EMBASSY CULTURAL HOUSE
Established in 1983, the Embassy Cultural House was a community-driven gallery and hosted interdisciplinary programs. It closed its physical doors in 1990. In 2020 the Embassy Cultural House was re-envisioned as a virtual artist-run space and community website.
UPCOMING EVENT
We are honoured to present this spectacular online exhibit "A Guest + A Host = A Ghost," curated by Hamilton-based Ihor Holubizky and designed by Oliva Mossuto to celebrate the life of our good friend, independent curator and writer Bob McKaskell. It was one year ago today that Bob passed away on June 30, 2020. Holubizky has conceptualized this multi-layered project and has written that it " is a tribute to Robert McKaskell and his professional facets as art historian, curator and educator. Rather than memorialize what he did, it is better to channel the spirit and active intelligence, and embody how he thought. Marcel Duchamp is the armature for this exhibition-orchestration. Robert was a Duchampist, although he and I never spoke of Duchamp directly—and perhaps because one never knows who’s listening. In the mid-1980s he devised an “Homage to Marcel Duchamp on the occasion of the centennial of his birth,” mounted at the McIntosh, Forest City and (then) London Regional galleries."
Special thanks to Hugh Barrett, the Kelowna Art Gallery, Museum London, and the Art Gallery of Windsor. We also extend our thanks to all the artist-contributors:
Lois Andison (Canadian), Dianne Bos (Canadian), Lynn Dreese Breslin (American), Hyang Cho (Canadian, b. Republic of Korea), Paul Collins (Canadian, French), Christos Dikeakos (Canadian, b. Greece), Aganetha Dyck (Canadian), Wyn Geleynse (Canadian, b. Netherlands), Dave Gordon (Canadian), Richard Grayson (British), Brad Isaacs (Mohawk and mixed heritage), Suzy Lake (Canadian, b. U.S.A.), David Merritt (Canadian), Ken Nicol (Canadian), Gary Pearson (Canadian), Alexander Pilis (Canadian, b. Brazil), Eric Robertson (Metis/Gitxsan), Michael Snow (Canadian), Gary Spearin (Canadian), Christine Walde (Canadian), Jinny Yu (Canadian, b. Republic of Korea)
Visit the Hiding in Plain Sight Virtual Tour
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On June 24, 2021, Raincoast Books and Embassy Cultural House hosted a panel discussion with some of the artists featured in the ECH Hiding in Plain Sight exhibit, inspired by the book of the same name by Sarah Kendzior. |
Recent digital projects @ ECH
Mexico Cultural Exchange
The Old East Village
Stop Extinction! Restore the Earth
The Embassy Cultural House (ECH) and GardenShip and State are pleased to present a virtual group exhibition Stop Extinction! Restore the Earth to celebrate Earth Day, April 22, 2021. Work in the exhibit features artists from within the ECH community and Gardenship and State participating artists. Artworks in the exhibit address the broad issues related to the climate crisis, and other threats to our ecology. Works also address the intersection of sustainable living and the respect for Indigenous land rights.
Exhibition contributors include:
Jessie Amery, Tariq Amery, Ron Benner, Paul Chartrand & Michelle Wilson, Carole Condé & Karl Beveridge, Stephen Cruise, Tom Cull, Susan Day, Experimental Music Unit, Holly English & Olivia Mossuto, Michael Farnan, Michael Fernandes, kerry ferris (1949 - 2016), Jan Figurski, Mireya Folch Serra, Fatima Garzan, Dave Gordon, Tariq Hassan Gordon, Joan Greer, Tegan Moore, & Sourayan Mookerjea, Jamelie Hassan, Fern Helfand, Lisa Hirmer, Sharmistha Kar, Mark Kasumovic, Brian Lambert, Skylar Mohacsy, Patrick Mahon, Kim Moodie, Catherine Morrisey, Troy Ouellette, Jill Price, Judith Rodger, Kian Saadani-Gordon, Niloufar Salimi & Mohammad Tabesh, Jayce Salloum, Jenna Rose Sands, Roland Schubert, Sandra Semchuk, Carolyn Simmons, Dan & Mary Lou Smoke, Ashley Snook, Jean Spence, Diana Tamblyn, Jeff Thomas, Bernice Vincent (1934 - 2016), Esther Vincent, Christine Walde, and Jade Williamson
Exhibition contributors include:
Jessie Amery, Tariq Amery, Ron Benner, Paul Chartrand & Michelle Wilson, Carole Condé & Karl Beveridge, Stephen Cruise, Tom Cull, Susan Day, Experimental Music Unit, Holly English & Olivia Mossuto, Michael Farnan, Michael Fernandes, kerry ferris (1949 - 2016), Jan Figurski, Mireya Folch Serra, Fatima Garzan, Dave Gordon, Tariq Hassan Gordon, Joan Greer, Tegan Moore, & Sourayan Mookerjea, Jamelie Hassan, Fern Helfand, Lisa Hirmer, Sharmistha Kar, Mark Kasumovic, Brian Lambert, Skylar Mohacsy, Patrick Mahon, Kim Moodie, Catherine Morrisey, Troy Ouellette, Jill Price, Judith Rodger, Kian Saadani-Gordon, Niloufar Salimi & Mohammad Tabesh, Jayce Salloum, Jenna Rose Sands, Roland Schubert, Sandra Semchuk, Carolyn Simmons, Dan & Mary Lou Smoke, Ashley Snook, Jean Spence, Diana Tamblyn, Jeff Thomas, Bernice Vincent (1934 - 2016), Esther Vincent, Christine Walde, and Jade Williamson
