As part of the exhibition Swallowing Mountains by Karen Tam
Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.
Cultural Reappropriation and Identity Construction Among Immigrants and Adoptees from China
Free activity | Space limited, no reservation.
An Laurence, Tong Zhou Lafrance and Corinne Beaumier, three Chinese adoptee artists, invite you to participate in a discussion on cultural reappropriation and identity construction within the adoptee community and the Chinese diaspora.
The year 2023 marks the hundredth anniversary of the passage of the Chinese Immigration Act in Canada, later known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, which separated many families for decades. Intercountry adoption is also a form of migration. What do immigrants and transnational adoptees share in their search for identity? The discussion workshop will be a place to share knowledge, views and experiences regarding access to Chinese cultural and historical baggage in Montreal. The artists extend a warm invitation to members of the Chinese diaspora to join in an open discussion by sharing their experiences.
The activity will be moderated in French. Audience discussion will be in French and English.
Information
Free activity, in French, presented on Sunday, April 2, 2023, at 1:30 p.m.
The activity will be moderated in French. Audience discussion will be in French and English.
Space limited, no reservation.
Registration on site the evening of the event: go to the Museum Admission desk.
We strongly recommend that you arrive 15 minutes before the start of the event.
Duration: 90 minutes
Location: J. Armand Bombardier Theatre at the Museum
Artists Bios
An Laurence
An Laurence 安媛 is a multimedia artist living in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montreal whose work addresses memory, transnational identity and human relationships. An Laurence explored her identity as an adoptee through the performance “Approchez, je vous raconterai ce que j’ai oublié” (2021) and the installation “Confidences en trois temps” (2018).
Her work has been presented by Accès Asie, MUP, Chinatown Biennial, Flourish Fest, Gham&Dafe, Athens Digital Arts and Tranås at the Fringe, among others. She was artist-in-residence at Oboro and Vidéographe.
An Laurence is also a musician whose first solo album, “Almost Touching,” was released in May 2022 by the label people | places | records. Her musical performances have been presented by the Quartier des spectacles, Phénoména, the Music Gallery, No Hay Banda, Oh! My Ears, Lucky Penny Opera/re:Naissance Opera and Access Codes.
Tong Zhou Lafrance
童宙 Tong Zhou Lafrance is a multidisciplinary artist and collaborator adopted from China who works in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montreal in Canada. In 2021, they obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts with distinction from Concordia University.
They are interested in the issues of multiple identities, the materiality of memories, the migratory process and the transmission of Chinese transcultural heritage. They work with photo weaving as well as performance and installation. Their work has been shown in Toronto, Hamilton, Montreal and Quebec City, namely during the Chinatown Biennial at Whippersnapper Gallery (2021), at Centre[3] (2022), at FOFA Gallery (2022), at Rad Hourani Foundation Gallery (2021), at Eastern Bloc (2018), and many others.
Tong Zhou was part of Artch’s fifth edition and CRÉER DES PONTS residency’s second edition, both happening in Montreal. In 2022, they co-founded the Soft Gong Collective, the first Francophone organization by and for Chinese adoptees. In 2023, they will resume their graduate studies at China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, China.
Corinne Beaumier
Through photography and video, Corinne Beaumier reflects on lived or staged experiences. Reworked archive images, improbable scenes, troubled emotions or strange humour, her practice borrows from the tragicomic tone that characterizes her vision of the world.
Corinne Beaumier completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University in Montreal in 2015. She held her first solo exhibition, Le fond et la forme, in 2014 and has since been involved in group exhibitions, curatorial projects and filmmaking. She was a finalist in the first Aimia | AGO Photography Prize Scholarship Program, and her projects have been supported by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. She also studied psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal and is involved in the local adoptee community.
Exhibition by Karen Tam
FROM FEBRUARY 17 TO AUGUST 13, 2023
SWALLOWING MOUNTAINS
While deeply involved in archival and collections research, Karen Tam came to wonder about the stories that are collected and told, and about the narratives that have been built around the Chinese diaspora in Canada.
Learn more
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