Illuminated Niagara Falls

“Illuminated Niagara Falls,” a mixed-media installation, group exhibition “Untitled,” at the AHVA Gallery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver Canada, 2016

My installation “Illuminated Niagara Falls” consists of five hundred photos of foreign migrant workers, five bottles of “illuminated” water from Niagara Falls souvenir shop, and two fruit baskets from Ontario farms. The Niagara Falls is a Canadian icon, yet few realize that behind the Niagara Falls, there are tens of thousands of foreign farm workers laboring in the orchards. The history of foreign workers in the region goes back to the 1960s, yet their contributions to the country are often overlooked. The hardworking migrant workers remain unknown and anonymous; yet it is them who bring color and illumination to our Niagara Falls, not the spotlights that are thrown on at night, nor the colored water in the souvenir shops.