On Saturday, May 9th, 2015, Festival Accès Asie, in collaboration with the maison de la culture Côte‐des‐Neiges, will be inaugurating two exhibitions: “Checkpoints” and “The State of Origin: REEL & IMAGINED”. Occupying two galleries on two floors, the exhibitions feature eight contemporary visual and performance artists originating from China, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Germany, India and Iran.
In the first gallery, the two‐person exhibition, “Checkpoints”, brings
together a selection of new photography, video, and installation works by Montreal‐based artists Hua Jin (b. China) and Pavitra Wickramasinghe (b. Sri Lanka). Curated by Kakim Goh, the show explores the theme of “checkpoint” here defined as a “place along a road, or border, where travelers are stopped for inspection before being allowed to continue.”
In the second gallery, “The State of Origin: REEL & IMAGINED” is an
international group exhibition by the Canadian‐based artist collective THE DIGITAL SILK ROUTE presenting video, installation and photography works by Khadija Baker (Syria/Canada), Ting‐Ting Cheng (Taiwan/UK), Verena Kyselka (Germany), Bindu Mehra (India/Canada), Veer Munshi (India) and Raha Rastifard (Iran/Sweden). Curated by Kakim Goh and Bindu Mehra, the show explores the transformational impact of migration, movement and globalization on individuals and societies through art.
Born in Singapore and living in Montreal, Kakim Goh is the Curator of the Visual Arts Program and Vice‐President of the Board of Directors at Festival Accès Asie. He holds a BFA in Painting and Drawing from Concordia University. As a visual artist who creates interdisciplinary painting, performance and video installations, Kakim has been exhibiting in Mexico and Quebec since 1993, most notably at MAI, the OBORO New Media Laboratory and la Maison de la Culture du Plateau‐Mont‐Royal.
Video and installation artist Bindu Mehra’s work diversifies into drawing, painting, sculpture, video and installation that often combines evocative sound tracks and found footage. Born in India and living in Canada, Bindu earned her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University (USA) and MS University, Baroda (India). She has exhibited internationally at the Scope Art Fair New York (USA), Alwan for the Arts New York (USA), Blackburn Museum (UK), Chiang Mai Museum (Thailand) and the Devi Art Foundation (India).
Born in China and living in Montreal, Hua Jin is a photography, installation and video artist whose works are consistent with the use of landscape imagery and the color of black and white to represent different subjects in relation to Oriental philosophies. Having received a BFA from Emily Carr (ECUAD), Hua is currently completing an MFA in Studio Arts at Concordia University. Hua has exhibited in Canada, USA, China, and the Netherlands. Her works are included in the public collection of Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai.
Born in Sri Lanka and living in Montreal, Pavitra Wickramasinghe is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores new ways of conceptualizing the moving image and conventions of seeing. A graduate of Concordia University and the Alberta College of Art and Design, she is the recipient of the UNESCO‐Aschberg Bursaries for Artists and The Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, France, South Korea, Finland, Germany, Spain and Denmark.
Born in Syria and living in Montreal, Khadija Baker is
a multidisciplinary artist who creates installations that combine video, textile and sound. Her work explores social and political themes related to
persecution, displacement and memory. She holds an MFA from the University of Damascus (Syria) as well as a BFA and MFA from Concordia University. Khadija’s work has been exhibited in Montreal, Toronto, New York, London,
Berlin, Marseille, New Delhi, Beirut, Damascus and the 2012 Sydney Biennale.
Born in Taïwan and living in London, Ting‐Ting Cheng is a photography, video and sound installation artist.
She is interested in the fluctuant identities and the sensitive relationship between foreignness and locality, examining reactions to different cultures.
Cheng graduated from MA Photographic Studies at University of Westminster, London. Her works have been exhibited internationally at the Taipei Fine Art
Museum, Addaya Art Centre (Mallorca), London Art Fair, Foto Madrid, Tokyo
Frontline, ISE Cultural Foundation (New York).
Born in Erfurt and living in Berlin, Verena Kyselka is a
visual, video and installation artist who has developed her work in the underground scene of East Germany in the late 80s. With the female artist
group Exterra XX, she founded the Kunsthaus Erfurt in 1990 where she curated and worked on intercultural projects that were developed during intercultural exchanges in Eastern Europe, Taiwan, Bangladesh, India and Australia.
Born in Kashmir and living in India, Veer Munshi is as video, painting,
photography and installation artist that has acquired his BA from Kashmir University and BFA from M.S.U Baroda. He has held solo shows in India, Scotland, Australia and Geneva. He has participated in over 20 group‐shows abroad and in India including the 11th Asian Art Biennale in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is the recipient of the Junior Fellowship from the Government
of India and the Research Grant Fellowship from Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.
Born in Iran and living in Stockholm, Raha Rastifard proposes an autobiographical work ranges from photography to video and to installation. In her highly lyrical art, she creates digital pictures full of (trans) cultural, poetic and historical art references. Raha holds a Masters degree from the Frei University Berlin. A founder of the artists’ group Artists without Borders in Iran, Raha has exhibited her work internationally in Tehran, Berlin, Bonn, London, New York City, Tokyo, New Delhi, Kabul, Stockholm, Mexico City and Shanghai.
Kakim Goh ‐ Curator
Bindu Mehra ‐ Curator and artist
Hua Jin ‐ Artist
Pavitra Wickramasinghe ‐ Artist
Khadija Baker ‐ Artist
Ting‐Ting Cheng ‐ Artist
Verena Kyselka ‐ Artist
Veer Munshi ‐ Artist
Raha Rastifard ‐ Artist