Snack Witch Joni Cheung 張文懿
© Credits: H Art Department, Snack Witch Joni Cheung 張文懿, 2025.
H ART Department — Snack Witch Joni Cheung 張文懿
Performance from October 29th to Oct. 31st, 2025. Open from 12 to 6 PM.
Workshop on October 30th & Roundtable on November 1st, 2025. Details and registration below.
H ART Department is a performance and series of public programming investigating the unethical ways the art world functions at the expense of burnt-out artists and art workers.
Mimicking bureaucratic processes used by institutions to give the illusion of power, Snack Witch plays with the visual language of administrations to give authority to whisper networks, generally frowned upon by systems of and people in power. This project will highlight the tactics used by artists and arts workers to protect those who continue to work in the industry.
From Wednesday October 29 - 31st, 12 - 6 PM, the H ART Department invites artists and cultural workers located in Tiohtiá:ke—Mooniyang—Montréal to walk in or book an in-person or virtual appointment with Snack Witch, our Chief Director of Compliance & Lead Administrative Receptionist to document a negative incident or positive experience working with a Canadian arts institution/production studio. Visitors fill out an online or paper questionnaire and can speak to the CDC & LAR if they require additional assistance or resources. A limited number of H ART Department mugs will be given to those who choose to visit us in-person to participate!
In the survey, visitors can choose to publicize their report or have it used only for statistical purposes. Public reports will be used to create a web application, similar to Google Reviews on a later date, where users can view comments left by artists and cultural workers who have worked with listed institutions/production studios. Specific details about individuals involved in an incident remain anonymous to protect story-sharers and those who are working/have worked at an institution. Only the workplace itself would be named.
Unlike typical HR Departments, H ART DEPARTMENT wants to look at the systemic flaws that allow for worker exploitation, harassment, abuse, and discrimination. H ART DEPARTMENT hopes to be a more accessible safety and accountability tool for precarious artists and arts workers, made in collaboration with community members and potential future partners who believe in this cause.
Co-Conspirators: maya rae oppenheimer, Geneviève Wallen, Amanda Lickers, Camille-Zoé Valcourt-Synnott, Gendai: Marsya Maharani and Petrina Ng.
Calendar of Events
Performance H Art Department
— October 29th to Oct. 31st, 2025. Open from 12 to 6 PM.
Gendai CBA: Collective Bargaining Agency / Workshop
— Thursday October 30th, 2025. Doors open at 5 PM. Catch the tail end of H ART Department performance from 5 to 5:30 PM!! CBA workshop from 5:30 - 7:30 PM. Free and open to all.
💋xoxo: gossiping as + on wayfinding in the arts 💋
— Saturday, November 1st. Doors open at 10:30, Event starts at 11 AM.
Snack Witch Joni Cheung 張文懿
🔮 Snack Witch Joni Cheung 🍡 is a grateful, uninvited guest born—and knows she wants to die—on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, Stó:lō, and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh peoples. They are a Certified Sculpture Witch with an MFA from Concordia University (2023). She holds a BFA with Distinction in Visual Art (2018) from the School for the Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University. As a wicked #magicalgirl ✨ who eats art and makes snacks, she has exhibited, off- and online, across Turtle Island and beyond. Currently, they are based on the stolen lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka and Mi’kmaq peoples, working under precarious conditions as a sessional professor at Concordia University and NSCAD University.
They have received support from various funding bodies, including the British Columbia Arts Council; Canada Council for the Arts; and Concordia University.
Aside from art-making, Joni likes wandering down grocery store aisles and drinking bubble tea. 🧋
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the articule team—Samuel Garrigó Meza & Aziza Nassih & James Goddard & Yuko Fedrau & faraz abdullah—for accommodating this project’s transformations and timelines. I truly appreciate your kindness, flexibility, trust, and the space to experiment and play.
Thank you to Geneviève Wallen & Camille-Zoé Valcourt-Synnott & maya rae oppenheimer & Amanda Lickers & Gendai: Marsya Maharani and Petrina Ng for your patience, care, enthusiasm, generosity, and support throughout this planning and production process. It’s been an absolute dream come true to get to work on this with you!
Thank you to 姬絲汀 \ 媽媽 & Janis & Soba 🐈 & Brandon A. Dalmer & 蕃薯 \ 爸爸 for keeping me alive.
Thank you to Hannah Black & CHAAD project/SHIFT CHANGE & Hearth Garage & Jay Isaacs & Christopher Moore & Life of a Craphead & Andrea Fraser & Joshua Schwebel for all the poignant, humourous, and caring/careful work you have and continue to share with the world. Your research has been an important guide while navigating these murky waters.
Thank you to the Canada Council for the Arts and BC Arts Council for supporting this project and the space to imagine alternative ways of working in the arts.
For any questions or requests concerning accessibility to the event or our gallery space, please contact James Goddard via email or by phone at 514-842-9686. For general accessibility information, please visit our dedicated page. We are committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming space for all.
Considering ongoing COVID-19 and flu transmissions, please note that mask wearing is strongly recommended during events.