Date: Apr 16, 2024
About the artwork
If We Could Meet Again is an appropriation consisting of three exposures onto one medium-format frame. The resulting silver gelatin print was subsequently painted with yellow water colour.
This artwork is included in the Here & Now exhibition at the Royal Alberta Museum until September 29, 2024. Learn more about the exhibition.
The AFA acquired this artwork through its Art Acquisition by Application program in 2023. This program is designed to acquire contemporary works of art by any eligible Alberta artist.
Artist statement
The following is an excerpt of Raeann Kit-Yee Cheun's artist statement. Read the full statement.
The people in the image are Mr. Wong Quai Lun and his wife in the centre, their son, Calvin, and their daughter, Debbie. When Mr. Wong first arrived in Canada in 1921, he worked in the CPR camps. He also worked as a bus boy before he opened his own general store in Royalties, Alberta. The notion of the yellow steam on the image illustrates Mr. Wong's involvement with the CPR and how he never revealed his early immigrant experiences to his children. The recreation of the family portrait is a way to imagine what Mr. Wong might say to his children today, now that they are both adults.
About the artist
Born in Hong Kong and raised in Canada, Raeann Kit-Yee Cheung is a photographer who leans on a dual heritage to create work that is both personal and universal. Having immigrated almost five decades ago, Raeann has come to accept she is neither Chinese nor Canadian, but rather someone who embodies a rich ambiguity that helps her confront melded identities to resolve inner complexities.
Raeann holds a MA in contemporary photography (2021) and resides in the traditional territories of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Blackfoot Confederacy as well as the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and the Stoney Nakoda.