Remai Modern, October – December 2020

My ideas for 落叶归根  [luò yè guī gēn] first started forming when I learned that the land Remai Modern sits on used to be Chinatown in the early 20th century. As I learned more about this often overlooked history, I noticed the emotional connection I felt to early Chinese migrants, despite not being related to them. Around the same time, my parents were telling me about the Hungry Ghost Festival back in Malaysia, where paper effigies are burned as offerings to provide for the needs of the ancestors. I was drawn to this act of burning as a form of transformation, a way to communicate with ancestral spirits and care for them in everyday life.

I’ve always felt a bit lost in terms of my relationship to this land and place. My parents are immigrants and we are settlers; our ancestral roots are on the other side of the world. 落叶归根  is my realization of the broader ways that ancestors can be defined, outside of blood relations. I can have a relationship with the early Chinese settlers and Indigenous ancestors of this land, who laid the foundations for the life I live today. I can express my gratitude and promise not only to remember them, but to be responsible and accountable to them; to take care of what they cultivated and honour their work and care.

I decided to make a gate as a nod to the proposed Riversdale Chinatown Gate that was never built. Symbolically, this gate represents a portal between our world and the ancestral world. I chose the Chinese idiom 落叶归根, “falling leaves return to their roots,” as the title to invite you to join me in finding our way back to our roots, our ancestors, our histories.

Over the coming months I will cover the gate with a paper skin, each sheet containing a note to the ancestors. Anyone can participate by writing a message, in person or online. Later this year the gate will be burned as part of a ceremony, opening up a connection across time and space.

–respectfulchild

当我得知Remai Modern坐落于20世纪初的唐人街时，我的项目概念“落叶归根”就开始形成。当我对这段被经常忽略的历史有了更多的了解时，我注意到我与早期的中国移民有了情感上的联系，虽然我们并没有亲缘关系。大约在同一时期，我的父母给我讲述了一些关与马来西亚的中元节习俗，比如焚烧纸像作为奉献给祖先的祭祀品。这就振奋我产生了一种幻化形式为祖先灵魂的交流的方式。

我对自己与此土此乡的关系，总是感到有些怅然若失。我的父母是移民，而我们是定居者。我们祖先的原籍在世界的另一端。“落叶归根”是我对祖先的定义变得开阔了，认识祖先也可以是无血缘关系的。我可以与这土地的早期中国定居者和原住民祖先建立起关系。这些祖先们影响了我与奠定了我今天的生活基础。我很感激并承诺不仅要记住他们，而且要对他们负责和保存他们的意愿。

我决定以“门”的形式对那个未起建的Riversdale唐人街牌楼致以敬意。它是我们的世界与祖先的世界之间沟通的门户。我选择了“落叶归根”这个汉语成语作为标题，以邀请您和我一起寻找我们的根源,祖先，以及历史。

在接下来的几个月，我会把纸张贴到牌楼的模型，每张纸上都包含一些送给祖先的信息。任何人都可以亲自或在网络留言来参与。 牌楼会作为纪念焚烧仪式，从而打开跨时空的联系。

—顏敬兒

I’d like to extend a special thank you to/特别感谢以下几位的帮助: 

Julian Gan, Josephine Gan, Jotham Gan, Heather Kevill, Kate Gibb, Andreas Buchwaldt, Shellie Zhang, Marcel Petit, Yuki Tanaka, Julie Oh, Kahn Lam, Harris Ford, Jeff O’Brien & Ken Dahl at the City Archives, Simon Fuh, Laura Civica, Ari Schneider, Francis Lam, Jie Yan, Pat Keyser, Jessica Szeto, Erica Violet Lee, Troy Mamer, Jeffrey Popiel & Esther Stenberg at Ancient Spirals Retreat.

Press coverage:
– Creative Isolation: interview in The Star Phoenix
– CBC Radio Saskatoon feature
– Back to the roots: interview in Toast mag