immigrantscanada.com

Independent topical source of current affairs, opinion and issues, featuring stories making news in Canada from immigrants, newcomers, minorities & ethnic communities' point of view and interests.

Jason Kenney and Citizen Kenney

Citizen Kenney: The pair have addressed history, diaspora and immigration from a queer perspective in works like Citizen Kenney, their campy video send-up of then immigration minister Jason Kenney part of 2013s Thats So Gay at the Gladstone , and Border Sounds, a disco with headphone-played tunes based on passport texts 2011s Nuit Blanche . Less overtly queer and humorous, Silent Citizen moves toward a more disturbing experience, according to NOW. Then the test begins. A voice asks you to read phrases aloud from karaoke-style screens. Between prompts, the screens hold the word for uncomfortably long periods. Is it a simple description or an ominous command that makes you wonder what you must not speak of? The interrogation-style light shining on the table adds to the atmosphere of intimidation and compliance and In a mall housing purveyors of Chinese herbal medicines, Asian DVDs and colourful childrens clothing, an innocuous-looking institutional-style sign announces the presence of Silent Citizen. Inside the bland retail space, a solitary desk holds a microphone and a start button. The set-up, mimicking Service Canada offices, is the latest participatory installation by Bambitchell, Toronto collaborators Sharlene Bamboat and Alexis Mitchell. Inside the room, a jumble of voices reciting phrases from the language test that Kenney instituted as a requirement for citizenship plays over speakers. All goes quiet when you sit down at the table and press the button. A condescending government video about immigrating to Canada plays with only minor interventions by the artists. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.