<div dir="ltr"><p class="m_1396903412543253611m_-1546653541977528079gmail-MsoBodyText" style="margin:4.95pt 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:black;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:12pt">August 12, 2019 </span><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:2.55pt 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><b><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">Public Service
Announcement</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:2.55pt 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><b><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></b><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:2.55pt 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:2.55pt 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-size:16pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Exploring history and the social
environment through art at Vernon’s Caetani Cultural Centre.<br>
</span><i><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Unfolding: an interdisciplinary
show of performance art, photography and video-installation by Armstrong-raised
artist Romi Kim.</span></i></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm;margin-left:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(28,30,33)"><br>
</span><em><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">"Unfolding is about searching through stories. I’ve been
spending time researching the histories at the Vernon Museum Archives on the
people who lived in the Caetani house,” explains Kim.</span></em><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(28,30,33)">“I’m curious how people’s reactions are, if they’ll be
interested in the histories behind the stories of the Chinese and Japanese
workers of the Caetani family, Chu, George and Odo,” she wonders.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(28,30,33)"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(28,30,33)">Her questions have guided her art-making. Who were these men?
What were their daily lives and how did they live?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(28,30,33)"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(28,30,33)">“Learning more about them, I learned more about Vernon’s history
and the disappearance of the Chinese community and their Chinatown here, as
well as the Japanese internment camps.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(28,30,33)"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(28,30,33)">“For this show I was navigating the personal-is-political
approach.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(28,30,33)"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(28,30,33)">In addition to searching through Vernon's history, Kim revisited
her own past in Armstrong through a performance in her drag persona Skim. </span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm;margin-left:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">“As
a second-generation Korean Canadian queer person, I’m continuously questioning
how I see myself and how others see me. I spent my pubescent years in
Armstrong, the population of Koreans being just my family.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm;margin-left:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">Because
of this, Kim searches for stories of belonging to explain society and its
hierarchies. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(28,30,33)">"Skim walks through town to reflect on memories and
experiences in the small town. It was a coming out. When living there I was
very closeted and had to whiten myself. Being back here, I was able to show a
new identity, share my drag persona, and revisit my old memories.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-right:0cm;margin-left:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">Kim
obtained her BFA at the University of Victoria in a double major of Visual Arts
and Gender Studies and, after spending 2 years in South Korea, has returned to
the North Okanagan after being awarded a 2-month Artist-in-Residence position
at the Caetani Cultural Centre.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:2.55pt 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">Come meet Romi
and experience her interdisciplinary artshow, <b><i>Unfolding,</i></b> during the
opening reception, on </span><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">Wednesday, August 21<sup>st</sup>,
7pm - 9pm, as well as during gallery hours on Thursday August 22<sup>nd</sup> from 11am-4pm in the Caetani Cultural Centre
Studio Gallery.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:18pt;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin-right:0cm;margin-left:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">Caetani Centre’s
Artist-in-Residence programs are available to artists working on creative
projects anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months in length. </span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:18pt;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;margin-right:0cm;margin-left:0cm;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">The artist stays and creates at
the Caetani Cultural Centre and is invited to share workshops, readings and
exhibitions with the North Okanagan community.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">For more information
please visit our website </span><a href="https://www.caetani.org" style="color:blue" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">https://www.caetani.org</span></a><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"> or contact the Caetani Centre at
250-275-1525.</span><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"></span></p>
<p class="m_1396903412543253611m_-1546653541977528079gmail-MsoBodyText" style="margin:0.45pt 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="m_1396903412543253611m_-1546653541977528079gmail-MsoBodyText" align="center" style="margin:0.45pt 0cm 0.0001pt;text-align:center;font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black">- <span>30 –</span></span></p>
<p class="m_1396903412543253611m_-1546653541977528079gmail-MsoBodyText" align="center" style="margin:0.45pt 0cm 0.0001pt;text-align:center;font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:black"> </span></p><div><div dir="ltr" class="m_1396903412543253611m_-1546653541977528079m_3682399615423274625m_-2607560029205762236gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">Janelle Hardy<div>Artist in Residence Program Coordinator<br>Caetani Cultural Centre</div><div><a href="http://www.caetani.org/creative-residencies" target="_blank">www.caetani.org/creative-residencies</a></div><div>250 275-1525<br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>