Curator Biography:
Serena Zena (she/her) is an emerging artist and curator based in Canada. Her multidisciplinary practice delves into the lived experiences and cultural narratives of the Asian diaspora in Canada. Central to her work are themes of identity, intergenerational relationships, and Asian futurism. Her practice blends storytelling with both traditional and emergent media ranging from textiles to extended-reality.
Artist Biographies:
Aram Siu Wai Collier is a filmmaker, educator, and film festival programmer. He is currently the Artistic Director at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. His feature, documentary, and experimental films such as Stand Up Man, A Sweet and Sour Christmas, and The Others, have played festivals across North America and internationally. Aram is a mixed-race Asian Canadian/American (Chinese and English/Dutch/German) originally from San Francisco and is now based in Toronto, Canada.
Jenny (Hyemin) Kim (she/her) is a mixed media artist currently residing in Tkaronto (Toronto, Canada). She graduated with a BFA in Studio Art and a BA in Psychology at McMaster University and is currenting pursuing an MFA in Visual Art at York University. She also continues her practice and research as a Research Assistant of the Sari-Sari Xchange, a SHHRC RDGI sponsored project. Born in Korea, raised in the Philippines and working in Canada, Jenny explores concepts relating to her experience living in various cultural backgrounds. Through her practice, Jenny critically engages in concepts such as diaspora, critical race theory and intersectionality based on her lived experiences.
About The Sari-Sari Xchange Project Exhibition Series:
From September 6th, 2024, to February 22, 2025, the Sari-Sari Xchange is collaborating with Centre[4]Arts to host a series of four exhibitions, showcasing the evolving landscape of digital media. Through artwork, events, and interaction, each exhibition will feature artists from the Sari-Sari Xchange project who explore digital media through various experimental methods.
Their approaches encompass a range of technologies, from collaborative projects to interactive installations to digital remixes. This dynamic series will highlight how these artists push the boundaries of digital expression and engage with new technologies, offering a diverse and evolving perspective on the applications of digital media. Curated by Serena Zena, each presentation will explore themes of care and technology, representations of space and identity, relationships between body and the digital environment and intergenerational connection through digital media.
The Sari-Sari Xchange (SSX) is an SSHRC-funded community-building research and creation project driven by artists from the Asian diaspora that collaborates with a network of artists, cultural workers, and researchers, all coming together to foster more inclusive expression in futurist world-making through XR technologies. The SSX reflects the collaborative partnership between Tangled Art+Disability, Reel Asian Toronto International Film Festival, Centre[4]Arts, York University and McMaster University. We undertake exploration in emergent XR technologies and new storytelling techniques, address under-representation and issues of systemic racism, as well as the inaccessibility of these new technologies for both creators and users. Through activities like Tech Jams, supporting artistic production in XR in the residency program, and co-creating asset libraries, we work to have more inclusive representation and better accessibility to emergent technologies.
For more information about the Sari Sari Xchange please visit online at sarisarixchange.mcmaster.ca and @sarisarixchange.
