Contemporary Chinese Art – Chun Hua Catherine Dong

Artist Residency -Charlevoix, Quebec

I am very pleased to announce that I will have an artist residency in Charlevoix, Quebec, to document the contemporary Charlevoix landscape in 2021-2022, presented by Musée de Charlevoix and Rencontres internationales de la photographie en Gaspésie, in collaboration with Loto-Québec.

Musée de Charlevoix and Rencontres, in collaboration with Loto-Québec, announce the selection of Chun Hua Catherine Dong to carry out a photography mission that will document the contemporary Charlevoix landscape in 2021-2022.

A Montreal visual artist of Chinese origin, Chun Hua Catherine Dong uses performance, photography and video in her work. In 2015 she began the travel-based performance I Have Been There, which she aims to continue in the framework of her mission in Charlevoix. The artist has carried out this performance in 13 countries, 33 cities and more than 200 different places.

“During the residency, I will use Chinese embroidered fabric to make a duvet,” she explains. “As a way of engaging with Charlevoix’s unique landscapes and cultures, I will lie on the ground of forests, river banks, historical sites and landmarks, covered by the duvet.” Her performance will be documented so as to produce a series of photos and 360º videos to be presented at Musée de Charlevoix, in 2022, and at Rencontres internationales de la photographie en Gaspésie, in 2023.

Chun Hua Catherine Dong’s project is inspired by a tradition in her hometown in China. “When an elder dies, her daughters make duvets with silk fabrics to cover their deceased parent’s body. For me, as a person living alone in Canada without family and children, the question of who will bury me after I die sometimes bothers me. In response, I make my own duvets and perform this ritual publicly and repeatedly wherever I go to simultaneously celebrate death and my own existence.”

In a time where travel has been difficult, the artist has felt it right to return to nature, here in Québec, a place she calls home. “Through inserting my body into Québec’s landscape, I hope this work opens conversations about immigration, home and belonging, questioning how we continue to see ourselves in each other, and how we work together to present a contemporary Québec that is grounded in the inclusiveness and equality that we all deserve, regardless of race and culture.” More information on the artist: chunhuacatherinedong.com

This project is the fourth contribution to a long-term photographic mission that will cover the entirety of the Québec landscape between now and 2024-2025. Through this mission, Rencontres is also seeking to establish a national photo archive collection devoted to the Québec landscape.

Screening -THEY at Chinese Women Artists Video Art Festival

Screening: THEY
Festival: Chinese Women Artists Video Art Festival in Mexico City
Date: Feb 2- 7, 2021

THEY
The film available upon request
2017
29’20

Ellas es una instalación cinematográfica de cuatro canales que lleva al público al mundo de cuatro mujeres para examinar de cerca su vida cotidiana ritualizada, sus obsesiones, sus luchas y sus determinaciones de ser quienes son. Las cuatro mujeres son diferentes, pero se reflejan entre sí: se enfrentan a transiciones difíciles, relaciones ambivalentes y deseos que las perturban mientras celebran sus propias existencias de una manera subversiva pero casi meditativa. “Ellas” en esta película son tanto singulares como plurales, refiriéndose a las mujeres como individuos únicos que son plurales, pero cuyos cuerpos han sido marcados como el otro.

Mi enfoque del tema en esta película está subrayando los cuerpos de las mujeres como un sitio para la transgresión y resistencia social y política. Mediante el uso de gestos simbólicos, ritmos poéticos y repeticiones, esta película revela una reflexión compleja sobre cómo las identidades están mediadas no solo a través de las pantallas sino cómo nos llegan a través del tiempo. Esta instalación se basa en tradiciones cinematográficas y de performance, esforzándose por crear nuevas narrativas visuales que permitan al público experimentar la dimensión temporal del cuerpo directamente, al mismo tiempo, proporcionando una clave para comprender el poder corporal en la era digital.

For more info about the work, please visit here
For more about the Festival, please visit here

Group Exhibition – MOMENTA Biennale de I’image

Exhibition: The Life of Thing
Presented by MOMENTA Biennale de I’image, Montreal
Curated by María Wills Londoño and Audrey Genois
Date: Sept 4-Oct13, 2019
Opening: September 4th at 5:00pm
Address: Galerie de L’ UQAM
1400 Rue Berri, Montréal, QC

Under the theme The Life of Things, MOMENTA 2019 explores the nature—or even the personality—taken on by objects conveyed through images. Through the eyes of 39 artists from 20 countries, the biennale examines the economic, social, and cultural contexts in which material production is prevalent. With respect to the issues of consumption that characterize the contemporary world, these thingified objects are given dizzying visibility even as, ironically, they are rendered invisible by boundless accumulation. For its 2019 edition, the biennale brings out universes that are constructed between individuals and their environment, highlighting transferences that take place between subject and object.

