2016-03-31 faa visual arts at mdc frontenac_may 2016_press kit_en

©PhotoStudioBanepali/CollectionMargretNielsen

VISUAL ARTS EXHIBITION

April 27 to June 4, 2016

FOUND

Remnants of a Separation Aanchal Malhotra (India / New Delhi)

Nepalese Photo Studio

Margret Nielsen (Germany / Montreal)

Presented by Festival Accès Asie

Maison de la culture Frontenac / Studio 1 2550 Ontario East Street, Montréal, Québec, H2K 1W7

Press Kit

Kakim Goh Curator Festival Accès Asie 1200, rue de Bleury # 111, Montréal, Québec, H3B 3J3, Canada www.accesasie.com (514) 270-6913 | [email protected]

Found | April 27 to June 4, 2016 | Press Kit | Version KG 2016/03/30 2

FOUND

Openingcocktail:Saturday,May7,2016from2:00to4:00pm

MeetingwiththeArtists:Sunday,May8,2016from2:00to4:00pm

Exhibition:April27toJune4,2016

MaisondelacultureFrontenac/Studio12550OntarioEastStreet,Montreal,Quebec,H2K1W7

Frontenacmetrostation(behindthemetro)

FreeadmissionFestivalAccèsAsie,incollaborationwiththemaisondelacultureFrontenac,ispleasedtopresentFound, a two-person exhibition featuring photography, video and installation works by artistsAanchalMalhotra (India/NewDelhi)andMargretNielsen (Germany/Montreal).Theexhibitionwill run fromApril27th to June 4th, 2016. Thepublic is invited toattend theopeningcocktailonSaturday,May 7th, 2016, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm, aswell as themeeting and discussionwith theartistsonSunday,May8th,2016,from2:00to4:00pm.CuratedbyKakimGoh,withtheassistanceofCatherineLaMendolaandElodieLavergne,Foundisaresearch-based show that explores the artistic use of found objects and themes of discovery,recognitionandrestoration.InAanchalMalhotra’sseriesRemnantsofaSeparation,theartistplumbsthedepthsofIndianandPakistani refugees’ experiences touncoverhiddenmemoriesof a turbulentandpainful chapter inworldhistory-the1947PartitionoftheIndianSubcontinent.Byusingextensiveresearchandface-to-faceinterviews,theartistcombinesphotographyandtextstocreatearichnarrativedealingwithfamily, displacement and belonging. This ongoing project debuted in 2015 at the FOFA Gallery inMontrealandhastouredinternationally,withstopsatTheInstituteforAppliedandCreativeThinkingatStaffordshireUniversity inEnglandandThePartitionMuseuminNewDelhi.Thismarks the firstpresentationofthisseriesinFrench.InMargretNielsen’sNepalese Photo Studio, theartistpresentsa selection fromher collectionofthousandsofpreservednegativesacquiredfromafamily-runphotostudioinasmalltowninNepal.Theimages,whichdatefromthe40stothe90s,weretakenbytwoNepalesephotographers,fatherand son, who specialized in portraiture, events, street photography and snippets of daily life.Aculminationofmanyyearsofphotopreservationandresearch,thispresentationraisesquestionsaboutthedepictionofNepaleseculture,theroleofthephotographerinsociety,aswellasthepublicandprivatedomainsofmemoryandexperience.Forinformation,contact:Curator|KakimGoh|(514)270-6913|commissaire.artsvisuels@accesasie.comExhibitionvisitinghoursUntilMay22,2016:TuesdaytoThursdayfrom12pmto7pm/FridaytoSundayfrom12pmto5pmStartingMay24,2016:TuesdaytoThursdayfrom12pmto7pm/FridayandSaturdayfrom12pmto5pm



FESTIVAL ACCÈS ASIE Visual Arts Team

KakimGoh-Curator&VicePresidentoftheBoardofDirectors

Kakim Goh (www.kakimgoh.com) was born in Singapore and lives inMontreal.He is theVicePresidentof theBoardofDirectorsatFestivalAccès Asie, in addition to serving as the Curator of the Visual ArtsProgram, responsible fororganizingvisualartsexhibitions,professionaldevelopmentprogramsandculturalmediationactivities.HeholdsaBFAinPaintingandDrawingfromConcordiaUniversity.Asavisualartistwhocreates interdisciplinary painting, performance and video installations,Kakim has been exhibiting in Mexico and Quebec since 1993, mostnotablyatMAI,theOBORONewMediaLaboratoryandlaMaisondelaCultureduPlateau-Mont-Royal.

