”
Khimasia added she believes that “it’s really important to give [artists] the space to play and generate ideas and try out ideas.”
The performance art piece itself featured a live-camera feed with miniature figures to depict a “narrative around a hyper-real Chinese mall,” according to Hong Kong Exile member Milton Lim.
“Thematically, we are looking at the Chinese mall as a site of cultural space making that inherently have a lot of tensions around commerce and public space,” Lim said.
Lim emphasized the desire to explore these Chinese spaces as they relate to “Chinese diaspora,” and examining the spaces these malls occupy.
“Generally, I think that we are looking at how Chinese malls differ from space to space,” he added.
Khimasia said she chose this production to be featured in the gallery because of the “performative” aspect of the piece, as well as its underlying political messages.
“I think it’s really important to think about the way in which race is constructed, the way in which bodies are moving globally, the idea of exile, the idea of refugees is really important to this current moment,” she said.
Khimasia also said Hong Kong Exile’s exploration of Chinese and Asian culture interested her as well, as it allowed the gallery to feature “different perspectives.”
“‘Asian-ness’ and ‘Chinese-ness’ is something that’s very prevalent in the west and places like Toronto, but I think here there’s less of a focus,” she said. “I thought it would be interesting to have diverse perspectives.”
Lim said the Open Space Lab was useful in providing the company with time and resources to spend inside the gallery to help develop the performance.
“It’s been very hands-off,” he said. “We’ve been given lots of agency, and our residency has really been just giving us time and space.”
Lim is also looking forward to the chance to sit down and discuss the work’s themes with others, and to hear feedback on the performance’s form and content.
“There are a lot of interactions happening in malls, and I’m curious to see the kind of perception in Ottawa, the kind of perception with Canadians, with other artists as we move forward,” he said.
Photo credit: Meagan Casalino
