Model Minority: Overturning Stereotypes (The Secret Ingredient – 21/01/15)

The Secret Ingredient

This show delves into the false stereotype of the “Model Minority” and what it means from a radical perspective. Hear us discuss Gendai Gallery’s year of programing around Model Minority, which was recently published as a collection of texts and art projects by PS Guelph. The book forms an alternative history, probing the way we imagine the model minority citizen in Canada – those of immigrant communities who have succeeded to a relatively high degree within the neoliberal economy. Edited by Chris Lee and Maiko Tanaka, the book explores how such stereotypes of the successful immigrant conceal differences and specificities of particular struggles. Reflecting on the role of the icon by presenting counter-narratives and tracing different alliances, the book plays with the idea of what an alternative role model can be. Chak, Tings. “Remembering Absent Histories of Chinese-Indigenous Solidarity.” In Model Minority ed. Gendai Gallery. Guelph: PS Guelph, January 2015. Harney, Stefano and Fred Moten. The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study. New York: Minor Compositions, 2013.