MOMENTA transcends the polarization between the symbolic and the functional in the economies of the object. To this end, the biennale’s four thematic components offer different ways of imagining the relationships between human beings and objects. Encompassing a variety of ideas tied to questions of consumption, these components intersect in various ways to shed light on the works shown. They allow us to envisage the complexity of the connotations and resonances of things in contemporary societies.

For more info about Mother, please visit here
For more info about MOMENTA Biennale de I’image, please visit here

Group Exhibition – Walking the Bridge

I am having a group exhibition at Museo de la Cancillería, Mexico City, from July 11 to August 23, created by Elizabeth Ross. I also do a performance on July 13 at 4:00pm.

For press at China Hoy, please visit here
chick here for the press at Paso Libre

Solo Exhibition – THEY

Solo Exhibition: THEY
Gallery: Le Lieu, centre en art actuel, Quebec City
Date: May 31 – June 23, 2019
Opening: May 31 at 7:00pm
Address: 345 rue du Pont, Quebec, Quebec G1K 6M4

They est une installation vidéo à quatre chaînes qui emmène le public dans les mondes de quatre femmes pour examiner de près leur vie quotidienne ritualisée, leurs obsessions, leurs tiraillements et leur détermination à être ce qu’elles sont. Les quatre femmes sont différentes, mais se ressemblent: elles vivent des transitions difficiles, des relations ambivalentes et des désirs qui les troublent, tout en célébrant leur propre existence de manière subversive, et même presque méditative. Le titre de l’installation est dérivé du pronom neutre anglais they. Dans cette vidéo, they est à la fois singulier et pluriel, désignant les femmes comme des individus uniques qui sont pluriels, mais dont les corps ont été marqués autrement.

Dans ce vidéo à quatre perspectives, l’artiste présente le corps de la femme comme un endroit de transgression et de resistance socio-politique. En employant des gestes symboliques, un rythme poétique et des répétitions, Dong révèle une réflexion complexe sur la médiation des identités à travers les écrans les performances et sur la manière dont elles nous parviennent avec le temps. Cette installation vidéo multicanal s’inspire des traditions du cinéma et de la performance pour tenter de créer de nouveaux récits visuels qui permettent au public de faire directement l’expérience de la dimension temporelle du corps, tout en fournissant une clé pour comprendre le pouvoir corporel à l’ère numérique d’aujourd’hui.

Group Exhibition – rames narratives / Storylines

Exhibition: Trames narratives / Storylines
Gallery: Centre d’exposition L’Imagier
Date: May 24 – July 28, 2019
Opening: May 24 at 6:00pm
address: 9, Front St., Gatineau (Aylmer), Quebec, Canada

In addition to present my photographic work, ” Skin Deep,” I will present a performance, ” Come Home” at the opening, start at 5:00pm

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The Centre d’exposition L’Imagier is pleased to present Trames narratives / Storylines, the very first exhibition presented in its new building.

The opening will be held on Friday, May 24th, 6 p.m., at Centre d’exposition L’Imagier, 9, Front St., Gatineau (Aylmer).

The inaugural exhibition of the new L’Imagier seeks to showcase a multiplicity of practices and perspectives by bringing together six curators: Katarzyna (Kasia) Basta, Marianne Breton, Paul Brunet, Marie-Hélène Leblanc, Stefan St-Laurent and Julie Tremble. Artists Chun Hua Catherine Dong, David Elliott, Kablusiak, Kim Kielhofner, Carl Trahan, Jennifer Lefort and Mélanie Myers present discourses, experiences and stories weaving different narrative layers. By promoting the sharing of artistic visions, knowledge and interests, the exhibition fosters dialogue.

Guided by the notion of narration, the curators present artists whose works testify to their genesis, the experience of the artist or the observation of society. The works of various artistic mediums – photography, drawing, collage, sculpture and performance – are highlighted both in their differences and in their common filiations. While some appear closer to reality, others appeal more freely to fiction. Blurring the boundaries between the real and the imaginary, the exhibition promotes a contact with a plurality of truths.

For more info

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Trames narratives / Storylines
Le Centre d’exposition L’Imagier est heureux de vous présenter Trames narratives / Storylines, la toute première exposition présentée dans son nouvel espace.

Le vernissage se déroulera le vendredi 24 mai 2019, à 18 h, au Centre d’exposition L’Imagier situé au 9, rue Front, Gatineau (secteur Aylmer).

L’exposition inaugurale du nouveau Centre d’exposition L’Imagier cherche à mettre en valeur une multiplicité de pratiques et de points de vue en réunissant six commissaires : Katarzyna (Kasia) Basta, Marianne Breton, Paul Brunet, Marie-Hélène Leblanc, Stefan St-Laurent et Julie Tremble. Ceux-ci présentent les artistes Chun Hua Catherine Dong, David Elliott, Kablusiak, Kim Kielhofner, Carl Trahan, Jennifer Lefort et Mélanie Myers, qui offrent aux visiteurs des discours, des expériences, des récits tissant différentes couches narratives. En favorisant le partage de visions artistiques, de connaissances et d’intérêts, l’exposition se veut un lieu de dialogue.

