[BCMA] Richmond Art Gallery’s Ongoing / Pacific Crossings fosters cultural exchange between Japan and Canada

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Richmond Art Gallery’s Ongoing / Pacific Crossings fosters cultural exchange between Japan and Canada
International exhibition launches alongside new banner series that highlights local Indigenous artists

JUNE 16, 2026 (VANCOUVER, BC) — This summer, Richmond Art Gallery presents Ongoing / Pacific Crossings from July 25–Oct. 4, 2026. Curated by independent curator Makiko Hara and Nozomu Ogawa, Director of Tokyo’s Art Center Ongoing (Ongoing), the exhibition is the culmination of a seven-year cultural exchange between the RAG, Ongoing and Hara. On view will be works by Japanese artists Marico Aoki, Maiko Jinushi, Shiho Kagabu, Takuro Kotaka, Mineki Murata, Aoi Nakamura, Kento Nito, Hiroyuki Oki, Haruka Saito, Yusuke Shibata, Masahiro Wada, and Canadian Karilynn Ming Ho, spanning multiple disciplines such as drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and video. Simultaneously, RAG is pleased to launch its new annual Indigenous Banner Series with Manuel Axel Strain’s vibrant work xʷən̓iwən ce:p kʷθəθ nəw̓eyəł, meaning “Remember your teachings” in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓.

“Since 2019, we’ve been growing meaningful connections between emerging artists, curators, and arts organizations in Richmond, Vancouver, and Tokyo through our collaboration with Art Center Ongoing, a pioneer in Japanese contemporary art,” says Shaun Dacey, Director of Richmond Art Gallery. “As Richmond is a key centre of Japanese-Canadian history and culture, this project fosters dialogue around shared histories, diasporic experience, and contemporary cultural expression. We were also inspired by the accessible and community-driven cultural engagement that Ongoing does so well in their multifunctional gallery/cafe space. In the same vein, we are excited to host artist-led events, hot-pot gatherings, Japanese-language tours, and other programming throughout the duration of Ongoing / Pacific Crossings.”

Hara adds: “Today in Tokyo, there are countless established public and private contemporary art museums, international exhibitions, art fairs, commercial galleries, and collaborations between artists and high-end fashion brands. However, there is also growing demand for independent alternative spaces — like Art Center Ongoing — that dare to defy the mainstream and function as experimental venues. These crucial venues ask the fundamental question of what constitutes art, while also reflecting a need for opportunities for free expression, gathering, and exchange. With this subtext, Ongoing / Pacific Crossings invites viewers to imagine liberating possibilities for ‘alternativeness’ in both art and life.”

The genesis of Ongoing / Pacific Crossings stems from Pacific Crossings (PC), a curatorial initiative organized by Dacey, Hara, and other BC-based curators. Its goal is to develop new relationships with artists, curators, and arts organizations in Asia. PC provides a wide range of platforms for dialogue and exchange, such as curatorial and artistic residencies, online talks and lectures, screening events, workshops, and exhibitions. PC facilitated its first exchange in 2019, with Ogawa meeting with local artists and sharing the work of Ongoing with Vancouver audiences. In 2022, Ming Ho held an artist residency at Ongoing where she presented her video work Butterfly Dreams. Most recently, Shibata conducted artistic research in Richmond and Vancouver in March 2026, in preparation for a new work that will be featured in Ongoing / Pacific Crossings.

Artists in the exhibition include:

Yusuke Shibata’s works explore ambiguity and uncertainty through photography, video, and sculpture, blurring the lines between reality and fiction. Shibata’s new site-specific, multi-media installation reflects on his recent experiences in Vancouver, addressing the expectations and realities of the Japanese-Canadian immigrant experience. In Japan, Vancouver is perceived as a hub for English language schools and an excellent place to visit for work or vacation. During his trip earlier this year, he interviewed recent Japanese visitors like students and temporary immigrants, and post-war Japanese immigrants to learn about their experiences. His research also delved into historical Japanese-Canadian history, including the local history of Steveston.

Mineki Murata’s installation features 100 white dress shirts adorned with colourful drawings, hanging from the rafters at the entrance of the gallery. These shirts were created during his ongoing performance series, My Back Talk, in which he draws on the back of the shirt that he is wearing. This shirt is then added to future installations. He was inspired by the Japanese saying “speaking with your back,” meaning to communicate through one’s work ethic and attitude. Murata has performed My Back Talk over 50 times throughout Japan and internationally since 2007 and will do so once more at the exhibition opening on July 25.

Vancouver-based interdisciplinary artist Karilynn Ming Ho’s work draws on existential themes as a means to examine formal conceptual ideas around screen culture, technology, performativity, and the body. During her 2022 artist residency at Ongoing she researched the complex interactions between AI technology and humans in Japanese contemporary culture. Ming Ho’s new video work follows a senior who enters a romantic online relationship with an astronaut, but is actually a scam perpetrated by AI and other digital tools.

Also on view is Marico Aoki’s video performance Nurture Feeling of Love (2023), which depicts her worldview in which all human and non-human, living and non-living beings are equal as part of the cycle of life. Shiho Kagabu will create a site-specific installation and video work inspired by Richmond’s rivers and bridges, produced remotely in collaboration with Hara, Ogawa, and Dacey. Haruka Saito will present ceramic sculptures, oil paintings, and drawings in which multiple events in the past, present, future, and elsewhere, are synthesized into a single realm. A dedicated screening room will show a diverse range of experimental video works by six artists, including MIWOKI/SEISEI by the late internationally renowned filmmaker Hiroyuki Oki.

Indigenous Banner Series: Manuel Axel Strain’s xʷən̓iwən ce:p kʷθəθ nəw̓eyəł

This summer, Richmond Art Gallery is thrilled to launch a new public art initiative, with the annual presentation of a new large-scale banner highlighting the artwork of a local Indigenous artist. Installed on the Gallery’s exterior walls facing Minoru Boulevard, the first banner in this series is by Manuel Axel Strain, a gifted artist of Musqueam, Simpcw, and Syilx descent. The banner displays the words xʷən̓iwən ce:p kʷθəθ nəw̓eyəł, hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ for Remember your teachings. Originally handpainted in vibrant colours by the artist for the title wall of their solo exhibition of the same name at RAG in 2025, the banner powerfully asserts the artist’s connection and commitment to their family, the land, and Musqueam knowledge and teachings. Strain’s banner will be on display from July 2026 to July 2027.

Opening Reception
Saturday, July 25, 2–4pm
● Curators’ Tour with Makiko Hara & Nozomu Ogawa: 2–3pm
● Performances by Mineki Murata: 2–4pm

Join guest curator Makiko Hara and Nozomu Ogawa, Director of Art Center Ongoing, for an informal exhibition tour. Throughout the opening, exhibiting artist Mineki Murata will present short performances. Opening reception will immediately follow the tour.

About Richmond Art Gallery
Richmond Art Gallery (RAG) is a non-profit municipal art gallery established in 1980. The Gallery produces an array of exhibitions and programs that connect, empower, and provoke conversation with our diverse Richmond, BC communities. RAG actively contributes to Richmond’s cultural communities through our commitment to supporting artists via its exhibitions, educational programs, publications, and permanent collection.

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604 440 0791
ines at inesmin.com

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