L’ART S’AFFICHE x Technopôle Angus
« I Have Been There, » (2015 – ongoing)
Discover this ongoing artistic performance by artist Chun Hua Catherine Dong, on the fence surrounding the Place Michel Hébert construction site, at the corner of Molson and William-Tremblay streets.
L’art s’affiche is a public display project, with the objective of making contemporary art accessible while visually energizing the urban space. Emerging and established artists, from multiple practices, are selected and invited to exhibit their works in an unexpected environment.
Chun Hua Catherine Dong
Biography
Chun Hua Catherine Dong is a Chinese-born Tiohtià:ke/Montréal-based artist. Dong’s work has been exhibited at many national and international venues. Dong was the recipient of the Franklin Furnace Award in New York in 2014, a finalist for Contemporary Art Award at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in 2020, awarded with Cultural Diversity in Visual Arts by the Conseil des arts de Montréal in 2021, and a long-listed artist for Sobey Art Award in 2024.
Artist statement
“I Have Been There,” is an ongoing artistic performance that explores belonging, diaspora, and existence in public spaces. Whenever Dong travels to a new place, she creates a beautiful duvet with traditional Chinese embroidered silk fabric. Covered by the duvet, she lies on the ground in front of historical sites, landmarks, tourist attractions, and other significant places or events worldwide. She repeats this performance as a poetic expression of her diasporic identity and engagement with different cultures and spaces. Working within the gap between the body as an image and body as an experienced reality, Dong uses her body as a primary material in her work, creating visual narratives that enable audiences to experience performance unexpectedly and directly in public spaces. Since starting this performance in 2015, she has performed in 15 countries, 38 cities, and over 350 different sites.
