Saidye Bronfman Award 2002: Kai Chan Exhibition Unveiled
Gatineau, Quebec, October 3, 2002 — As part of the celebration of the 26th anniversary of the Saidye Bronfman Award, the Canadian Museum of Civilization presents the exhibition Saidye Bronfman Award 2002: Kai Chan, from October 4, 2002 to September 12, 2003. This signature exhibition includes work by renowned Canadian textile artist Kai Chan. Mr. Chan is the recipient of the 2002 Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence in the Crafts. The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Canadian Museum of Civilization, partners in the award, wish to celebrate this distinguished artist’s achievements by acknowledging his talent and commitment to the world of fine craft with this special exhibition.
Saidye Bronfman Award 2000: Kai Chan features several works by Mr. Chan as well as pieces from other Museum collections that Mr. Chan has selected. These works embody many of the same formal qualities that Chan incorporates in his own oeuvre. One fishing basket, from the Nuu-Chah-Nulth nation on Canada’s West Coast, utilizes an open structure similar to the light construction of Chan’s works. A wooden owl, made by a Canadian artist originally from Iceland, is decorated with a polka-dot pattern that imbues it with a light-heartedness that Chan strives to attain in some of his works.
Seven of Chan’s jewellery works will be featured in the exhibition. Chan’s jewellery pieces question the traditional Western roles of bodily adornment and the use of precious materials. Why should only women wear jewellery? Why do we only think of gold, silver and precious stones when we think of jewellery? Why aren’t other beautiful materials used in the production of jewellery? Chan’s jewellery allows its wearer to make decisions about how it is worn, and his use of materials allows it to be worn at a variety of occasions.
Also included in the exhibition will be a bamboo construction donated to the Canadian Museum of Civilization by the Ontario Crafts Council. Chan’s work distinguishes itself through the minimal use of unexpected and modest materials that, while lyrical and wonderfully imaginative, are masterfully manipulated into inventive pieces that echo the meditative aesthetic of his cultural heritage.
He also works with commonplace materials such as twigs, balsa wood, cardboard, cinnamon sticks, garlic stems, bamboo, wire, plywood, pins, cloth, tissue paper, buttons, string and even toothpicks. “I like to avoid working with machinery, even though sometimes it is necessary,” says Chan. Kai Chan’s work, constantly evolving and exploring new territories, remains uniquely personal.
Kai Chan has exhibited extensively across Canada and has been recognized internationally with shows in Austria, Australia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Art Gallery of Mississauga, the Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery and Museum London in London, Ontario recently mounted a major solo exhibition of Chan’s work, which will continue to tour across Canada in 2002–2003.
For more information:
Heather Hatch-Dinel
The Haley Group
Tel.: (416) 536-1566
E-mail: haleyart@interlog.com
Media Relations Officer
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Tel.: (819) 776-7169
Fax: (819) 776-7187
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