CatherineLaMendola-AssistantCurator

Catherine LaMendola was born in Texas and lives in Montreal. She iscurrently completing her bachelor’s degree in Art History at McGillUniversity.Sheisalsotheco-presidentofMcGillUniversity’sstudentartgalleryandherresearchfocusesoncontemporary installationpracticesand art criticism. She has written and edited for various Montrealpublications including The Main and McGill’s journal Canvas. She hasservedasacuratorialinternatFestivalAccèsAsiesinceSpring2015.

ElodieLavergne-EventCoordinator

Elodie Lavergnewas born in France and lives inMontreal. She holds aBachelor’sdegreeinInternationalBusinessandCorporateDevelopmentfrom CNAM Haute-Normandie. In France, she gained marketing andevent management experience working for L’Oréal Paris andvolunteering at the Fontenay-Sous-Bois City Hall where she organizedevents,concertsandexhibitions.Sheiscurrentlyspecializinginartsandculturebypursuing aCertificate inAnimation andCultural Research atUQAM. She has served as an Event Coordinator at Festival Accès AsiesinceFall2015.

Festival Accès Asie (www.accesasie.com) is aMontréal-based non-profit organization (NPO) thatpromotesAsianarts,historiesandculturesinQuébecandCanadathroughvariousartisticdisciplinesincluding visual arts, dance, theatre, video, film, music, comedy, poetry, literature, performance,newmediaandculinaryarts.Formedin1995,FestivalAccèsAsieisthelongestcontinuouslyrunningAsianheritagearts festival inCanada.Todate, ithaspresentedworksofover600artistsofAsianoriginfrommorethan20differentAsiancountries.



AANCHAL MALHOTRA Artist - Remnants of a Separation

Aanchal Malhotra (www.aanchalmalhotra.com) was born in India andlivesinNewDelhi.Sheisinterestedinbanality,actsofrecollectionandthemalleabilityofourmemory.Herprojectsexplorethewrittenword,variousformsofthebookandtheversatilityoftraditionalprintmaking.She reflects on issues like cultural diaspora, notions of belonging, theforgotten fragments of collective experiences, and family history andgenealogy. Aanchal holds a BFA fromOCADUniversity, Toronto and aMFAinStudioArtfromConcordiaUniversity.Shewasawardedthe2011OCAD University Medal in Printmaking and has exhibited in Toronto,Quebec,Portugal,SerbiaandIndia.