Sleepwalking: ECH Stands with Hong Kong
Empty Square
The Embassy Cultural House is proud to present an online talk to celebrate the exhibition launch of "Empty Square", highlighting the works of 任鈞 and Alistair Mackinnon (@alstrmack) "Empty Square" presents two virtual spaces that engage digitally rendered figures and objects. One is a phantasmagoric memorial site, the other, a dystopian surveilled space. Both spaces reveal how the effects of authoritarianism shape and obscure what is construed as the public. This exhibition takes place on the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, to remember the students and demonstrators who lost their lives on June 4th, 1989. To sign up for the talk, please visit the upcoming exhibition page at the link in our bio. |
Revisiting Ten Years (2015) On Hong Kong's Dystopia
The year is 2025, Hong Kong is visualized as a bleak dystopia, crumbling under a repressive, authoritarian rule. Anthologized to present a broad range of perspectives and stories, the five shorts in Ten Years communicate the desolate future of a place condemned to the principle of “One country, Two systems.” In broad summary, the film addresses fictitious scenes in which the cityscape is rife with talk of political assassinations, the precarious situation of migrant workers, the soon-to-be artifacts of Hong Kong culture, the dwindling presence of Cantonese language, and the censorship of local products and “subversive” literature. In the five years since the film’s release, where does fiction and reality overlap? Presented by the Embassy Cultural House: Jevons Au, director of the Ten Years short “Dialect”, and Emile Dirks, Ph.D candidate at the University of Toronto studying the policing of marginalized populations in contemporary China, will come together to explore possible answers. This cross-cultural conversation will explore the way in which colonialism and authoritarianism has stifled culture both in Canada, China, and Hong Kong. It is no coincidence that the totalizing force of Britain in Canada, and China in Hong Kong, share connections in their mutual use of marginalization and oppression. |
Original poster to the 1986 exhibition at the ECH.
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YYZ WORLD TOUR 1986 - REVISITED The Embassy Cultural House (ECH) is organizing a round table Zoom meeting on March 28th at 1:30 pm to discuss the YYZ World Tour Exhibition that showed in London in 1986. Featured Artists: Sheila Ayearst, David Buchan, David Clarkson, Stan Denniston, Judith Doyle, Rebecca Garrett, Anna Gronau, Janice Gurney, Elizabeth MacKenzie, Ian McKinnon, Bernie Miller, Andy Patton, Jennifer Rudder, Carolyn Simmons, Joanne Tod, Shirley Yanover See the exhibition page: YYZ World Tour - EMBASSY CULTURAL HOUSE. Online Event: Sunday, March 28, 2021, at 1:30 pm, EST Click here to register. Limited Capacity - Only 100 tickets available. Participants from the show and representative from YYZ Artist's Outlet will join our discussion to give a perspective on YYZ's current and future activities. Several of the show's original participants to have an intergenerational dialogue about the show, YYZ, and artist run culture in general. To learn more visit: YYZ ARTISTS' OUTLET – A non-profit artist-run centre in Toronto, Canada | BN: 105782429RR0001 |
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Virtual Celebration for Lorraine Klaasen's FCLMA World Music Award and Black History Month Online Event: Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 1:30 pm, EST Zoom event click here to register. Lorraine Klaasen said on her recent Forest City London Music Award : "It is wonderful to be receiving this award and thank you to FCLMA for their continued support of arts and culture. Music plays a vital role in the face of racism and oppression and I just want to make people happy with my gift of music." |
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SLEEPWALKING: ECH stands with Hong Kong
Launched on February 12, 2021, (Lunar New Year) Embassy Cultural House is pleased to present Sleepwalking (夢遊), a series of screenings, talks, readings, exhibits, open calls, and events in solidarity with the people of Hong Kong who are fighting the 2019 extradition bill. In China and Hong Kong, political issues are often spoken about indirectly. In Hong Kong to say “I’m going sleepwalking/I’m dreaming” is a way to say you are going to protest. Through this program we hope to highlight ongoing events in Hong Kong and connect them with artists, experiences, and issues from our own communities as a means to build transnational solidarity.
