Tourist attractions can often be seen as a rite of passage and for some, a pilgrimage. A journey where a person goes in search of new meaning about themselves, an experience to understand: can I consider myself from here? This question of identity asks us to define what "here" is and our relationship to it.
For Zinnia Naqvi, the equation between tourist and pilgrim equates to a continual interrogation of her place as a child of immigrant settlers. Throughout her upbringing, her family continually visited the same tourist sites and relied on them when relatives visited, seeing them as markers of place, culture and identity. In this body of work, she questions these types of attractions, wondering why these sites were pinned as tourist destinations. What exactly are visitors meant to learn about the country and themselves when visiting these places? What prescriptive narratives are being imposed? And how does engaging in these narratives reinforce Canada's nation-building project?
The pilgrim is always in danger of becoming a tourist seeks to ask questions about familial history and notions of place in order to understand our current position. The artists remember these interactions as they move forward and understand how this puzzle forms who they are and how they fit into and/or resist the cultural fabric of “Canada.”
Presented as a two person exhibition with Althea Thauberger at Susan Hobbs Gallery, 29 February to 13 April 2024
