Dealing with homeostasis:

reframing the contribution of
immigrant artists

A quick google search would define homeostasis as a tendency toward a stable equilibrium between interdependent elements within an entity. A more cumbersome google search would list a number of comments about how artist’s voices from the diversity feel drowned by the lack of visibility within la belle province. A sustainable art career is grown, foster and flourish through the loving care of a healthy environment while the drought of support gives way to a feeling of invisibility. One might say that art is in the eye of the beholder, which in our context, is subsumed to the gaze of their peers and their recognitions through grants, diffusions, and writing on the artist’s works. One might be led astray to think that the gaze of a reviewing panel is anything but impartial.

Within a colonizer’s (host) mindset, immigrants identity politics seem to take a backseat to favor a concerns for aesthetically pleasing proposition leaning toward the sublime and prostrate itself to the ideas of Kantian enlightenment; An art un-embedded within class or race which it (the colonizer) find abject as it cannot fathom it’s existence beyond mere trivialities through its privilege viewpoint unless it comes from an emblematic subaltern: a model minority. The voice of the subaltern act as a chorus for the ethos of which a homeostasis state must be preserved. As an immigrant artist, the experience is conditioned by the gaze of the host: a form of double alienation: first as an immigrant and secondly as an artist. A model minority simply has to gracefully acquiesce in his duty as a citizen – abide by the local law and be as neighborly as possible. As an artist, as a subaltern, and as a minority one has to join the ethos of the chorus to be validated. The entry price for the model minority comes as no surprise but as to serve as a foil for the host’s heroic endeavor within the art world. Hoping that the host might be inclined to give way to the labor of a select tokenized individuals who are enlightened by the rhizome of the host’s hegemony or wish itself (the host) to pander to the current whim of the market; a flavor of the month type of thing indulgently and with parsimony.

The immigrant artist occupies an unenvious liminal space in-between being either beneficial, detrimental or inconsequential in Quebec’s policy to promote its own culture. Rather than being seen as a de facto active agent; the immigrant artist’s potency has to be both quantified and qualified; appraised at first glance rather than simply appreciated. The lived experience has to be assumed through mostly unpaid labor and cultural deprivation within the art community to “pay their dues”; without truly claiming any roots greater or equal to the host. The systemic retribution of which often leads to the alienation of racializing individuals who do not wish to engage with this incessant system of pandering to a privileged viewpoint. Unless one is being part of a greater narrative sustaining the promotion of Quebec’s culture to some extent: Self-exile or being deprived of a sustainable art career seems to be the only alternatives thus far. The point of contention is to be able to grasp both the genuine effect born of the insecurity and self-preservation of the francophone’s culture embedded within a notion of privilege and the immigrant artist’s lived experience. Bridging the aforementioned gap is often overlook while mishandling the voice of immigrant artists. This fact is often excused by the formal recursion, mostly in state-backed endeavors, of an anonymous, dysmorphic, androgynous and un-colorized caucus of peer reviewers enabled by a mindset genuinely believing to have Quebec’s art institutions best interest at heart in its dis-articulation.

What is then the true place of the immigrant artist beyond being a disfranchise individuals in the cusp of a host benefitting from the spoil of colonial endeavor? Is there a space for this individual beyond tokenization or does the reframing of the lived experience participate in silencing the omnipresent chorus of Quebec’s own root identity? To define that Quebec’s art institutions require a decolonized rehauling one can infer on the idea of nativism. Where the white man’s art has a view of a universalist art at his behest a western-centric endeavor part of political criteria of appreciation undermining any culturally foreign contributions locally. An incident come to my mind as a three-person publication was in the progress which included me. The chosen writer, who had a great relationship with the two other artists, did not spend time questioning my work and would rather base himself on previously written documents about me in order to save time. Resulting in a very dry section on my practice which also ended in this way: “If we dig deeper into Mot’s work we find him to be a victim”. The previous sentence was underlined and brought forth to me for approval by the writer himself which he cites as very sensitive but relevant; the manuscript as a whole was also deemed by the other artists as a great work that should not need any changes. As I mulled it over I couldn’t comprehend how someone would casually come to that conclusion which overstates the importance of giving me a victimizing voice somehow to differentiate myself from the others. As I rejected the final draft, I have never heard about the document nor the other artists again.

Those micro-aggressions “made in Quebec” motivated by privilege did not luckily shape my career but made me wonder about those who are subjected to them on a regular basis. As unnecessary self-doubt, lost of confidence and constant reframing of an artwork and person one would be subjected to in order to abide by a host’s narrative leading them to become their foils would be made on a systemic basis; All through the diverse level of the art community to the institutions promoting a sense of alienation. As we advance into an era of identity politics and questioning one can wonder about the structures and policies in place. The irony is that this undertaking of viewing Quebec’s assimilation policy is intrinsic to its promotion of art through its taxpayer’s contributions. My civic effort to foster the promotion of more transparent endeavors within Quebec’s highly bureaucratic art council are met with denegations and blunt protectionism. One that is committed to abiding by a jury’s decisions during grant selections, without the necessity to stand by them, under the guise of neutrality – thus disengaging themselves with any systemic discrimination. As a state back endeavor, it also fails at protecting the artist and especially the artist of color as an applicant, for which I’ve also notified the Quebec Ministry of Culture but my mails have been met with vague acknowledgments and dismissive remarks.

On another personal account, the actions of the Delegation of Quebec in New York have been rather disturbing. As a Quebec, born artist myself, a colleague of mine invited me to a private event; following the lead of a more senior artist who also invited a plethora of artists without any formalities at the Quebec Art House in New York. As a courtesy, I notified by email the Delegation of Quebec in New York of my interest in the event and ask if I could attend. The Delegation did not respond to my query promptly but instead took the time to chastized my colleague for letting me know about the private event. When I finally received a reply I was notified of four things in a very jovial and casual tone; 1: The Delegation was afraid that I would homogenize the event with my added flavor of “Québécois” by my presence; 2: That some peoples have expressed that they would be uncomfortable with my presence and said they would recuse themselves if I would attend; 3: If I decide to attend, I will not be removed from the premice; 4: And that neither the celebrated artist nor the president of the Delegation himself had any problem with my presence. No particular emphasis or details were given on the fact that my colleague was thoroughly criticized for disclosing the event with me nor that some people expressed concerns with my presence, a Quebec born artist, at the private event.

In reflection, the dispossession of artists of color of belongingness is inherent to its approval by the larger art community within the province. Have we move on beyond the myth of the “noble savage” one that can only be either tokenized, subordinate to a gazing western ethos or seen as a coercive strength which threatens the homeostasis of its assimilations policies. Will the immigrant artist and the artist of color always be constructed, embodied within a secular space, as a cultural threat thinly veiled under political correctness? One that is meant to be invisible and docile until given the right to speak. As we move forward toward the future, the reframing of the artist of color and by extension the immigrant would create an engaging context underlining their role within a modern re-contextualization of Quebec’s identity policy and art promotion abroad while participating in the decolonization of contemporary art within the western hemisphere.