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Virtual Exhibit: Hiding in Plain Sight Exhibition live: Friday, October 30, 2020 The Embassy Cultural House is pleased to announce its first virtual group exhibition: Hiding in Plain Sight. This exhibition is inspired by the book "Hiding in Plain Sight" by St. Louis-based journalist Sarah Kendzior, (2020). In her book she describes former US President Trump's administration as "a transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government." There are many other governments in the world at this time that also fit this description. They are all connected. This inaugural virtual exhibit was organized by Ron Benner. An image of the artwork in any medium was submitted along with the accompanying information - artist's name, title of artwork, date & medium. The virtual exhibit launched on October 30, 2020 with some of the artists and journalist Sarah Kendzior attending this event. |
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Embassy Cultural House catalogue now online It is with great pleasure that we are sharing an online version of the now out-of-print The Embassy Cultural House, 1983 to 1990 catalogue. This catalogue was published in 2012 to accompany the survey exhibit "The Embassy Cultural House, 1983 to 1990" presented at Museum London. The late Robert (Bob) McKaskell curated the survey exhibit and the catalogue was edited by the late Melanie Townsend. The catalogue also includes essays by historical curator Michael Baker and Toronto-based artist, educator and activist Rebecca Deiderichs. The Museum London public program included a sold-out concert of an improvisational jazz performance by Eric Stach and local musicians. With special thanks to Museum London, the estates of both Bob McKaskell and Melanie Townsend, to all the contributors and supporters of the catalogue and Colour by Schubert for making this publication available online to a broader public. Click here to read the catalogue online |
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Art installations @ ECH Video produced by award winning Canadian artist Wyn Geleynse on the art installations at the Embassy Cultural House (ECH) from 1983 to 1990. Installations by Shelagh Keeley, David Merritt, Robert McNealy, Michael Fernandes, Lani Maestro, Magdalena Campos, Spring Hurlbut and Susan Day graced the walls and rooms of the Embassy Hotel, which also hosted the ECH in the restaurant portion of the hotel located at 732 Dundas Street in London East. |
Retrospective video @ ECH produced by Museum London
With featured artworks and archival documentation, this retrospective exhibition at Museum London in 2012 documented the energy, enthusiasm and optimism of London's Embassy Cultural House.
Music: "East End" by Olenka and the Autumn Lovers. http://olenkalovers.com/
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In memory of curator & writer Bob McKaskell 1943-2020
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In Memory of Bob McKaskell It is with the sad news, that our good friend, independent curator and writer, Bob McKaskell died on June 30, 2020 from cancer. He was living between Port Dover, Ontario and Oaxaca, Mexico. While in Oaxaca he decided to study Spanish and he had just initiated a program of curating exhibits of Oaxacan artists in his apartment located in the centro historico of Oaxaca. He was a great cook, an excellent gardener and his pursuit of knowledge was startling wide-reaching. Anyone who knew Bob, understood that his sometimes stubborn nature contributed to his ability to intensely focus in a very particular and detailed way to whatever subjects grabbed his interest. Bob taught Contemporary Art History for many years at Western University. He was a huge supporter of both Canadian and international artists and had a commitment to challenging art practices including conceptual art, performance works and independent artists' projects. While in London, he was involved in programming at The Embassy Cultural House, the Forest City Gallery, Museum London and the McIntosh Gallery. He also worked at the Winnipeg Art Gallery and and the Glenbow Museum in Calgary where he built strong friendships and made contributions to the arts community across Canada. We have so many fond memories of Bob - especially close to our hearts is the survey exhibition he curated Embassy Cultural House - 1983 - 1990 at Museum London in 2012. |
