Petrina Ng, in collaboration with Anne Campbell, Christie Carrière, Rachel Wallace, and Lan Florence Yee
September 17 - October 13, 2022
Opening Reception & Mahjong Workshop Saturday, September 24, 1-3PM
Artist Talk Thursday, October 13, 7PM. More info here.
The exhibition’s title, Even the most beautiful morning cannot bring back the evening, is a (perhaps poor) translation of a Chinese proverb, and utilized here to refer to cultural loss by means of colonialism and migration. The proverb offers a contrary perspective to its western and more optimistic counterpart, “it’s always darkest before dawn”.
Anne Campbell, Petrina Ng, and Rachel Wallace share their latest collaboration: an editioned set of hand-cast, ceramic mahjong tiles. Featuring calligraphy by Alice Liang, the tiles have been reimagined from a contemporary and diasporic perspective. Community members are invited to take part in game play.
Christie Carrière and Lan Florence Yee’s publication, "Mahjong, here, there, now, always" offers socio-political insight into the game’s East/Southeast Asian origins and community-rooted legacies. Re-published by small press Durable Good, this booklet also doubles as an instruction manual for learning to play.
Petrina Ng is an artist and organizer based in Tkaronto/Toronto. Her practice proposes alternative responses to redress subtle legacies of colonialism. Petrina’s collaborative work as Gendai (with curator Marsya Maharani) responds to BIPOC labour conditions of arts work. Their research and practice of collective values experiments with alternative economies and radical allyship to work towards a more equitable arts sector. She is also runs Durable Good (with designer Rachel Wallace), a small publishing studio that supports artists, writers, and thinkers who work within feminist, equitable, and engaged frameworks; and newly launched Waard Ward collective that utilizes floristry as a means to embody decolonial research and newcomer community building.
Anne Campbell is an artist who works in ceramics and sculpture.
Christie Carrière is a visual artist.
Rachel Wallace is a graphic designer and visual collaborator.
Lan Florence Yee (they/he) is a visual artist and co-founder of Chinatown Biennial.
Editorial input for Mahjong Here, There, Now, Always by Hannia Cheng.
Special thanks to Alexx Boisjoli.
The artist gratefully acknowledge the support of the Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council.
