This Is How the Asian Spirit Influences the Future of Canadian Art [Part 2]

In the previous post, we started to get acquainted with the magical impact of contemporary Asian artists on the soul and body of Canadian art. If you haven’t read our article devoted to Asian-Canadian fine arts, you should definitely give it a try. And today we go on exploring the topic with a more detailed look at the literature, theatre, and music genres.

Roy Kenzie Kiyooka

Roy Kenzie Kiyooka was a Japanese-born artist working in several genres. Roy Kenzie Kiyooka was a famous poet who participated in many important exhibitions during his lifetime. As a multidisciplinary artist, he created paintings and sculptures and made films and photographs. However, his main popularity he got through writing and poetry.

Vincent Ho

Vincent Ho was born in Ottawa, Ontario. Today, he is a famous Canadian composer who has created many award-winning orchestral, chamber, vocal, and theatre compositions. The New York Times called Vincent Ho brilliant for his contribution to modern art. Some of his works won the particular attention of the public, for example, his Arctic Symphony, concerto The Shaman, and his musical response to the cancer illness – From darkness to light.

Fubuki Daiko

Fubuki Daiko is a drum ensemble that specializes in traditional Japanese drumming. This music is a combination of martial arts, meditation, and modern rhythms. The members of the group were trained by the master of North American Taiko, Grandmaster Seiichi Tanaka. Performers also work as instructors for Fubuki Daiko’s classes and are ready to teach anyone interested in how to use Japanese drums. 

Bif Naked

Bif Naked is an Indian-born musician and singer. She was adopted by American parents who eventually came to Manitoba. Bif is particularly famous for her… optimism. She survived breast cancer, kidney failure, heart surgery, and divorce and still remains popular and performing. In her work, Bif advocates the idea that no matter what happens, everyone has the power to move forward, take care of others, and get stronger.

Kawa Ada

Kawa Ada is an actor and playwright from Toronto. Kawa Ada was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. His family had to leave Afghanistan when he was a kid, because of the war. He lived in India and Switzerland before finally settling in Canada. In his early works, Ada used his experience to tell people about his life as a war refugee and the difficulties to integrate into the Western culture, especially after the September 11 attacks. Today, he is a famous actor, writer, and producer who brought many good plays to the world. 

Marjorie Chan

Marjorie Chan comes from a family of Hong Kong immigrants but has lived all her life in Toronto. Today, she is famous for her works as a writer, director, and dramaturge. You can watch her plays in the US, Scotland, Hong Kong, Russia, and Canada, of course. Marjorie has been nominated for and received many awards for her work. Marjorie Chan worked for many famous theatres, including Gateway Theatre, Cahoots Theatre, Native Earth Performing Arts, Theatre Passe Muraille, Obsidian Theatre, and Theatre du Pif. She creates plays that are staged in the original language with subtitles (say, in Arabic with English subtitles) and cares about the needs of communities while creating her art, which is not that easy. Her team has to think in advance about the interpretation issues, and the convenience of people with some sort of disabilities. Probably, this desire to accommodate the needs of different communities makes her plays so successful.

Keira Loughran

Keira Loughran is third generation Chinese-Canadian who grew up in Toronto, Ontario. At work, Keira often plays strong female characters, such as in Jean Yoon’s The Yoko Ono Project or Marjorie Chan’s China Doll. She co-directed a play Little Dragon which tells the story of a young third-generation Chinese-Canadian woman who considers herself an illegitimate daughter of martial arts legend Bruce Lee. For her plays, Keira Loughran has been nominated for numerous awards and has won many of them.

Hiro Kanagawa

Hiro Kanagawa is a Japanese-Canadian actor and playwright from Japan who moved to Canada. As an actor, he played in many popular series and films, voiced heroes in cartoons, and wrote several stage dramas, such as the award-winning Indian Arm.

Mieko Ouchi

Mieko Ouchi was born in Edmonton, Alberta to a half-Celtic, half-Japanese family. Today she is an actor, filmmaker, musician, and playwright. In her works, she researched her ancestors, in particular the story of her father’s migration from Japan. The artist is also one of the directors of Concrete Theatre. For her work, she was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for her contribution to the arts community of Alberta.For sure, there are way more talented Asian-Canadain artists who bring the incredible taste of Asia to Canadian culture. Who of the modern Asian-Canadian performers do you like? Feel free to share in the comments!