EMBASSY CULTURAL HOUSE
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(Be)Longing 
A Celebration of Asian Heritage

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Iraboty Kazi, Kite Saree, 2021
(Be)Longing is a celebration of the voices, journeys, and stories of artists of Asian descent. The project, as suggested by the title, engages with diasporic identities and notions of belonging in Canada. Also present in the title is the longing for connections with communities, longing for people and places left behind, and longing for social changes. We interviewed cultural contributors to learn more about their experiences as artists of colour, the work they produce, life during the pandemic, and (if any) interaction with the Embassy Culture House. 

In its nascent state, the project was designed to showcase artists in May, in connection with Asian Heritage Month. However, our own discussions of the meaning and relevancy of Asian Heritage Month brought the complexities of months designated to minority groups to the forefront. These moments of reflection led us to rethink our approach and add an optional question about Asian Heritage Month. The contributors raised the issues of xenophobia, centring “the relationship of the majority group to the minority group,” and “celebrating our differences” along with the desire to “awaken those who believe we are living in a post-racial society” and “hope that such gestures can raise awareness and consequently shift the culture towards structural changes that extend beyond one lunar cycle.” The diversity of the answers is a reminder of the importance of continually questioning, creating dialogues, and engaging with communities in order to avoid complacency. 

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Soheila Esfahani
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Samar Hejazi

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S F Ho
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Sharmistha Kar

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Heidi McKenzie
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Ruby Singh

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​Niloufar Salimi
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Mohammad Tabesh

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Rita Wong
The Home
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By Rabindranath Tagore 


I paced alone on the road across the field while the sunset was
hiding its last gold like a miser.
The daylight sank deeper and deeper into the darkness, and the
widowed land, whose harvest had been reaped, lay silent.
Suddenly a boy's shrill voice rose into the sky. He traversed
the dark unseen, leaving the track of his song across the hush of
the evening.
His village home lay there at the end of the waste land,
beyond the sugar-cane field, hidden among the shadows of the banana
and the slender areca palm, the coconut and the dark green jack-
fruit trees.
I stopped for a moment in my lonely way under the starlight,
and saw spread before me the darkened earth surrounding with her
arms countless homes furnished with cradles and beds, mother's
hearts and evening lamps, and young lives glad with a gladness that
knows nothing of its value for the world.


EDITORIAL TEAM

ONLINE FOUNDER
Tariq Hassan Gordon

COFOUNDERS & CURATORIAL ADVISORS 
 
Jamelie Hassan 
& Ron Benner

ADVISORY CIRCLE
Samer Abdelnour, Marnie Fleming, Wyn Geleynse, Fern Helfand, S F Ho, Lorraine Klaasen, Judith Rodger, Ruth Skinner, Mary Lou and Dan Smoke,  and Lucas Stenning 

COORDINATING EDITORS
Tariq Hassan Gordon & 
Olivia Mossuto

WEB DESIGN & SOCIAL MEDIA 
Tariq Hassan Gordon, Ira Kazi, Olivia Mossuto, Niloufar Salimi,  JoAnna Weil 

VIRTUAL TOUR
Andreas Buchwaldt

PRINT PUBLICATIONS
Blessy Augustine, Shelley Kopp, 
Olivia Mossuto

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Andreas Buchwaldt, Blessy Augustine, Anahí González, Ira Kazi, ​Shelley Kopp, Ashar Mobeen, Niloufar Salimi,  Jenna Rose Sands, JoAnna Weil & Michelle Wilson. 

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OUR STORY
Artists Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner and jazz musician Eric Stach founded the Embassy Cultural House (1983-1990) located in the restaurant portion of the Embassy Hotel at 732 Dundas Street in East London. Other former members of the board were: Debrann Eastabrook, Henry Eastabrook, Sharron Forrest, Wyn Geleynse, Janice Gurney, Jean Hay (1929 - 2008), Doug Mitchell, Kim Moodie, Gerard Pas, Peter Rist, Wanda Sawicki, Jean Spence and Jennie White. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Embassy Cultural House was re-envisioned as a virtual artist-run space and website. 

This project is supported by the Ontario Arts Council and the London Arts Council through the City of London's Community Arts Investment Program.
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Thank you to our partners

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E M B A S S Y  C U L T U R A L  H O U S E . C A

​London, Ontario is on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Lenape, Attawandaron and Huron-Wendat peoples, at the forks of Deshkan Ziibi (Antler River), an area subject to the Dish with One Spoon Wampum and other treaties.

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  • Background
    • Past Programming >
      • Exhibitions 1983-1990 >
        • Index of Curators
        • Index of Photographers
        • Index of Visual Artists
      • Film 1983-1990
      • Music 1983-1990 >
        • Index of Musicians
      • Performances 1983-1990 >
        • Index of Performers
    • Embassy Hotel History
  • About