If this is the party I want, you may not be part of it

If this is the party I want, you may not be part of it
Jennifer Chan, Fang Di, Will Kwan, Alvin Luong, Midi Onodera, Rah, Karen Tam
Curated by Henry Heng Lu

August 27, – October 29, 2022
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 27 from 2:00-4:00pm in Hamilton Artists Inc.’s ArcelorMittal Dofasco Courtyard (155 James St. N.)
Art Bus Tour: Saturday, September 24 from 1pm-4:40pm (Free)

Join the party of your dreams: dance party, birthday party, tea party, makeshift party, your local political party (that no one votes for). Party like there is no tomorrow!  

If this is the party I want, you may not be part of it is an experimental and curious multimedia project that offers  views on expanding and challenging the concept of party as a form of social  interaction, as well as representations of a political entity or a belief system. First initiated through wordplay, and then activated by a composition of moving images and installation works, the project foregrounds and inquiries into the cultural and political implications of party and its intricacies in the context of a contemporary society. In this proposition, there is  party for one person, for politically engaged individuals, for racialized bodies, and for culturally isolated communities. It sets out to develop new possibilities: Party is for everyone, tangible or intangible; it’s a call and response.

If this is the party I want includes: Will Kwan’s Cultural Revolutions that draws a parallel between historic events and rave culture; Karen Tam’s Karaoke Sessions that invites multi-lingual performances of old favourites; Utopia Social Club by Alvin Luong offering an EDM version of the Internationale; Fang Di’s Triumph of the Skies making wishes into faces for three flight attendants; Midi Onodera’s Nobody Knows embraces solitude for moments of the self; Rah’s Ethnic Roots, a parody of stereotypical racial authenticity, in drag; and Jennifer Chan’s installation Body Party that puts the party where it longs to be – in bed.

Curated by Henry Heng Lu, through Call Again, a nomadic initiative/collective committed to creating space for contemporary diasporic artistic practices in the context of North America and beyond.

This exhibition is a new iteration of the 2018 exhibition, OMG, it’s a Party!, curated by Henry Heng Lu and Winnie Wu, at Vtape, Toronto. http://www.theinc.ca/exhibitions/henry_heng_lu_party/