'Material Memories: Don Kwan' Exhibition Reception

Craft Ontario is a non-profit organization founded in 1976 as a merger between the Canadian Guild of Crafts (1931) and the Ontario Craft Foundation (1966). Based in Toronto since its inception, Craft Ontario currently offers programs and services to 1200 members across Ontario, 1000 of which are professional craft artists, businesses, galleries, guilds and organizations.Our services and programs provide support for craft artists at all career levels, while raising awareness of, providing access to, and growing appreciation for their work. Craft Ontario’s primary areas of focus include: member services and professional development programming, including workshops, conferences and the annual awards program; exhibitions that contextualize and present contemporary craft practice to the public; the Craft Ontario Shop, a retail presentation space that provides opportunities for members to sell their work; and the nationally-distributed Studio magazine, which fosters critical dialogue in the Canadian craft and design community. Craft Ontario further contributes to craft on both a national and international level through partnering with other craft-related organizations to advocate for craft practice and produce special projects that include touring exhibitions, residencies and symposia.

Craft Ontario

Join Craft Ontario to celebrate the opening of our newest exhibition!

Craft Ontario Shop & Gallery

‘Material Memories’ is a solo exhibition featuring mixed media works by Don Kwan, delving into the Chinese diasporic experience amidst the heightened challenges of loss, isolation, and anti-Asian racism during the Covid-19 pandemic.Each piece in the exhibition takes the form of a wearable item, such as a waiter's vest, a cheongsam dress, a face mask, or a suit jacket. These garments invoke the identity of the wearer, emphasizing their absence and prompting questions about the individual's whereabouts. Whose dress is this and where did they wear it? Where are they now? Whose face was beneath this mask and did it protect them? Are they safe?The clothes and masks are stitched from a scrapbook of materials, incorporating family photos, Chinese takeout menus, lucky red envelopes, and joss paper (spirit money). And, like a scrapbook, each material evokes complex feelings of nostalgia –– the pleasure and warmth of a fond memory tinged with the sadness at its loss. Takeout menus and red envelopes recall gatherings with family and friends, while joss money, traditionally used for ancestral veneration, is used to pay tribute to those lost during the Covid-19 pandemic.As a third-generation Chinese Canadian, ‘Material Memories’ is a personal and introspective project for Don; a way to make sense and feel connection in a time when – individually and collectively – we were unmoored. Through the symbolic act of stitching, his work generously reconnects communities and families across space and time, and celebrates their strength and resilience. Don Kwan is an Ottawa-based artist working in sculpture, installation, photography and performance. A third-generation Chinese Canadian, Don turns to his own experiences and challenges of being a gay, East Asian artist as a way to ground in broader conversations about identity, representations, and intergenerational memory-making in the diaspora. His work has been featured in exhibitions at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Gardens, Vancouver; Ottawa Art Gallery; Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto; and Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff. In 2022, his year-long exhibit at the Ottawa Art Gallery titled ‘Landscape, Loss and Legacy’ was shortlisted for an award by Galeries Ontario / Ontario Galleries. During the same year, he was awarded the Peter Honeywell Mid-Career Artist Award by the Ottawa Arts Council.<a href="https://www.donkwanart.com" title="https://www.donkwanart.com" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">www.donkwanart.com</a>

Don Kwan acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and Government of Ontario.

‘Material Memories: Don Kwan’ is part of the <a href="https://designto.org/2024-festival-schedule/" title="https://designto.org/2024-festival-schedule/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">2024 DesignTO Festival</a>.

Our {communityGuidelinesLink} describe the sort of content we prohibit on Eventbrite. If you suspect an event may be in violation, you can report it to us so we can investigate.

To report other categories of prohibited or illegal content, submit {link}

'Material Memories: Don Kwan' Exhibition Reception

More events from Craft Ontario

Discover more events from Craft Ontario, from Arts to other experiences you might love.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all events in Toronto and filter by date, category, and more to find the perfect fit.

'Material Memories: Don Kwan' Exhibition Reception

More events from Craft Ontario

Discover more events from Craft Ontario, from Arts to other experiences you might love.

More Arts events

Browse more Arts events with different dates, prices, and formats to find your next great experience.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all events in Toronto and filter by date, category, and more to find the perfect fit.