‘A long time coming’

Downtown

West End

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This article was published 21/02/2024 (643 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s Chinatown community will get an artistic overhaul with the upcoming placement of its new public banners.

The banners were designed by visual artist Natalie Mark and commissioned by the Winnipeg Arts Council.

Mark, who uses they/them pronouns, is known best for their comic work. They recently participated in the Vancouver Comic Arts Expo and, following the banner project, will begin working on a full length comic-book project that could reach 100 pages.

The banners were revealed at the annual Chinese New Year’s banquet hosted by the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural and Community Centre on Feb. 13. They’ll be placed along the sidewalks and around the gardens at the Dynasty and Mandarin buildings, and are part of the city’s efforts to revitalize the neighbourhood, following the decline of public activity in the area.

“Not just even COVID, but I feel like over the past little while, like as I was growing up, you could definitely see that different businesses were closing down … So I definitely feel like the revitalization is a long-time coming,” Mark said.

The eight designs represent culture and community, Mark said. The first seven are a blend of the Indigenous-based Seven Teachings and the seven Buddha’s Treasures.

“(The teachings) are all based around compassion, and how we can live in nature, things like that,” Mark said. “And so they all ended up matching with one another, too. So I was able to take these ideas, and then come up with images that translated those ideas and represented those ideas, as well as (incorporated) the research I did into the history of Chinatown.”

It was part of an effort to make public art that truly represents the people who live in the area, Mark said — not just those who are coming to visit.

“Chinatown is not just a place where Chinese people exist,” they said. “There’s also quite a few Indigenous people in Chinatown, and downtown in general. I feel like a lot of people see downtown, and also Chinatown, in a very classist and racialized (way). And so I was like, ‘How can I honour the people who are always here already, (as well as) pay special attention to our neighbours?’”

The final design is a representation of food and community, Mark noted, as Chinatown is booming with restaurants and the intimate experience of sharing a meal with family was something they felt was important to represent.

Mark grew up in and around the Chinatown neighbourhood. Although they never lived there, their family has been a part of the space for Mark’s entire life. Their mother worked at a textile shop which formerly occupied the Dynasty building, and their father worked in a local restaurant. Because of that, labour was also a strong influence in the banner designs.

Mark is Toisanese, which is the regional Chinese ethnicity of many of the people who live and work in Chinatowns around North America, they said.

“I wanted these banners to be able to celebrate the people who actually did the labour and are in the working class,” they said, noting that the community is also deeply intertwined.

“Even if you don’t know each other, it’s kind of like other ethnic groups, like, if you know each other’s last name, or the village they’re from, you’ll know someone who knows them. It’s both like, ‘OK, I kind of hate this, but I kind of really love it.’”

Even without the family ties making them feel at home, they’ve been fortunate to rediscover the neighbourhood they grew up around, they said.

“Even though I’m not residing there, currently, I still consider myself as being a part of the community … it just feels like a very strong part of my identity.

“I just wanted to be able to represent the people there with authenticity, support, and a lot of care. Because I feel like there’s just so many people, especially (in the) inner city who struggle, and they deserve to be appreciated too, with the art.”

Alongside this project and the upcoming comic work, Mark has a portfolio of personal and freelance available to view online: nataliemark.ca