Alexandra Hong

zau naan (走難)

Curated by Layne Hinton and Rui Pimenta (Art Spin) as part of Holding Patterns, Planet Storage, Toronto

走難 (zau naan) is made up of the characters 走, “to run or to leave” and 難, “difficult or difficulty”. Together, in Cantonese, it means means “to escape from disaster” or “ to run away from calamity”.

zau naan (走難) is an immersive audio installation featuring my parents remembering and recounting the homes and the items they left behind when they fled Vietnam in the 70’s. The auditory nature of this project breaks the silence around the my family’s past and gives an opportunity to explore the importance of their stories - and their silence around their stories - in shaping my sense of self. In the absence of objects stored for safekeeping, these spoken words are the only remnants of a history lost to war. 

Exhibition History

2018 - Curated by Layne Hinton and Rui Pimenta (Art Spin) for Holding Patterns, Planet Storage, Toronto. 

Press Highlights

CBC Here and Now (Radio) "Art in Storage Lockers" featuring Co-Curator Layne Hinton and Artist Alexandra Hong.

 

Using Format