Date: From March 2nd to March 30th, 2025
Time: Mon. to Fri.: 9:00 am – 9:45 pm
Sat. & Sun.: 8:00 am – 4:45 pm
Location: Trout Lake Community Centre – Display Vitrine Case – 3360 Victoria Drive Vancouver, BC V5N 4M4
Free event.

VLACC, in collaboration with Trout Lake Community Centre and Curated Tastes, is proud to present Chiquita (Banana), a thought-provoking exhibition by Michelle Bourget Morales.

This collection explores the intersections of labour, migration, and gender within global power structures. Through sculptural vessels, the artist challenges colonial legacies, capitalist exploitation, and the objectification of both people and land. Infused with the potent symbolism of the banana, these works reclaim narratives of resilience and resistance—transforming remnants of oppression into powerful expressions of defiance.

Curated by Miret Rodriguez, this exhibition invites audiences to engage with themes of history, identity, and protest through a bold and irreverent lens.

About the Exhibition

This body of work playfully yet critically engages with the intersections of labour, migration, and gender within the global power structures that continue to exploit and commodify marginalized communities. Drawing on the loaded symbolism of the banana—both as a reference to recent migration laws targeting Mexican workers and the ongoing reduction of developing nations to so-called “banana republics”—these sculptures challenge narratives rooted in white supremacy, extraction, and disposability.

The title Chiquita (Banana) references a symbol deeply tied to the colonial and Corporate exploitation of Latin America, while also addressing the diminishment of women through catcalling and patriarchal control. The work challenges the ways in which bodies—both human and land—are objectified, extracted, and dismissed within systems built on white supremacy and capitalist greed.

These vessels do more than hold knowledge; they bloom, pulse, and resist. Resembling bananas and seeds, they evoke both creation and defiance. In a world where Latin America is continuously reduced to a political pawn and resource depot, these forms reclaim power, transforming relics of exploitation into statements of resilience. Unapologetic and irreverent, they exist as both protest and testament—part history, part future, all rebellion.

About the Artist

Michelle Bourget Morales (b. 1993, Mexico) is a Vancouver-based artist working across various mediums. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2020. Morales’ practice has been showcased in several exhibitions, including group and solo shows in Vancouver, Richmond, and Mexico City, where she explores themes of personal identity and materiality.

In addition to her artistic practice, she has held professional appointments at venues such as TAS Collective, Red Gate Arts Society, and Lipont Gallery. Morales has also been involved in the arts community as a sessional teaching assistant in the Ceramics Department at Langara College.

Her work has been recognized with the Thomas Kakinuma Memorial Sculptural Ceramics Award in 2017, and her pieces are held in private collections across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Morales is a member of the Duplex Art Society and Maladjusted Collective.

Artist Statement 

After stepping away from fine art, I shifted my focus toward community building, recognizing the power of collective care and collaboration. My recent practice centers on creating spaces where people can connect, share knowledge, and uplift one another. Through this shift, I’ve found new ways to engage with creativity—fostering dialogue, organizing events, and supporting grassroots movements that amplify underrepresented voices.

My sculptures are like rebellious time capsules—protecting knowledge, stirring up trouble, and giving the status quo a serious side-eye. As a migrant gay woman living in constant diaspora, my work challenges dominant world orders, questioning power structures and the erasure of marginalized voices. Through material and form, I craft vessels that don’t just sit pretty; they challenge, question, and sometimes even side-eye the status quo. Think of them as secret-keeping, history-holding, power-questioning artifacts with a flair for the dramatic while winking at the chaos of world orders.

About the Curator

Miret Rodriguez is the creative director of Curated Tastes and is the former VP of VLACC. She holds an MBA in art and culture management from the Superior School of Commerce in Paris and a BA Major in Art History from UBC. Miret relies on art and the artists that make it to navigate through cultural dislocation and hybridity. Since 2020, Miret has been interviewing Latinx artists in Canada about their immigration stories and their ways of expressing their experiences through art. This led her to curate Volver (to return, to become) in 2022 at Cityscape Community Artspace in North Vancouver.

With support from Trout Lake Community Centre and Curated Tastes