[image_spread img_url="https://ahva.cms.ar ts.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/37/2023/06/Liminal-Futures-curated-by-Di ane-Wong.png" caption="" width="content"]
June 24–August 19\, 2023
Opening Reception: Saturday\, June 24\, 5–7PM
Centre A
268 Keefer St\, Unit 205
Wednesday–Saturday
\, 12–6PM
Curated by Diane Hau Yu Wong
// Liminal Futures // intends to examine the potentiality of liminality as a portal to a better future and include works by Rah Eleh\, Diasporic Futurisms (Vanessa Godden and Adrienne Matheuszik)\, Skawennati\, and Audie Murray. In m ainstream post-apocalyptic visions of the future\, the focus is predominant ly on global catastrophes that lead to human extinction. These stories usua lly explicitly centre figures of whiteness as their protagonists and the su rvivors of the apocalypse who can save the world. In these narratives\, str ategies and methods to preserve the future of humanity are more concerned w ith protecting the future of global structures rooted in a set of social\, political\, and economic structures derived from Eurocentric systems of imp erialism\, colonialism\, and capitalism. This can be seen in the structural absence of BIPOC bodies in mainstream science fiction\, or the tokenizatio n of these characters as a source of difference and otherness within a post -apocalyptic future that stemmed from racial contamination and racial paran oia. At the same time\, these stories completely neglect to address the dis proportionate effect of the eco-crisis on marginalized communities worldwid e.
Instead\, // Liminal Futures // centre diverse knowledge and plura listic forms of agency that undermine the current hegemonic notion of ‘huma nity’. In contrast to an apocalyptic future\, they embrace nonlinear tempor alities and forms of liminality to put forth multiple futures. It can creat e alternatives to apocalypse visions to open up the possibility for the eme rgence of a new pluralistic world beyond the apocalypse of colonial dominat ion. The exhibition will address the speculative possibilities of liminal f uturisms to create generative solidarities and forms of collective power. I t takes into consideration the multiplicity of lived experiences and embrac es knowledge from different communities that exist in the world. Post-colon ial theorist Homi Bhabha\, in particular\, has referred to liminality as a transitory\, in-between state or space characterized by ambiguity\, hybridi ty\, and potential for subversion and change in his 1994 text\, “Location o f Culture.” Liminality identifies an environment in which cultural transfor mation can take place\, creating sites and opportunities for major societal changes.
At the same time\, the exhibition draws on multiple cosmolo gies that embrace alternative temporalities in which the ‘past’\, ‘present’ \, and ‘future’ are interwoven\, where multiple intersections of time exist to imagine the possibilities of a sustainable future for all that embody m utually enhancing relations and collective wisdom. It puts forth alternativ e methods of examining nonlinear and equitable futures that are parallel to our own\, from which we can collapse into our world to encourage steps tow ards making these futures our reality. The exhibition proposes a set of str ategies and knowledge for hybrid beings to embrace radical temporality and liminality beyond the imagination of colonial futures. In doing so\, strive away from the imposition of differences amongst marginalized communities t o imagine and build collective futures through solidarity and mutually enha ncing relationships for future generations.
Diane Hau Yu Wong (She/Her) is a Cantonese-Canadian emerging curator based on the u nceded territories of the Musqueam\, Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish First Nati ons. She received her BFA in Art History from Concordia University and is c urrently an MA Candidate in the Critical Curatorial Studies program at the University of British Columbia. She is also the Programming Manager at Cent re A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and has cur ated exhibitions at espace pop\, Art Matters Festival\, Nuit Blanche\, arti cule\, and Centre A. She was the inaugural recipient of the articule x MAI Curatorial Mentorship in 2020/2022 and the 2020 Momus Emerging Critics Resi dency program.
Her curatorial practice and research are broadly based on the intersection between technology and new media art\, predominantly f ocusing on the world-building possibilities of different iterations of Futu rism\, such as Afrofuturism\, Indigenous Futurism\, and Asian Futurism. She is particularly interested in examining the depiction of Asian bodies as c yborgs and non-humans in science fiction through Techno-Orientalism and the current development of Asian Futurism.
With support from the Kil ly Foundation and the Audain Endowment for Curatorial Studies through the D epartment of Art History\, Visual Art and Theory in collaboration with the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at The University of British Columbia.< /em>
Centre A would like to acknowledge the generous support of Canad a Council for the Arts\, BC Arts Council\, and Vancouver City Council for t he realization of this exhibition.
[buttons][button link_text="Visit Centre A for more information" link_url="https://centrea.org/2023/06/limina l-futures/"][/buttons]
LOCATION:Centre A GEO:49.279443;-123.097339 URL;VALUE=URI:https://ahva.ubc.ca/events/event/liminal-futures/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ahva.cms.arts.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/37/2023/06/Liminal-Futures-curated-by-Diane-Wong_Event-featured-image-715x402.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Vancouver BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 DTSTART:20230312T100000 TZNAME:PDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR