Title: Piggy Back & Big Hug to You
Year: 2025
Venue: Toronto City Hall, Toronto, Canada
Exhibition Type: Juried Exhibition – Breaking Boundaries, Toronto Newcomers Day

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Description:
Piggy Back & Big Hug to You was exhibited at Toronto City Hall as part of the juried exhibition Breaking Boundaries, organized by the Toronto Arts Foundation, Toronto Arts Council, and the City of Toronto. The exhibition featured the work of newcomer artists reshaping Toronto’s cultural landscapes.

The exhibition invited participants to explore and share their journeys of migration, adaptation, and resilience, contributing written narratives and symbolic visual elements that were integrated into a dynamic, evolving artwork.

For me, as a newcomer artist, the two artworks were deeply personal, when I bring my cultural heritage with me, the stories about Đông Hồ folkart, belief about prosperity and joy, food, accent, ways of celebrating and grieving. I’ve come to see that integration begins by opening up this “baggage,” not hiding it, allowing it to enrich the place I now call home. Piggy Back & Big Hug to You embodies this approach: offering a piece of oneself and witnessing how it contributes to the wider community, creating connection, dialogue, and shared experience.

Documentation / Publication:
The project was documented by the City of Toronto for Newcomers Day archives (2025).