Guidés par la notion de narration, les commissaires ont sélectionné des artistes dont les œuvres témoignent de leur genèse, de l’expérience de l’artiste ou de l’observation de la société. Les œuvres de diverses disciplines artistiques – la photographie, le dessin, le collage, la sculpture et la performance – sont mises en lumière tant dans leurs différences que leurs filiations communes. Si certaines apparaissent plus proches de la réalité, d’autres font appel plus librement à la fiction. Ces croisements entre le réel et l’imaginaire, au sein de l’exposition, favorisent un contact avec une vérité plurielle. For more info

Performance – I Still Look For You in Crowds

I am very pleased to announce that I will have a performance at Neutral Ground Artist Run Centre in Regina on March 30, 2019, curated by Blair Fornwald, presented by Dunlop Art Gallery. There will be conversation/ talk after the performance.

Performance time: 7:00pm, March 30, 2018
Artist talk time: 8:00pm, March 30, 2018
Neutral Ground Artist Run Centre, 1835 Scarth Street, Regina, CA S4P 2G9

In conjunction with the exhibition, Are You My Mother?, Dunlop Art Gallery, in partnership with Neutral Ground Artist Run Centre is pleased to present a new performance artwork by Montreal-based artist Chun Hua Catherine Dong, exploring the passage of time and feelings of grief following the loss of her mother in 2016. Featuring Regina-based dance artist, Johanna Bundon.

Chun Hua Catherine Dong is a Chinese-born, Montreal-based visual artist working with performance, photography, and video. She received a MFA from Concordia University and a BFA from Emily Carr University Art & Design.

for more infö, please visit
https://www.reginalibrary.ca/dunlop-art-gallery/browse-exhibitions/1397539
https://www.neutralground.sk.ca

NCY Feminist Film Week at Anthology Film Archives

I am very please to announce that my video ” Everywhere and All at Once” will be screened at NCY Feminist Film Week at Anthology Film Archives in New York City on March 10, 2019

Program: Object Subject, curated by Maya Suess
Time: 6:00pm
Address: Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Avenue (at 2nd St.)
New York, NY 10003 USA

For this program, a visual and auditory exploration of the tactile, the viewers will be invited as they enter the cinema to select an object to hold for the duration of the screening. We are material creatures who encounter the tangible world through our physical senses, and we get to know our environment and ourselves through tactile experiences. Objects help us contextualize ourselves in the world, they bring us together, they help us express thoughts and ideas, they define us. This program presents works by visual artists, performance artists, and filmmakers exploring ideas of family, community, self, and sexuality through the objects around them.

For more info about NCY Feminist Film Week, please check here
For more info about Anthology Film Archives, please check here

Group Exhibition – The Breadth of Distance

I am very glad to announce that I have a group exhibition. The Breadth of Distance, at L Space, Humber Galleries, Toronto

Exhibition: February 4, 2019 – April 5, 2019
Opening: Wednesday, February 6th, 5-8pm
Curated by: Alize Zorlutuna
Address: Humber College, Lakeshore Campus L Building, 19 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive, Toronto, ON M8V 4B

we carry continents,
cross oceans,
traverse vast distances while still.

the scent of comfort,
is also longing.
what goes unsaid,
a kind of knowing.

how do elsewheres live in the body?

in dreams?
half-remembered tongues.
in what cannot be named.

Bringing together photography, video, installation, and sculpture, these artworks shift across geographies, cultural perspectives, and time. Considering grief, longing, care and resilience, they articulate how relationships to place, representation, and belief shape who we are and how we move in the present.

This exhibition asks us to reckon with how we came to be here on this land. Whether we are Indigenous, multi-generational settlers, or recent immigrants, our current moment demands we think through how we might build mutual understanding and empathy while recognizing our many differences.

For more info, please visit Humber Galleries here

Group Exhibition – Once Per Annum

I am very pleasured to announce that I have a group exhibition. Once Per Annum, at The Istanbul Cumhuriyet Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey, presented by KADEM Women and Democracy Association

Exhibition:December 29,2018 – January 30, 2019,
Opening : Dec29th, 2018
Location : Cumhuriyet sanata galerisi , also called Taksim Republic Art Gallery, Istanbul
15:00 – 15: 30 Press conference
15:30 – 16:00 Cocktail
16:00 – 16:30 Opening ceremony
18:00 – 20:30 Artist conversations (in The Marmara Hotel, Taksim)

For more info, please visit here and here