Empty Orchestra

Empty Orchestra explores karaoke (the word from which the exhibition title is translated) and its relationship to contemporary art and cultural diasporas. Karaoke originated in the ‘70s in Japan, and quickly entered many other cultural contexts. The exhibition presents works by Canadian and international artists who embrace, challenge, and query notions of karaoke as a medium of individual expression and collective identity.

Examining the phenomenon of karaoke as a commodified interface between technology and culture, the artists in the exhibition address its effects on social activity, diasporic communities, and popular culture in a global context. Empty Orchestra asks, among other questions, whether karaoke asserts a prescribed form of cultural expression, or, in its performative imperfections, allows possibilities for resistance.