Taien Ng-Chan
Assistant Professor
Department of Cinema and Media Arts, York University
Research keywords: Experimental processes; urban mapping; sound art; futurist imaginings of everyday life in the Asian Diaspora; immersive cinema
Taien Ng-Chan is a writer, media artist and Assistant Professor in Cinema and Media Arts, and holds a PhD in Humanities (Fine Arts) from Concordia University’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture (CISSC). Her research explores experimental processes of urban mapping, sound art, and futurist imaginings of everyday life in the Asian Diaspora through immersive cinema, both in VR headset and dome projection modes.
Her writing ranges from scholarly work in such publications as Intermediality and Humanities, to books and anthologies of creative writing, to drama for stage, screen and CBC Radio. She has shown her media works in film festivals, art galleries and conference events across Canada and internationally, including at the Biennale internationale d’art numérique in Montréal, Toronto’s ReelAsian Film Festival, the International Mobile Innovation Screenings in New Zealand, Waterloo’s Lumen Festival, the Art Gallery of Windsor, and the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Taien is currently Chair of the Commission for Art and Cartography at the International Cartographic Association, one half of the Hamilton Perambulatory Unit (with artist Donna Akrey), and one half of Centre for Margins (with artist Carmela Laganse). She has received numerous grants from SSHRC, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. In 2019, she won the City of Hamilton Established Artist Award for Media Arts as well as the AMPD Junior Faculty Teaching Award. Her most recent publications detail her experiences dealing with the pandemic and subsequent rise of anti-Asian hate, particularly her essay “Marginal Walking,” where she proposes a critically creative framework to nourish and support the spaces of the margins as a corrective and a prescription to the stresses of everyday racism.
Her writing ranges from scholarly work in such publications as Intermediality and Humanities, to books and anthologies of creative writing, to drama for stage, screen and CBC Radio. She has shown her media works in film festivals, art galleries and conference events across Canada and internationally, including at the Biennale internationale d’art numérique in Montréal, Toronto’s ReelAsian Film Festival, the International Mobile Innovation Screenings in New Zealand, Waterloo’s Lumen Festival, the Art Gallery of Windsor, and the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Taien is currently Chair of the Commission for Art and Cartography at the International Cartographic Association, one half of the Hamilton Perambulatory Unit (with artist Donna Akrey), and one half of Centre for Margins (with artist Carmela Laganse). She has received numerous grants from SSHRC, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. In 2019, she won the City of Hamilton Established Artist Award for Media Arts as well as the AMPD Junior Faculty Teaching Award. Her most recent publications detail her experiences dealing with the pandemic and subsequent rise of anti-Asian hate, particularly her essay “Marginal Walking,” where she proposes a critically creative framework to nourish and support the spaces of the margins as a corrective and a prescription to the stresses of everyday racism.