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Currents, 2021
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ECH: Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Ruby Singh and I am an interdisciplinary artist and facilitator living on the unceded lands of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ/Selilwitulh Nations colonially known as Vancouver BC. I am the first of my family born on Turtle Island and am a grateful son, brother, chacha, thaiya, cousin, partner and friend. ECH: Briefly describe your practice. My creativity crosses the boundaries of music, poetry, visual art, photography and film. My expressions engage with mythos, memory, identity, justice and fantasy; where the surreal can shatter the boundaries of the real, is where I get real inspiration. As a composer and sound designer I have worked with theatre and dance companies across Canada, as well as creating numerous scores for the National Film Board and other independent films to critical acclaim. My personal and collaborative works have been presented across Turtle Island, India, Germany and the UK. |
ECH: What role does your cultural identity play in your work?
This is a hard question, as my cultural identity is not a separate from me so I'm not sure how to separately examine it from any of myself. It is me. It runs through my heart and mind, flows through my blood into my fingertips out into my work.
ECH: As a person of colour, what challenges do you face navigating the art world?
I mean white supremacy exists everywhere in Canada, so being romanticised or essentialised just follows you no matter what field you work in. Particular to the arts scene, one of the challenges I've faced is being pigeon holed as a "cultural" artist or a "culturally diverse" artist, which extended means not white and not the norm, that shit gets tiring lol. I've been asked to compose for numerous "Indian" plays or films but rarely have I been given the opportunity to create for anything outside that cannon. Also can we talk about this wide swath phrase of "person of colour" I mean how far has that really stepped away from coloured person or non-white. As someone from the Punjabi diaspora person my experience will be vastly different from others who fall into this category. I think, especially in the arts, we could use some imagination when it comes to this and other "identity" terms.
ECH: Could you share a little bit about your experience during the pandemic?
ooof...at the beginning it was definitely a little terrifying, watching my livelihood slip away into some unknown abyss, not knowing what we could do to stop the spread and how it affects people differently. Having to keep my distance from my family and my little brother's newly born twins still hurts, I miss so many people I love...
I definitely leaned into my creativity alot to deal with this sense of loneliness and as things have opened and closed and opened again, I have been able to work creatively with other folx. One of the things i'm most excited about is coming up at the end of June is a 4D sound installation of a project I lead called Vox.infold, keep your ears tuned for it and if your in the Vancouver area you can actually check it out in person. It feels like we are far away from a return to normalcy. Right now watching what's happening in India and the extreme neglect, idiocracy and callousness of the Modi government is heart breaking to say the least.
ECH: Do you think a dedicated “Asian Heritage Month” in Canada is still relevant? If so, could you give an example of how it is a benefit to you and the general public? If not, could you offer an alternative approach for rethinking this month and/or raising awareness of Asian cultural issues?
I think Asian Heritage Month is still relevant in awareness but it's far from the most effective. I can't remember where I read it but one post I saw said something to the effect of, "Asian heritage month is white supremacies way of saying you all look the same" and that definitely stung with some truth to it. For an alternative approach, include us in your text books, include us in your art galleries and museums, instill us into your curriculum and not just this wide swath of "Asia's" 4.5 billion person population. Write about what we've contributed to health, the arts, engineering, architecture, agriculture, mysticism, poetry, music, astronomy, math and the sciences throughout history and teach the public about them. Thats how folx will truly gain an understanding of the vastness and many cultures of Asia, not just another stamp at the post office.
This is a hard question, as my cultural identity is not a separate from me so I'm not sure how to separately examine it from any of myself. It is me. It runs through my heart and mind, flows through my blood into my fingertips out into my work.
ECH: As a person of colour, what challenges do you face navigating the art world?
I mean white supremacy exists everywhere in Canada, so being romanticised or essentialised just follows you no matter what field you work in. Particular to the arts scene, one of the challenges I've faced is being pigeon holed as a "cultural" artist or a "culturally diverse" artist, which extended means not white and not the norm, that shit gets tiring lol. I've been asked to compose for numerous "Indian" plays or films but rarely have I been given the opportunity to create for anything outside that cannon. Also can we talk about this wide swath phrase of "person of colour" I mean how far has that really stepped away from coloured person or non-white. As someone from the Punjabi diaspora person my experience will be vastly different from others who fall into this category. I think, especially in the arts, we could use some imagination when it comes to this and other "identity" terms.
ECH: Could you share a little bit about your experience during the pandemic?
ooof...at the beginning it was definitely a little terrifying, watching my livelihood slip away into some unknown abyss, not knowing what we could do to stop the spread and how it affects people differently. Having to keep my distance from my family and my little brother's newly born twins still hurts, I miss so many people I love...
I definitely leaned into my creativity alot to deal with this sense of loneliness and as things have opened and closed and opened again, I have been able to work creatively with other folx. One of the things i'm most excited about is coming up at the end of June is a 4D sound installation of a project I lead called Vox.infold, keep your ears tuned for it and if your in the Vancouver area you can actually check it out in person. It feels like we are far away from a return to normalcy. Right now watching what's happening in India and the extreme neglect, idiocracy and callousness of the Modi government is heart breaking to say the least.
ECH: Do you think a dedicated “Asian Heritage Month” in Canada is still relevant? If so, could you give an example of how it is a benefit to you and the general public? If not, could you offer an alternative approach for rethinking this month and/or raising awareness of Asian cultural issues?
I think Asian Heritage Month is still relevant in awareness but it's far from the most effective. I can't remember where I read it but one post I saw said something to the effect of, "Asian heritage month is white supremacies way of saying you all look the same" and that definitely stung with some truth to it. For an alternative approach, include us in your text books, include us in your art galleries and museums, instill us into your curriculum and not just this wide swath of "Asia's" 4.5 billion person population. Write about what we've contributed to health, the arts, engineering, architecture, agriculture, mysticism, poetry, music, astronomy, math and the sciences throughout history and teach the public about them. Thats how folx will truly gain an understanding of the vastness and many cultures of Asia, not just another stamp at the post office.
