Identity & culture via digital media & photograph – MINING THE ARCHIVE @ Centre A

Centre A presents MINING THE ARCHIVE brings together selected works by UK artists Anthony Lam and Erika Tan, who have each used archives as the source for the production of art.

In “Between Cultures”, Lam has constructed a narrative from a collection of black & white prints which prompt a reflection on memory, travel, history and the power of the gaze in the context of Britain's past Imperial project.

“Persistent Visions” is stems from Tan’s research in the Moving Image Archive at the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum. The 3-screen video installation uses home movies shot by individuals and families who were once stationed in British colonies from Malaysia to Kenya, from Suez to Hong Kong.

CENTRE A presents MINING THE ARCHIVE
Anthony Lam / Erika Tan Exhibition
April 22 - May 27, 2006
Curated by Alice Ming Wai Jim
Address: 2 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11am - 6pm
Contact: 604 683 8326 or centrea@centrea.org

Artists:
Singapore-born Erika Tan graduated from King's College, Cambridge (1991), studied Film Directing at the Beijing Film Academy (1993-4), and (gasp!) completed an MA in Fine Art at Central St Martins School of Art, London (1997). Tan’s interest in cultural and anthropological issues are present in her award-winning multimedia installations, photographic works, videos and websites, including the inIVA project 'Touring London' (2001) and 'Slipstream' (2001).

Anthony Lam is a London-based photographic artist formally trained with a MA in Photography from the London College of Printing. His work interprets photographs in a way that address issues of identity, culture and representation from a personal and socio-political viewpoint. Lam’s multilayered pieces involve photographic stills, archival and digital imagery, installations, projected images, sound and text work. “Ultimately, Lam’s artworks are transitional works that comment and reflect on the inability and challenge for photography to represent and resolutely fix the human experience”.

More:
*Erica Tan and Anthony Lam’s work on the Royal Pavilion, click www.royalpavilion.org.uk.
*Tan’s work included “From China to Chintz (1998)” (see image), an installation using sound, video projection, Chintz wallpaper, bird cages, tea chests, tea, lavender essence, Asian bird song- initially responding to the Chintz wallpaper in Pitshanger Manor, Ealing Broadway.
*Lam’s “China Pavilion (2003)” photograph (see image)