EVAN MATCHETT-WONG Drum Circle
kamâmak nihtâwikihcikan, 10146 96 St Edmonton AB (north of Ociciwan - 10124 96 St)
The mural, “Drum Circle”, depicts a hand drum with the four Sacred Medicines (Tobacco, Sweet Grass, Cedar, and Sage) and the Four Gentlemen (Chrysanthemum, Bamboo, Orchid, and Plum Blossom), serving as a reflection of the artist heritages, Chinese and Dene, as well as, the over-lapping communities of Chinatown(s) on Indigenous land. This mural acts as a gesture of being united in a harmonious relationship.
The orange and yellow gradient is supposed to reflect both the warmth of the sun, invoke a sense of Chinese shadow puppetry, as well as use a prominent colour associated with Truth and Reconciliation. The plants are depicted with purposefully strong colour blocking to mirror northern art styles and motifs, as well as Chinese ink paintings by capturing movement and flow of the plants around the drum circle.
Curated by Ociciwan Contemporary Arts Collective, this mural project was presented as part of the Chinatown Biennial. Being mindful of public arts relationship to gentrification and gatekeeping for BIPOC communities, this mural follows a mentorship exchange between Evan as a mentee and lead artist, and AJA as a mentor.
------------
Garden is open all Summer (June 4 to October 31, 2022)
Garden Hours: Open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day
Cost: Free
Accessibility notes: Garden entrance measures 4’ wide. There are no steps but ground is uneven. 6’ of access between planter paths. There is currently no seating or shade in the space. There’s no access to washrooms outside of event hours.
Transit: ETS stops at 96 Street and Jasper Avenue 1 minute walking distance (routes 2, 111, 131), 95 Street and Jasper Avenue 5 minutes walking distance (Routes 1), 100 Street and Jasper Avenue 10 minutes walking distance (Central Station, routes 8, 130X, 150X, 201). Paid city street parking and paid impark lots available.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Edmonton Arts Council.
------------
ABOUT THE ARTIST(S)
Evan Matchett-Wong is a Chinese-Dene-Irish artist born and raised in Amiskwaciwâskahikan. Their father is from Hong Kong, and their mother was born in Treaty 3 territory in a small town, but their maternal grandmother is from Cold Lake in Treaty 6, who was a survivor of residential schooling. They are a self-taught and practiced artist who specializes in hand embroidery and watercolour. Evan actively works to bring in their Chinese and Indigenous heritage into their artwork and into spaces, normally queer, where Chinese and Indigenous voices and bodies are purposefully excluded.
AJA Louden is a muralist working out of Treaty 6 territory in Canada. Born to a family tree with roots split between Jamaica and Canada, Louden is a child of contrast. He grew up in a rural community near a big city, and alternated his time between skateboarding, drawing, and feeding livestock. Between large spray-painted portraits, his work using hand lettering, stylewriting and sign painting to celebrate the beauty of written word, or his frequent community-centered collaborations, AJA uses painting as a lens through which he may more clearly see, and as a tool to help others be seen.
The Chinatown Biennial is an artwork by Arezu Salamzadeh and Florence Yee. By using the prized label of a “biennial,” we want to question for whom we reserve such titles. We will do so by drawing on a legacy of institutional critique that involves the creation of alternatives, both through playful mimicry and transformative reimagining’s
The Chinatown Biennial is part biennial and part parody.