General Manager and Editor
Born in Hang Zhou, China, and living in Wuhan prior to coming to Canada, Dr. Lien Chao came to Toronto in 1984 to pursue her graduate studies at York University.
Her Ph.D. thesis, which is been entitled "Beyond Silence: Chinese Canadian Literature in English," systematically introduces Chinese Canadian literature into main stream. One of her essays, "Anthologizing the Collective: the Epic Struggle to Establish Chinese Canadian Literature in English," has been published recently in Essays on Canadian Writing (57) 1996: 146-71.
She has also completed her first autobiographic fiction, "My Mother and Her Daughters," which is currently undergoing revision. Inspired by her involvement in Maple Gallery, she started composing her first poetry collection, which will be published selectively in the gallery.
She has always been interested in Chinese art. In 1992, she organized a family member's exhibition on York University campus and sold fifteen paintings in one month. She sees her role as a cultural bridge to help introducing minority literatures and art into mainstream society.
Dr. Chao does have part-time daily jobs. She teaches ESL to new immigrants in Toronto and basic literacy to developmentally-challenged adults. Though she does not have the opportunity to teach what she has been trained for, she enjoys teaching anyway.
Artistic Director
Influenced by his mother, Peng Ma started practising Chinese calligraphy and painting in his early childhood. He entered Nanking Teacher's College to study art in 1953; from 1957 to 1961 he was studying fine art in Zhejiang Fine Art Academy, China. Trained with the most famous contemporary Chinese art masters, such as Fu Bao Shi and Pan Tian Shou, Ma is advanced and experienced in both Chinese painting and Western art forms.
After graduation, Ma was employed by the university. In his thirty-year career as a professional artist in China, he had attended many national and international exhibitions.
In 1989, Ma immigrated to Canada and lives now in Toronto. Immigration did not stop him from practising and developing his art. Rather, it gave him a better opportunity to study Western art. As a contemporary Chinese Canadian artist, Ma pursues new goals. He uses images and colours to express his love for his chosen homeland. It is in this continuous learning process that he is taking the traditional Chinese art media to a new phase of developments.