ABOUT THE ARTIST

Karen Tam is a Montreal-based multi-disciplinary artist and curator who has become a powerful voice in the contemporary art scene across Canada. Be it her sculptures, paintings, drawings or embroideries, the common thread throughout her work is the search for the connection between culture and identity. Much of her career has been spent exploring the commodification of Chinese-Canadian cultural spaces, which resulted in her curating “Whose Chinatown” with the Griffin Art Projects in Vancouver in early 2021. This exhibit used both living and historical artists to tell the art history of Chinatowns and their communities across Canada. The show, in part, spoke to the wounds inflicted by anti-Asian racism, from the wave of aggression and violence we have seen this last year, going all the way back to the 1800s. When asked what drew her to the subject matter, Karen summed it up like this: “A deep engagement with archival and collections research has led me to question whose histories get to be collected and told, and to interrogate the narratives that have been constructed around the Chinese diaspora. How do we remember, represent, support, and simultaneously deny the erasures of our stories, spaces and community?” It appears her questioning struck a chord with many: the response to the show was so enthusiastic that it will be traveling across Canada.

The Place des Souhaits was commissioned by the City of Montreal. How fitting that her biggest commission to date took place right in the Chinatown of her hometown?