First Son: Portraits by C. D. Hoy
Hull, Quebec, November 20, 2001 — February 1, 2002 will mark the opening of an exhibition of portraits by Chinese-Canadian photographer Chow Dong Hoy at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. First Son: Portraits by C. D. Hoy, an exhibition from Presentation House Gallery in Vancouver, will be presented in Special Exhibitions Gallery B until September 3, 2002.
The exhibition, curated by Faith Moosang, is a celebration of one man’s indomitable will and spirited sense of adventure. Chow Dong Hoy was only seventeen years old when he immigrated to the western shores of Canada, motivated by the desire to alleviate the poverty of his family in China. This was the beginning of a new life. After a season of limited success as a miner in Barkerville, British Columbia, Hoy took up a camera and began to take portraits of other Chinese miners who lived and worked in the town. These portraits were printed as postcards and sent back to the sitters’ families in China as a testimony to their survival and hopes of success in the New World.
The 81 black-and-white images made between 1909 and 1925 are an invaluable record of the human diversity and demographic profile of the Cariboo region. The subjects range from the Chinese miners of his town to the Carrier and Chilcotin First Peoples who lived in the Interior, as well as the Caucasians who had migrated to the area. The portraits show us not only the faces but also the clothes, work and rough-hewn materials of the frontier. Hoy’s camera captured the enduring presence of the interior Native people and the dignity of the Chinese immigrants.
First Son: Portraits by C. D. Hoy, curated by Faith Moosang and organized and circulated by Presentation House Gallery in Vancouver, will be presented in Special Exhibitions Gallery B at the Canadian Museum of Civilization until September 3, 2002.
Media Information:
Media Relations Officer
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Tel.: (819) 776-7169
Senior Media Relations Officer
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Tel.: (819) 776-7167
Fax: (819) 776-7187
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