CAG Reads

We are pleased to announce our latest installment of CAG Reads, a book club where artists invite us to read alongside them. Each month an artist proposes a text for our collective reading pleasure, culminating in a virtual hangout where the artist leads a wide-ranging discussion grounded in their chosen reading material.

This month, CAG Reads will be hosted by the interdisciplinary artist, writer and educator, Laiwan. Based on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō, səlilwətaɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations, Laiwan founded the Or Gallery in 1983, was Chair of the grunt gallery Board of Directors from 2010 to 2014, and teaches in the MFA Interdisciplinary Arts Program at Goddard College.

Laiwan has been investigating colonialism, with aim toward a decoloniality, since the late 1980s. She has been concurrently exploring embodiment since 2000, through performativity, audio, music, improvisation, and other media, along with bodily and emotional ways of knowing, so as to unravel and engage presence.

Laiwan has selected Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way (1998) by Ursula K. Le Guin. Through consultation with literal translations and work with Chinese scholars, Le Guin’s interpretation of the Tao Te Ching reveals the ancient text’s immediate relevance and power. Best known for her science fiction novels, here Le Guin examines her own lifelong study of the Tao Te Ching and includes her own personal commentary and notes.

Getting the texts

To access a digital copy of Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way please follow this link. Copies of the full text can be ordered from Pulp Fiction or Massy Books here in Vancouver within 1-3 weeks.