The Kelowna Art Gallery|
In partnership with
The Alternator Gallery
Presents  

NAPA NORTH by Henry Tsang
Opening reception and wine tasting Wednesday, June 11 at 7:30pm  

Napa North is a solo photography and video exhibition by Henry Tsang, accompanied by wine tastings, workshops, lectures, demonstrations and screenings. Over the past year, Vancouver-based artist Henry Tsang worked with local stakeholders in the wine, land development and cultural communities to develop language around their hopes and concerns as the Okanagan continues to grow at its current frenetic pace.

Presented in three locations — the Kelowna Art Gallery, Alternator Gallery, and Art Gallery of the South Okanagan in Penticton — Napa North will launch at the Independent Media Art Alliance Conference and Festival on June 10, 2008 in Kelowna. A programme of lectures, workshops, and demonstrations will culminate in a presentation at the Okanagan Fall Wine Festival Public Tasting in Penticton .  

Napa North explores the meteoric growth of the BC wine industry and the concurrent real estate boom in the Okanagan Corridor. As residents from larger urban centres flock to the region to invest in a less hectic lifestyle in an idealized healthful environment, local orchards and farms are being converted to vineyards and subdivisions. This project asks about the global forces at play in the creation of this ecstatic expansion. What histories are reconstructed when land is prepared for new development? How are individual and cultural identities affected as the Okanagan shifts away from agricultural production and becomes an increasingly upscale urban space promising the possibilities of luxury living?

Napa North has involved the participation of Susan Brandoli, Susan Bizecki and Terra Long; wineries such as Calona Vineyards, Mt. Boucherie, NK’Mip Cellars, Quail’s Gate, and Summerhill; Okanagan Hills Development/The Rise; CedarCreek Winery/Greata Ranch; UBC Okanagan, Casorso’s Farm; Okanagan Wine Festival; Osoyoos Indian Band, Desert Cultural Centre, and in particular Modesta Betterton, for her translation and teaching of the N'syilxcen (Okanagan) language.  

Henry Tsang is an artist, independent curator and educator whose work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally. He is Head of Critical and Cultural Studies at the Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design in Vancouver and is also working on an interactive public work of art connecting Vancouver ’s False Creek with the Dubai Marina in the United Arab Emirates .