Remembering Harbin Gate with aiya哎呀

All workshop materials will be available for pickup at the gallery on Saturdays for a limited time. Email info@griffinartprojects.ca for information on availability.

Edmonton’s 中華門 Harbin Gate was dismantled for LRT construction on November 4, 2017. In response, aiya哎呀, an intergenerational group of Edmonton-based artists and Chinatown community members, invited contributors to share their memories of Edmonton’s Harbin Gate by expressing their thoughts in the form of an art calligraphy banner. Participants were invited to mourn, be sad, be angry and share their stories, memories and wishes. This project resulted in a community art installation that served as a visual mark of this important community icon.

Griffin Art Projects is thrilled to host a live virtual Zoom presentation and workshop with aiya哎呀. Participants will learn firsthand about the Harbin Gate Remembrance Project, followed by a hands-on virtual workshop in which participants will be invited to create a calligraphy and crochet banner of their own. This event is scheduled in anticipation of Whose Chinatown? Examining Chinatown Gazes in Art, Archives, and Collections, guest curated by Karen Tam and scheduled for exhibition at Griffin Art Projects from January 29 - May 1, 2021. This exhibition brings together an art history of Chinatowns and their communities by historical and contemporary Canadian artists such Emily Carr, Unity Bainbridge, Paul Caron, Yucho Chow, Fred Herzog, Paul Wong, Mary Sui Yee Wong, Morris Lum, and aiya哎呀, among others. Complementing the artworks are artefacts and materials from family and institutional archives, as well as a robust public programming. This exhibition aims to question how narratives are constructed around the idea of Chinatown and the colonial notions that underwrite some of these relations.