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Exhibitions

Taste, chewing, swallowing and speech

ANA CHANG
March 20–April 17, 1993

“Individuals, realizing the impact of tongue-eating on their lives and communities, are coming forward with their stories. One such individual is Lillian E., a thirty-year-old dietician currently residing in Port Coquitlam with her husband, a linguist. Her story is poignant and typical. Born on a continent other than North American to two adults with their own histories of displacement, Lillian left home at age six to seek the better life in Canada. End of story? On the contrary, only the beginning of a disorienting, pathless journey in a strange land of no-promise. Along the way, Lillian E. fed on her tongue in order to survive the harrowing ride. You may say, she killed three birds with one stone; one, it lightened her load (she carried a lot of baggage); two, it provided her with necessary nutrients and countless calories (tongue is very rich); and three, it left a gap, a cavity where she thought she could plant somethig useful. She was too young to really appreciate the meanings and consequences of her actions”

—Ana Chang, excerpted from Report: Tasting the Cost of Uprooting, from her exhibition taste, chewing, swallowing and speech.