'Who Are We?'

About

‘Who Are We’? 

Held at the Waterloo Action Centre, this show presents a variety of artist works including paintings, drawings, video and photography. Our concept for the show focuses on ethnic minorities in the world of art and the issues they face from being marginalized. We’ve also explored moral licensing and how it ties into challenging the stigma of being an artist that falls under the ethnic minority category. Moral licensing has been an integral part of our overall theme and our respective art works displayed in this venue is a testament to how potent moral licensing has become. Rather than attempting to create similar works of art for this exhibition, we’ve opted for an alternative approach by remaining with our different and unique styles. There’s a more effective route in resonating the changes made in the world of art for ethnic minorities. The fact that we’re providing a diverse amount of practices under one venue is further indication of how less risk aversive ethnic minority members have become as a result of being unprivileged and afforded less opportunities for mainstream exposure. Despite the fact that painting is the practice that overlays with most members of this group in terms of usage, it’s intriguing that the very same practice that most members used is able to produce several distinctive results. That in itself showcases a solid narrative within this venue as the collaboration of artists belonging to ethnic minority groups is able to give voice to the voiceless and the varying works on display expose how ignored some artists are based on their background. We aim to increase awareness regarding minority groups in the artist world and their position on the hierarchy. Our collaborative show is representative of breaking out of the mould and self-fulfilling prophecy that has been associated with ethnic minorities. This group all belong to the same minority group but all have different interpretations of what we perceive as art based on our individual identities. Solidarity is strengthened through our diversity as artists.