The Visual Arts Centre of Clarington (VAC) is excited to announce a site-specific exhibition in collaboration with Studio Pararaum—a Toronto-Zürich design and architecture collaborative established by Meng Li and Linda Zhang. Memories of the Mountain combines bioplastic formwork with creative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ceramics to investigate alternative approaches to the culture around building—reimagining our relationship to geological extraction through architecture, urban design, and technology.

Artist Biographies:
Studio Pararaum is an art, design and architecture practice established by Meng Li and Linda Zhang. ‘Para’ refers to para-ontology while ‘raum’ comes from the German term for ‘space’, whose meaning extends to ‘place’ or ‘site’. As such, their artworks stem from extensive fieldwork and research on sites of significance—from the monumental Erie Canal to culturally contested Chinatowns and mining caves under the Swiss Alps. If a mountain or a river is ever-changing, their works explore how its memories can be transformed, provoking new ways of being and remembering. Studio Pararaum has been the recipient of awards, fellowships and funding from the Swiss Arts Council, Central New York Arts Council, European Ceramic Workcentre, Nation Council on Education for Ceramic Arts, Berlin Center for Art and Urbanistics, among others. Collectively, their work has been exhibited and presented internationally in Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the United States.

Memories of the Mountain is organized by the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Tucker’s Pottery Supplies, and Pottery Supply House.