©AanchalMalhotra



RemnantsofaSeparationTheBritishcolonialruleofIndialastedfrom1858to1947.At the end of WWII, Britain was left financially weak and unable to hold onto a number of itscoloniesincludingIndia.The British decided to grant Independence to India in August 1947. The British chose to create aMuslim state of Pakistan within India due to the rising disparity between the Indian NationalCongress(predominantlyHindu)andtheMuslimLeague.Asaresult,theBritishgavepredominantlyMuslimpopulatedareasinIndiatoPakistan.AnyHindusorSikhsresidinginthoseareaswereforcedto move to India. Similarly, Muslims that found themselves on the Indian side were forciblyrelocatedtonewlycreatedPakistan.Thisledtoriots,bloodshed,communalviolenceandthedeathofmillionscrossingthenewborders.1947 saw the division of India, the creation of Pakistan and subsequently, cemented the realmeaning of the words Indian or Pakistani. The partition of the Indian Subcontinent made thequestionofcitizenshiponeofutmostimportance.WiththedepartureofBritishrule,bothIndiaandPakistancouldcallthemselvesfreenations.But apart from gaining independence in August 1947, it also paved theway for the largestmassmigrationofpeopleinthehistoryoftheworld-leavingover12milliondisplacedand1milliondead.Severaldecadeshavepassedsincethenandwiththesepassingofyears, innumerablestorieshavebeentoldaboutthebirthofthesenations.Storiesaboutthelossofhomes,lovedones,livelihoodsand belongings; stories of hatred, deception, religious animosity, murder and ruthless acts ofviolence;storiesofthedemiseoftheempire,ofhopeandsometimes,storiesofanewbeginning.I have grown up with these stories. Being from a generation once removed from the partition,fragmentsof it linger inmypersonalhistory.But lately, I’ve foundmyself interested in theminorfacetsthatremainfromthisseparation.Apart fromthepeopleoneithersideof theborder,apartfromtheestablishmentof theborder itself…whatelse remains that is tangible- thatwhichcanbeseenortouched,thatwhichhasahistory.Myprojectattemptstonarratethehistoryofthesubcontinentthroughremnants.ItisastudyintotheobjectsthatindividualstookwiththemwhentheylefttheirhomesatthetimeofthepartitionofIndia-thebelongingsthatbecameapartoftheirlife,theirjourney-whatevershapeitwastotake,andthosewhicharenowapartoftheirhistories.Whatdoyoutakewithyouwhenyoudon’tknowwhether you will live to see tomorrow? Do you take anything at all? Is it the tangible- money,valuables,orisittheintangiblethataccompaniesyou-memories,values,afeelingofdisplacement.Whateverremainstodayfromthiseventcarrieswithinitthehistoryofaplaceandthedistantimageofatruehome.Theseobjectsandtheindividualsthattheybelongtoarethesubjectofmyresearch.Theproject takes the formof imagesandnarrativesbasedon interviews, combiningphotographsandtext.



©AanchalMalhotra



MARGRET NIELSEN Artist - Nepalese Photo Studio

Photographer Margret Nielsen (www.margretnielsen.wordpress.com)wasborn inGermanyand lives inMontreal.Herwork is influencedbyclassic photojournalism and currently focuses on reinterpreting andreusingfoundmaterial.Sheisaformerphotoeditoratlaifphotoagencyin Germany. During her extensive travels throughout Asia, Margrettaughtphotography towomen inAfghanistan.Herphotographic seriesonChinahavebeenfeaturedintwoexhibitionsattheGoethe-InstitutinGermany.





NepalesePhotoStudioTheNepalesePhotoStudiocollectionallowsforthediscoveryofalittle-knownchapterinthehistoryofphotography:Nepalesephotography.ThisexhibitionpresentstherareopportunitytoexploreclassicalNepalesestudiophotography."Nepalese Photo Studio" is a selection of found photography frommy collection of thousands ofpreservednegativesthatIacquiredin2010fromtheBanepalifamily-runphotostudiointhesmalltownofBhaktapur,Nepal.Havingbeenkeptinstorageforyears,thenegativeswereinapoorstate,intendedtobesoldforrecyclingduetothesilvercontent.The imageswere taken by two generations of photographers, father and son,who specialized inportraiture,events,streetphotographyandsnippetsofdailylife.Theimagesdatefromthelate40stothe90s,providinginsightintothelifeandhistoryofasmallNewaritownanditsinhabitants.For the past three years, I have been tenaciously restoring and archiving the negatives, evenreturning to Nepal in April 2015 to conduct interviews with Kedar Banepali, one of the originalphotographersaswellaswithNepaliarchivespecialistsandhistorians.Theexhibitionconsistsof50framedphotos,aprojectionofimagestakenintheaftermathofthedevastatingearthquakeinApril/May2015, texts descriptions aswell as a handpaintedbackdrop fromNepal that recreates theatmosphereofaNepalesephotostudio.Photographycan'tbeseenseparatedfromhistory,socialandculturalscience.Thepresentationof"Nepalese Photo Studio" aims to provoke questions about the importance of photography, thesignificance of representation, the reading and interpretation of images. It allows us further toenquireaboutthephotographerintheroleofadocumentalistandtoexplorenotonlytheobviousdifferencesinculturesbutthepredominantsimilaritiesdepictedinthesephotographs.Mygoalistopresentavaluable facetofNepalesedaily lifephotography.Theexhibition isengagingthegeneralpublicinapresentationthatmarriescaptivatingimageswithresearchintothepredominantlyNewarcultureoftheKathmanduValley.

2016-03-31 faa visual arts at mdc frontenac_may 2016_press kit_en

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