Surjit Mehat's acrylic on wood paintings are abstracted formal depictions of women in traditional garb. His smaller two pieces almost leave representation behind, and in so doing, with a clearer palette, move toward a bolder graphic quality.

Kauser Nigita's woodcuts, drypoint, and etchings refer most directly to classical Indian art history and mythology. Her dream-like illustrations place women in various poses in fantastical landscapes, infused with a feminine essence.

Paul Pahal's loud paintings, with shiny stones and cloth imbedded into the bright paint, point almost to a decorative tradition of whimsy, if notforthe references in his abstractions to the American Formalist tradition. It is a fusion of cultural influences.

On opening night, the speechmakings, poetry readings, and supportive audience created a sense of community. And there was the feeling of completion. "I wish this had been done long ago" sighed an exhausted Shani Mootoo in conversation that evening; such a statement requires contextualizing.

As the first of its type, as a community-building project, there is inevitably the burden of responsibility to present positive imagery. The pressure to propose a single, unproblematic view of what is usually fractured and polyperspectival is the result of two very different strategies for survival. One is to present a front of solidarity to the outside, resisting divide-and-conquer manoeuvres from institutions and the status quo. The other is to maintain the sufferance and traditions of silence that non-white, non-anglo peoples have utilized to endure the racism they have faced in Canada. Hence the need exists to present a general overview of South Asian art, to present an image of a community to the outside, where the construction of that larger 'public' is still generally perceived (regressively, I believe) to be 'white.'

Chris Creighton-Kelly, in the catalogue introduction, writes that the exhibition 'does not represent itself as exhaustive.'

Such first shows from the 'marginalized' are invariably surveys, and are seldom coherent or consistent. They are held together by the sheer will to work together in order to refute their marginality. They constitute a coming-of-age, demanding mainstream exposure because it is their right and should be their privilege as well.

Meanwhile, the diversity and accessibility of traditions, religions, and ethnicities are concomitantly displaying to the communities within. This reference, again, to the inside and outside is not to set up a dichotomy, but to argue that they occupy separate states. Rather, these spaces overlap, and more so, they contain each other. The view of the outside is just as fabricated as the image of the inside, and both are constructions of the other And so the artists in to visit the tiger occupy these spaces simultaneously. They have experiences so unique that no comparison can be made. Together in this exhibition, their participation speaks of a commonality, a commonality of differences.

Amir Ali Alibhai

As an artist I have been concerned with the search for self and home by reclaiming themes, media, images, techniques and the history of my South Asian/Ismaili roots. I present and re-present these through my experience as a western-educated and ‘assimilated’ Canadian. And like my ancestors, I also have a taste for story- telling, decorating, adorning and exaggerating...The basis of my aesthetic is that ‘there is no empty space.’

Ameen Gill

For the past five years my predominant mode of artistic expression has been stone lithography...I’m attracted to the older parts of town where the buildings show signs of decomposition, of being weathered-of-time.We often say that these neighbourhoods have character and that is a human quality. That these build- ings show signs of decomposition makes them feel, to me, full of energy, full of life. In my prints I try to convey these feelings.

Badru Jamal

...Painting becomes a form of meditation, of contentment.There is an excitement, a satisfaction he feels in being able to work solitaire, absorbed by his subject, his colours and by the very act of putting paintbrush to paper...(He) chooses subjects that speak of contrast: old and new; decaying and growing; de- tailed and obscured. He is interested in colour, light and shade, capturing the details in layering...

Sherazad Jamal

I am keenly aware of being culturally schizophrenic...The only time I feel ‘at home’ is when I am creating. It means that I define the boundaries—boundaries don’t define me...The fissure that exists in Western theory between art and every- day life concerns me...I think that art comes from life, from experience, from context...My work is to be touched, felt, utilized...And when it leaves the sacred setting of the gallery, it integrates back into my everyday life.

Parminder Mann

My works are mainly collages, using a variety of methods such as photographs, pen and ink drawings, cheese-cloth, paint, plaster and occasionally, text...(I) need to express my diverse and conflicting cultural roots, and my inability to fully integrate into India, English or Canadian Society. Modern life has created this new generation of displaced individuals search- ing for their own identity. My art is the process of finding that identity.

Sur Mehat

...From the beginning of my green- walled, desks-in-straight-rows education, I was expected to rely on and revere the assumed authority of overbearing and seemingly omnipresent patriarchal value judgements–Western European/English Canadian/White American–as the truth, as the way things are...The only moment of lucidity came when fact became prefixed suddenly (and irreversibly) with white male subjectivity, Eurocentric, phallocentric, etc. It is with this strategy that I re-view my Archive. It is from this position that I explore questionable historicity as the basis of a shifting identity.

Surjit Mehat

...Growing up in Canada and being surrounded by so few, if any, images on oneself creates a sort of multiple, split personality...In terms of art and art practice...(s)uddenly you are transformed into a South Asian artist. I think living beyond a stereotype is one of the hardest things to do. Yet as an artist of colour you become surrounded by what people want you to be. These wants include such categories as the exotic, passive, sensual, mystical vessel that is forever other. This other is always on the fringes of dialogue. It is the subject of discourse, never the enunciator of it.

Kausar Nigita

Printmaking appeals to me because of its long tradition and its ritualistic nature...I do not like my subjects to be anchored in time and space. I prefer them to be light with a timeless quality about them...I seek to create a dream-like atmosphere in my images, similar to the state of dream-like, mystic contemplation evoked by Sufi poets. My Indo- Persian roots are apparent in my style which is sometimes ornate, sometimes calligraphic, sometimes both.

Paul Pahal

...My work over the past few years has concentrated on the colours and patterns of our culture. More recent work incorporates silk sarees and other fabrics...The main influence in the manner of painting is abstract expression with definite focus on Hoffmann, Pollock and Kline...Utilizing my heritage and upbringing, my pieces should convey two points of view:...my South Asian background, (and) my Western influences.

Ranjan Sen

Attraction to nature is obvious to my recent works. I want my paintings to be subtle, subliminal reminders to the viewer of how fragile and precarious the balance in nature is. These works are a witness and a reminder so that we don’t spoil it all but at the same time I want the viewer to enjoy and revel in the magic of movement, colour and aroma and wonder how and where one wants to fit in the scheme of things.

Shamina Senaratne

This piece grew out of the realization that I am only able to direct my life with ease and grace when I recognize who I am and where I come from. What cultures do I come from? What countries have I come from? What religions have influenced me the most? What perspectives flow from this collage and patchwork that makes up my background? What perspectives flow from my lands, seas and resources?...The patches, motifs and fabrics that make up this work come from Canada, Sri Lanka, Kenya, India, Pakistan and England. Inspiration for the designs came from Canadian heritage quilts, the work in La- hore Fort and Sri Lankan temple border patterns.

Waheeda Tejani-Byron

During one particular art education course we were asked to draw a house we once lived in. This assignment triggered a series of drawings, paintings and prints based on my memories of Africa. I was able to recall... happy childhood memories without reference to the political conditions. My Indian cultural heritage was still absent in my work. Then after my trip to India in 1985, this aspect of my identity started to manifest itself in my art, either through memories of my visit or imaginative interpretations of its folklore.