Chiwi: A Way of Life

MEDIA RELEASE: Friday 11 May 2012

Chiwi: A Way of Life

Chiwi: A Way of Life opens at the Pah Homestead, TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre as part of the Auckland Festival of Photography 2012 programme. Chiwi: A Way of Life is an exhibition by Photowhisper Incorporated, a non-profit association for New Zealand Chinese photographers. Chiwi will be exhibited in the Photography Gallery from 29 May to 22 July 2012. There will be a public event to celebrate Chiwi and the seven exhibiting artists on Tuesday 5 June, at 6pm and an Artists’ Talk attended by all seven artists on Friday 15 June at 1:30pm.

Chiwi refers to a lifestyle that gains its ground through a fusion of personal proclivities towards both the Chinese and the Kiwi lifestyles. Curated by Jack Xie of Photowhisper Incorporated, seven photographers convey personal stories about their daily lives in New Zealand. Chiwi: A Way of Life celebrates fusion, difference, tension, embracement, and most importantly harmony within a multicultural society. The exhibiting photographers are Linda Ai, King Tong Ho, Ivan Liang, Maureen Tan, John Wang, Jack Xie and Zoe Zhang.

Photowhisper Incorporated have addressed the impact on cultural debate resulting from the increasing number of Chinese migrants living in New Zealand in the last ten years. They document a cultural shift which is not brought about by the change of migrants’ identity from Chinese to Kiwi, but by a fused lifestyle created by the cultural interactivity between Chinese and Kiwi. This gradually settles to become a way of life – Chiwi.

Chiwi represents the crossing between Chinese and Kiwi thoughts, with an ambivalent worldview and constant struggle to make decisions about paradoxical facets of daily life. Occupying this liminal space, a Chiwi is somebody who is between being Chinese or Kiwi, and has a hybrid identity in transition. There are often tensions between the minority and the majority (mainstream). Despite this, social harmony is achieved through acknowledgement of these tensions and the acceptance and celebration of differences.

The Pah Homestead, TSB Bank Wallace Art Centre’s open hours are Tuesday - Friday 10am till 3pm, Saturday - Sunday 10am till 5pm. Entry is by donation. For media enquiries please contact anna.boyd@wallaceartstrust.org.nz 09 639 2010 extension 5.

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