March 18: "Where There is No Room for Fiction" Research Spotlight with Tong Lam

March 18, 2026
3:30- 5:00 PM 

In person at CDRS (MN3230) and virtually via Zoom. 
Collaborative Digital Research Space, MN3230, Maanjiwe Nendamowinan, UTM Campus

Professor Tong Lam will discuss his research-creation project, Where There Is No Room for Fiction, and how he translated his complex research questions and findings for a public audience at Toronto’s Nuit Blanche, an all-night contemporary art event, last fall.

While Professor Lam’s original project sought to visually document the clearance of a migrant workers’ enclave amid China’s rapid urbanization, his Nuit Blanche multimedia installation reframed China’s migrant workers, who constitute the backbone of the country’s rise as the “factory of the world,” within the context of global supply chains. Invisible yet vital to the global trade that sustains our everyday lives, these laborers—and especially their precarious living conditions—stand in stark contrast to the promise of seamless, mechanized, and standardized global logistics embodied by the shipping container.

The Nuit Blanche iteration of Where There Is No Room for Fiction took place in Canada’s largest shipping container market, where Professor Lam used his images to engage the open-air compound and its surrounding urban environment, inviting audiences to reflect on issues of globalization at a time marked by rising xenophobia and trade tensions.
 

Register here for in person attendance.

Register here to receive the Zoom link if you would like to attend virtually.