A good reputation endures forever 流芳百世, 2021
Karen Tam, A good reputation endures forever 流芳百世, 2021, embroidery on satin, 119.4 x 46.4 cm, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Hugues Charbonneau, Montreal. Photo credit: Campbell River Art Gallery.
The banner A good reputation endures forever 流芳百世, 2021, references one of the four epitaphs engraved on headstones for members of the Chinese Labour Corps who died during the First World War and were buried in France and Belgium. The Chinese Labour Corps 中國勞工旅 was established by the British government in 1916 to address its shortage of workers due to heavy casualties. By 1917, the first of almost 100,000 Chinese men to serve with the British Army in France were sailing to Europe after first crossing the Pacific Ocean and then Canada by rail. An estimated 10,000 died due to shelling, landmines, poor treatment, or the Spanish flu epidemic. With this work, Karen Tam reminds us that little is known of many of these men today.
Gallery
Refuse to eat our bitterness, 2021
金山夢 Gold Mountain Dreams (Flag), 2021
Marquis of Lorne Arch, 1882
A good reputation endures forever 流芳百世, 2021
C.S. Wing Studio, 2020
Unidentified Chinese Man Lighting a Cigarette, pre-1929
the chrysanthemum has opened twelve times (Banner), 2020
Le Parc de la Pagode (Montréal), 1978, 2020
the chrysanthemum has opened twelve times (Audio), 2020
Coin-Suit, 2021
Armour Vest for female warrior, 2012
Wood slat and rod body armour, 2012
Ruinscape (Wallpaper), 2020
After the 1907 Chinatown Riots in Vancouver, 2020
Chinese Arch on Pender St. (Vancouver), 1912, 2020
Victoria Chinese Public School, June 5, 2020, 2020
56-58 Elizabeth St., Toronto, 1937, 2020
March 30, 2020 Attack, 2020
Longevity to Our Elders, 2020
Celebration in Nanaimo Chinatown, n.d.
Success to the Revolution, 2021
From Yiwu to you, 2015–present
From Yiwu to you (detail), 2015–present