Date: April 5 to April 30, 2025
Location: Asian Centre (1871 West Mall) (map)
Hours: During Asian Library open hours (see hours)

Visit the Asian Centre foyer this month to view The Journey of Birds, a new art exhibit presented by UBC graduate student Mengkai Zhang.

This exhibit showcases five paintings and a series of accompanying stories, centered on Mengkai’s personal exploration of identity as a Chinese art teacher studying abroad in Canada. The text and images represent his journey of evolving into a more-than-a/r/tographer (beyond the roles of artist, researcher, and teacher) while overcoming the identity crisis.

Mengkai Zhang is currently completing his master’s degree in art education at UBC and will begin his doctoral studies at the University of Victoria this fall. His research interests include a/r/tography, more-than-human studies, storytelling as research, Taoism, and self-identity among Chinese teacher-overseas students. He is a two-time recipient of the Jeanette Andrews Scholarship (2024 and 2025) and will be presenting his paper at the American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting in Denver this April.

Read the Artist Statement here.