Bungalow Colony (a work in progress)

We discussed what we wanted to do as a collective and what has brought us here to this point. We realized that the four of us have had similar experiences (leaving home and living in another place), are the same age and are now going through similar things. We discussed that in Japan (when ACOFO began) we were all in a transitional time of our lives and now that we are all back in Toronto and Hamilton, we are beginning to “settle” or become more grounded here. We then explored ideas of settlement and home and came up with the concept of Bungalow Colony.

This is a draft/work in progress.

Bungalow Colony: The Portability of Home/Settling Up

A Collection of Foreign Objects: How we arrived at Bungalow Colony
Now that we are not foreign objects; what sort of objects are we?
We are settling > settlement > colony
Bungalow Colony (observed on a sign for a trailer park)

The title of the exhibition is catchy in its absurdity; the irony of the phrase sparked our imagination. Dressing up the everyday and presenting it as something new is often at the core of our themes; humour is an integral component. This led us to ruminations on the portable nature of home. “Home is where the heart is” “Home is where my stuff is” What is the enduring notion of home vs. the portable notion of home? Our members have spent portions of their lives living in other countries; in other parts of this country, and we often think about where “home” is and what that means. Homeland, nationhood, what does it mean to be of a place but not from that place? These questions and others intrigue us and provide us with fertile terrain for a new exhibition.

How Bungalow Colony fits with Gendai Gallery’s Mandate
The Japanese-Canadian Cultural Centre created a physical space and community to celebrate Japanese-Canadian heritage over 40 years ago. The Gendai Gallery resides in the home of the JCCC and this show will respond to ideas of settlement and community. The Gendai Gallery serves the community and all members will be able to relate to the concept of the portability of the home as well as bring their own stories and interpretations to the exhibition.