The City of Many
BFA Project 2025
March 20 鈥� April 5, 2025
Audain Gallery 鈥� SFU School for the Contemporary Arts
149 West Hastings St, Vancouver
Opening Reception: Wednesday, March 19, 6:00 PM 鈥� 8:00 PM
With Sanodya Adikari, Yeganeh Bakhtiary, Regie Batac, Hanna Baxter, Alex Chan, Tracey Ho, Misaki Kubo, Naomi Oko, Claire O鈥橬eil, Amrit Randhawa, Natasha Sran, Ella Oriye Tani, Jiani Wang, Emma Wilkinson, Jenny Yu, and Kepei Elliana Zheng.
The BFA third-year exhibition, The City of Many, explores urban life through themes of identity, diversity, economics, history, and the built landscape. Drawing inspiration from work on urban spaces by Martha Rosler, Margit Mayer, and Rosalyn Deutsche, the exhibition presents a range of perspectives that reflect the urban environment鈥檚 diverse communities and its role as a creative city.
In The City of Many, the urban environment is envisioned as a fluid and multi-layered space 鈥� one where histories, cultures, and identities intersect, while underlying power structures seek to shape its transformation. This exhibition focuses on the multiple urban narratives 鈥� interwoven memories, the temporality of architecture, and the nuanced relationships between individuals and urban spaces.
The third-year cohort worked in collaboration with Professor Sabine Bitter and Spring 2025 Audain Visual Artist in Residence Sandy Kaltenborn to explore the role of art and artists in the ever-shifting urban landscape. Kaltenborn鈥檚 experience using his design practice for urban activism and grassroots organization is reflected in his participatory questionnaire for this exhibition, which encourages visitors to answer questions about local urban issues.
This exhibition is an invitation to rethink the city 鈥� not just in terms of its appearance and function but also through the emotions, histories, and social dynamics it carries. In the context of Vancouver and other cities, we invite viewers to listen, question, and engage, exploring how we might redefine the ownership of the city, and imagine a more inclusive and diverse urban future amidst the waves of globalized urban renewal.
The City of Many is presented by The Audain Visual Artist in Residence (AVAIR) program.
The AVAIR program brings artists and practitioners to Vancouver who have contributed significantly to the field of contemporary art and whose work resonates with local and international visual art discourses. The AVAIR program is generously funded by the Audain Foundation Endowment Fund.
Events
Opening Reception
Wednesday, March 19, 6:00 PM 鈥� 8:00 PM
Talk: Sandy Kaltenborn
Tuesday, March 25, 6:00 PM
Long Table
Thursday, March 27, 5:00 PM 鈥� 7:00 PM
Student Lead Tour
Saturday, April 5, 2:00 PM
All events at the Audain Gallery.
