In 1958, inside the Parisian Iris Clert Gallery, French avant-garde movement artist Yves Klein emptied an entire exhibition space of an art gallery. Visitors upon lifting the blue curtains at the entrance, enter an empty exhibition hall. Although Klein’s original intention was to provide viewers a monochromatic visual experience, he simultaneously became the pioneer of taking the space known as the “White Cube” as the subject of the exhibition itself. Two years later, in 1960, Arman, a distinctive figure of Neo-Realist art, filled an entire exhibition space of the same gallery with discarded materials, but visitors were required to view the exhibition outside of closed doors and display windows. The invitation to this exhibition, titled Full-Up, was a sardine can full of handwritten texts. To this day, the term “White Cube” has become synonymous with art galleries and spaces; nevertheless, it is no longer an adequate description for today’s artist-run institutes. We hope to replace the word “space” with “sardine,” because other than exhibitions, an artist-run space also carries curatorial and publishing functions, as it can also be a site for artist residencies and bookstores among many other roles.
This institution was founded by Vancouver based artists and curators Steven Dragonn & Dr. Xiaoyan Yang, who are originally from Canton, China, hence the name “Canton-sardine.”
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關於我們
在1958年巴黎的Iris Clert畫廊，法國前衛藝術運動藝術家伊夫·克萊因（Yves Klein）將整間畫廊的展廳騰空，觀眾掀開入口的藍色帷幕進入空無一物的展廳。克萊因原意是為觀眾提供一個視覺上完全單色的體驗，然而卻開創性地把被稱作“白立方”的空間變成了展覽的主體。兩年後的1960年，另一位新現實主義代表人物阿爾曼（Arman）用廢棄物品將同一畫廊的全部空間塞滿，前來出席開幕式的觀眾則被迫呆在禁閉的大門與櫥窗之外觀展。而這個展覽的邀請函則是一個被寫滿字蹟的紙張塞滿的沙丁魚罐頭。延至今天，“白立方”一詞已然成為當代藝術中畫廊或者空間的代名詞。然而這並非一個符合目前非盈利藝術家自運營機構的描述。我們希望用“沙丁（Sardine）”一詞代替“空間（Space）”，因為非盈利藝術家自運營機構除展覽外，還肩負策展、出版、藝術家駐地，甚至書店等功能，麻雀雖小五臟俱全，滿滿的內容才是機構的本身。
鹹水埠是廣東人對溫哥華唐人街的舊稱，過去溫哥華唐人街的主要組成就是來自廣東的華人。因此沿用鹹水阜一詞與本機構所在地互相呼應，恰好本機構也是由廣東籍藝術家及策展人龍邃洋與楊小彥發起。而“沙丁”一詞也使用廣東話的音譯“沙甸”，與“鹹水埠”組成一個全新的名詞“沙甸鹹水埠”。
沙甸 = 藝術家自運營機構
鹹水埠 = 溫哥華唐人街
沙甸鹹水埠 = 溫哥華唐人街的藝術家自運營機構
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CANTON-SARDINE 