Gifts of Madness
MARCH 23RD, 2024, TO MAY 11TH, 2024
TONI ONLEY GALLERY
Guest Curator: Kagan Goh
Exhibition Events and Program: Please check our website for further details
We are honoured to work with our Guest Curator Kagan Goh along with a number of incredible community partners including; Gallery Gachet, the Community Arts Council of Vancouver, Connection Salon, Workman Arts, Rendezvous With Madness and Voices With Impact. As a direct result of this collaboration, we are pleased to be able to present the Gifts of Madness exhibition her at the Penticton Art Gallery which we hope will continue on in some form at one of our presenting partners later this year.
The Canada Council recognizes mad arts within the overall Disability Arts sector. Mad is framed as a social and political identity by people who have been labeled as mentally ill or as having mental health issues. Rather than focusing on awareness and coping with stigma, Mad Pride focuses on expressing the unique ways people experience the world in terms of making meaning, developing communities, and creating culture. Mad arts is the artistic exploration of Mad Pride focusing on mad histories and identities.
In line with this ethos, “GIFTS OF MADNESS” is a Mad Pride mental health-themed art exhibition Our goal is to explore how individuals have discovered the therapeutic benefits of art, and how their creative gifts of madness not only contribute to their personal healing but also play a vital role in healing others. Instead of fixating on disabilities, we aim to celebrate the transformative power of artistic expression and its profound impact on both the artist and the community.
We extend our sincerest gratitude to all the artists who have submitted their work for this exhibition, showcasing their personal life stories, experiences, and resilience in the face of mental health challenges. Your trust in allowing us a window into your lives is truly humbling. Through your art, you not only demonstrate triumph over adversity but also contribute to positive change in the world. Thank you for your bravery and creativity.
“GIFTS OF MADNESS” is about breaking the silence surrounding mental illness and combating the stigma, prejudice, and discrimination against individuals with mental health conditions. We are excited to see the compelling narratives that will undoubtedly emerge from this exhibition, affirming the incredible strength and power inherent in artistic expression, mirrored through your personal experiences and artwork. This exhibition will stand as a poignant testament to our collective resilience, creativity, and the profound influence the arts wield on our mental health and well-being.
Kagan Goh Curatorial Statement
As a Bipoc Chinese Canadian multidisciplinary Mad Artist living with a mental health disability, I am firmly rooted in the motto of the Mad Pride and Disability Movement: “Nothing about us without us.” To genuinely comprehend the multifaceted experiences of those with mental health challenges and to shatter the chains of stigma, prejudice, and discrimination, it’s essential to listen to authentic narratives from those with lived experience. My personal mission is to educate the public about mental health issues and help fight the stigma, prejudice and discrimination against people with mental illness.
In alignment with this vision, the “Gifts of Madness” is a two-month Mad Pride mental health-themed art exhibition at the Penticton Art Gallery opening on the 23rd March and continuing through to 11th May 2024. This grand event aims to change perceptions of mental illness, illuminating it through the transformative, healing power of the Arts.
The artists whose lives and struggles with mental health form the core of this Mad Pride mental health-themed art exhibition at the Penticton Art Gallery won’t merely highlight the challenges of mental illness but will celebrate the often-overlooked gifts it brings, painting a holistic picture of the experience.
“Gifts of Madness” is an art exhibition that will show the Yin Yang duality of both the negative and positive experience and all the grey areas in-between the complex spectrum of living with a mental illness. The exhibition will explore on one hand the negative aspects of the experience of mental health, predominantly focusing on the stigma, prejudice and discrimination against people with mental illness, and the trauma and damage suffered by people living with mental illness. As Lauryn Hill, the renowned bipolar musician, put it, our ambition is to “develop a negative into a positive picture.”
This project will aim to shift the paradigm by exploring the valuable and positive abilities as opposed to simply the undesirable disabilities of mad artists “touched” with mental illness who discover the therapeutic benefits of Art: how their creative gifts of madness have helped them to heal themselves, and in the process, help to heal others.
This Mad Pride themed art exhibition will emphasize both the challenges faced by people with mental illness and the profound abilities it can foster. These artists have not only harnessed their unique gifts for personal healing but have also taken on roles as spokespersons, mentors, advocates, and activists, fighting the stigma surrounding mental illness. Through “Gifts of Madness”, we aim to showcase their journey from victimhood to activism, depicting how they positively transform Penticton by turning mental health challenges into unparalleled strength. So, welcome to the Gifts of Madness art exhibition. It’s a wild carnival-like Mad Pride celebration of the Mad Arts. Come join us. You’ll be crazy to miss it!
~ Kagan Goh, Vancouver, B.C. February 2024
Kagan Goh Biography
Originally from Singapore, Kagan Goh is a Vancouver-based multidisciplinary Mad Artist: award-wining filmmaker, published author, spoken word poet, playwright, actor, mental health advocate and activist. He was diagnosed with manic depression at the age of twenty-three, in 1993. Kagan is a well-known spoken word artist, essayist and poet, a respected and established voice in Vancouver’s literary community for over two decades. He has been invited to perform at readings, festivals and on radio, and has published in numerous anthologies, periodicals, and magazines. In 2012, Select Books in Singapore published his poetic memoir, focused upon his relationship with his esteemed father, Who Let in the Sky? Kagan is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker with a number of releases including the award-winning Mind Fuck (1996); Stolen Memories (2012); Breaking the Silence (2015); and The Day My Cat Saved My Life (2021); his films have been broadcast on national television and gained entry into respected film festivals across Canada. In Kagan Goh’s follow-up memoir, Surviving Samsara, he recounts his struggles with manic depression, breaking the silence around mental illness. From an honest and personal perspective, Surviving Samsara traces Goh’s experiences as he wanders through the highs of mania, the terrors of psychosis, and the lows of depression. From the welfare office to the hospital ward and many places in between, Goh struggles to discern the difference between mental health breakdowns and spiritual breakthroughs. Facing his experiences with courage and authenticity, Goh shares memories of family altercations, pushed to the brink of living on the street, and psychiatrist visits. He explores his diagnosis of bipolar mood disorder not only as a medical condition but as a spiritual emergence—a vehicle for personal growth, healing, and transcendence. With raw language and deep insight, he combats the societal stigma, prejudice and discrimination people with mental health challenges face on a daily basis and exposes the further damage it can do. Writing and sharing his story of living with a mental illness began a form of self-therapy, and now illustrates Goh’s transformation from victim to survivor to activist. Surviving Samsara tells a deeply personal story of recovery, acceptance and unconditional self-love and humanizes the challenges of those living with mental illness.
