Organised by the Chinese Cultural Centre, Vancouver, 'Self Not Whole' addresses the issues of cultural identity, race, and heritage through artworks, essays, performances, and a special presentation of selected recordings produced by the Pender Guy Radio Collective. The accompanying catalogue includes essays and artist biographies.'

(Abstract source: http://www.aaa.org.hk/Collection/Details/52977)

'"Self Not Whole," by its very title, implies a search for competition, for harmony. In fact, the title i Chinese that we have chosen for this project is indeed "Search"(...). Yet there is a presumption here that ings with an uncomfortbale irony. It is that there can be, even should be, an end goal, a cultural place for the self.

For the purpose of this exhibition, we have selected artists who identity themselves as "Chinese" and who have a stake in such a self-definition. The have shown a commitment to the exploration of their cultural identity, and specifically to what it means to call oneself "Chinese" within a ubiquitously Western society. What they also have in common is an idea that this therm "Chinese" is vage, floating, and perhaps undefinable. They are certainly "Chinese," yet often there seems to be a missing aspect, whether it is fluency in certain languages or dialects, proper training in a particular culinary art, or knowledge of traditional rituals and myths. That they are "Chinese-Canadian" is irrefutable - yet again there are problems of definition, of what constitutes a "Chinese" or a "Canadian" perspective. It is this act of redefinition, of continually reevaluating one's relationship to a cultural background that is assmd to be shared by many, which provides the impetus for this show..."

(Abstract from "Self Not Whole" by Henry Tsang)