-HOME (Hyphenated Home) was a group exhibition co-presented by Centre[3] for Artistic + Social Practice and the Workers Arts & Heritage Centre in Hamilton, Ontario.
Curated by local fashion designer and artist Hitoko Okada, the exhibition brought together first-generation Canadian artists from across the country to explore the complexities of hyphenated identities and the evolving concept of “home.”
The exhibition featured works by artists such as Gu Xiong, Ingrid Mayrhofer, Amelia Jimenez, Damarys Sepulveda, and Farouk Kaspaules. Their pieces delved into themes of migration, cultural memory, and the negotiation of identity within the Canadian context. For instance, Gu Xiong’s work focused on the creation of hybrid identities arising from the integration of different cultural origins, reflecting on the dynamics of globalization and local culture.
Through various media, the exhibition invited viewers to consider how subsequent generations of Canadians navigate their connections to ancestral homelands, and how perceptions of belonging are shaped by societal views.
By situating these narratives within the framework of contemporary Canadian art, -HOME (Hyphenated Home) provided a platform for dialogue on identity, displacement, and the multifaceted nature of home.
Artist’s Statement:
“I recently curated a group exhibition in Hamilton at both the Workers Arts Heritage Centre and Centre 3 gallery, titled -HOME (Hyphenated Home), which explored complex ideas of hyphenated identities from a selection of first generation Canadian artists across Canada including: Gu Xiong, Ingrid Mayrhofer, Amelia Jimenez, Damarys Sepulveda, and Farouk Kaspaules. I came into this project interested in the generational impact of the transnational experience.
I looked to these first-generation artists that I worked with to inform these inquiries: If subsequent generations become increasingly disconnected to ancestral homeland, how do second or third generations negotiate their own sense of hyphenated identities? And how do Canadian born, non-indigenous, racialized minorities re-imagine ideas of home and belonging if they are perceived as “outsiders” within their country of origin? These questions are relevant to my experience as Shin-Nisei, and I think possibly to pre-war Nisei as well…” – Hitoko Okada, via Canadian Nikkei Series.
