ART CONNECTS: Howie Tsui & Diana Freundl: Kinaesthetics of Nature and Durational Sculpting
Watch artist Howie Tsui and Diana Freundl, Interim Chief Curator / Associate Director reveal, for the first time, the artistic and curatorial decisions reached to commission a twenty-five-metre, hand-drawn animation that threads together the social and political realities of past and present-day Hong Kong.
About this Program
In conjunction with the exhibition Howie Tsui: Retainers of Anarchy—organized and circulated by the Vancouver Art Gallery (2017) and recently on view as a touring exhibition at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Florida prior to their closure—artist Howie Tsui and Diana Freundl, Interim Chief Curator / Associate Director, revealed, for the first time, the artistic and curatorial decisions reached to commission a twenty-five-metre, hand-drawn animation that threads together the social and political realities of past and present-day Hong Kong.
Following Diana and Howie’s conversation, Howie hosted a tour of his backyard nursery and introduced his flora and fauna, in particular the development of his Bonsai trees-in-training. Shaping and styling Bonsai trees is a recent passion of Howie’s, one that he has been able to devote more time to while sheltering at home as a way of realigning himself with the current pace of life. Howie also demonstrates the process of wiring and shaping a Bonsai specimen.
This discussion was moderated by Melissa Lee, Director of Education and Public Programs
About the Speakers
Vancouver-based artist Howie Tsui (Tsui Ho Yan / 徐浩恩) was born in Hong Kong and raised in Lagos, Nigeria and Thunder Bay. He works in a variety of media to construct tense, fictive environments that subvert canonized art forms and narrative genres, often from the traditional Chinese literati class. Tsui synthesizes diverging socio-cultural anxieties around superstition, trauma, acculturation, and otherness through a distinctly outsider lens to advocate for liminal and diasporic experiences.
Diana Freundl is Interim Chief Curator / Associate Director at the Vancouver Art Gallery. She has curated and co-curated many exhibitions at the Gallery, including major retrospectives Bharti Kher Matter (2016); Unscrolled: Reframing Tradition in Chinese Contemporary Art (2014); Pacific Crossings: Hong Kong Artists in Vancouver; Howie Tsui: Retainers of Anarchy (2017); 空 / Emptiness: Emily Carr and Lui Shou Kwan (2018) and Moving Still: Performative Photography in India (2019). She has been the curator of the Gallery’s public art space, Offsite, since 2013, and has presented several site-specific installations from artists including MadeIn Company, Reena Saini Kallat, and Asim Waqif among others. Prior to joining the Vancouver Art Gallery, Freundl was living and working in mainland China and Taiwan from 1998 to 2013. She studied at the Tsinghua University of Art and Design in Beijing and has an academic background in comparative religion and journalism.
More About vancouver art gallery’s art connects series
STAY HOME. STAY SAFE. STAY CONNECTED WITH ART CONNECTS!
In response to the temporary closure of the exhibition spaces due to the current global health pandemic, the Vancouver Art Gallery has launched Art Connects, a new series of online gatherings that encourage dialogue and connection in the era of physical distancing.
Every Tuesday and Friday, the Vancouver Art Gallery will stream live and interactive conversations into your homes, featuring guests from local and international arts communities. Everyone is invited to join through the webinar platform, Zoom.
Get involved! Submit your questions when you register or during the Zoom presentation using the Q&A function to take part in the conversation. You can also engage with your fellow attendees in the Zoom Chat function.
As we navigate these strange and uncertain times, it’s important to remember that art has the power to connect individuals, communities and cultures. No matter its form, art encourages communication, broadens perspectives, enriches the mind and renews the spirit.
New to Zoom? Learn how to register and attend a webinar »