This book presents over four decades of Ken Lum’s multidisciplinary practice, which spans conceptual art to installation and delves into universal themes of identity and urban life. Lum’s influential work, with its focus on cross-cultural dialogue and the complexities of the modern world, resonates globally—be it painting, sculpture, photography, or public art projects that engage with individual and collective identity in the context of historical trauma and the complications of memory. Shaped by a keen sense of humanity and a wide knowledge of history and literature, Lum is a visionary who has consistently challenged societal norms, the ruling classes, religious suppression and racism, among other horrors which we continue to inflict upon each other. This publication presents a sweep of Lum’s photographic series, at once descriptive and disruptive, personal and political, including “Portrait/Logos” (1984–86), “Portrait/Repeated Text Works” (1993 to present) and “Image Mirrors” (2021); as well as his work with Monument Lab, a public art project he co-founded with urban geographer Paul Farber which fosters critical conversation around the past, present and future of monuments.

Co-published with Scotiabank Photography Award, Toronto