Flowers Between

Accès

À propos

Shellie Zhang

Presented by CAFKA

Flowers Between consists of two lightbox signs with illuminating displays of flowers. The work draws a visual and historical parallel between two early Chinese Canadian businesses located in the Region of Waterloo—the White Rose Café in Cambridge (c.1925-1940) and Hop Wo Laundry in Waterloo (C.1930-40). By connecting two neighbouring stories of early Chinese spaces, the project highlights the significance of local history amidst rapid urban change, and the two types of businesses (laundries and restaurants) that Chinese immigrants widely pursued due to various forms of legal and social discrimination. Flowers Between embeds, markers, and clues of stories lost or overlooked back into the public space by allowing them to shine bright.

Lee Bing, who arrived in Canada at the age of 19 and took over the Café in his 30s, managed the White Rose Café. Lee was known for telling customers of the Café that he was one of the six Chinese men who survived the Titantic’s maiden voyage. However, historians believe that this may have been is uncle Coon Lee, who also lived in the area with the Lee family, was the more likely the survivor recorded due to his age. The first sign takes its form from the name of Lee’s White Rose Café.

Liens

• Lumen Festival lumenfestival.ca
• List and Map of installations lumenfestival.ca

Organisateur

City of Waterloo

Lumen is an annual, free, all-ages festival that is open to the public and run by the City of Waterloo’s Arts and Creative Industries team, Create Waterloo. The event features the work of artists as they explore the interplay of light, art, and technology in installations located throughout uptown Waterloo.

Hosting 30+ visual, interactive, new media, and performance-based installations, the event is an exciting night in uptown not to be missed!