Anita Wei Is Stitching Together a New Platform for Artists

Curator and gallerist Anita Wei did not set out to work in the arts. She was studying economics when she arrived in Canada from Zhenjiang, China, in 2014 on a student exchange. At the time, she imagined a future in business. That changed when she took a student job as a curatorial assistant at Wilfrid Laurier University’s campus gallery.

“I very much admired what my supervisor, Suzanne Luke, was doing,” Wei says. “I thought, this lady is freaking cool.” Despite limited resources, the gallery produced thoughtful exhibitions and fostered meaningful exchange between artists and audiences. “That was the turning point, when I realized that’s actually what I wanted to do,” Wei recalls. She went on to complete a master of visual studies in curatorial practice at the University of Toronto. “I would say I started with instinct,” she says. “And institutional intelligence advanced my instinct.”

Now 33, Wei is the founder and director of SSEW Project, a contemporary gallery she opened in Markham in 2024. The name refers to stitching, a metaphor that reflects her curatorial approach. “I would like to see the gallery growing as a connective tissue,” she explains, “to stitch together something that already exists, linking all the good stuff, the people, the structure, organizations, artworks.”

Her path to opening the gallery was partly shaped by circumstance. Wei graduated in 2020, as the pandemic brought much of the art world to a halt. Facing a lack of opportunities, she decided to create her own. She rented a modest industrial unit in Markham and began organizing exhibitions independently. What started as a small project space evolved into a gallery with an expanding program and growing visibility.

Wei’s work centres on artists whose perspectives are often overlooked, particularly those shaped by migration and diasporic experience. At the same time, she avoids framing identity too narrowly. “I want to use identity as perspective, not subject,” she says.

SSEW Project has quickly gained recognition, participating in Art Toronto twice and earning a place in the fair’s Discover section. The gallery attracted attention from collectors and institutions alike. Wei recalls meeting a Korean dentist who had been searching for contemporary work that reflected his own cultural background. “He just didn’t get a chance to see it,” she says. “I know there’s existence in the current market, but it’s not that obvious yet.”

In addition to running the gallery, Wei curates exhibitions and public art projects across Markham, working with organizations such as Steelcase Art Projects and the Varley Art Gallery. A recent solo exhibition she organized for artist Kejie Lin at the Varley led to the Royal Ontario Museum acquiring one of Lin’s paintings, marking an important milestone for both artist and curator.

Wei is now focused on expanding the gallery’s reach internationally. SSEW Project will participate in the Biennale of Sydney in March, and Wei is developing partnerships across Asia and Australia while continuing to support artists working in Canada. “I’d be honoured to see the gallery do something that adds meaning to the history of Canadian contemporary art,” she says, “not just something tokenized.”

At its core, her curatorial practice remains guided by curiosity and openness. “I just want to build something unexpected,” Wei says. She recalls a recent project with Steelcase Art Projects and artist Ron Benner, which involved growing Indigenous plants in an industrial plaza and hosting a meal from the harvest. One technician from Peru recognized the chili pepper plants and returned later with his friends and family to share in the feast. “He found a connection,” Wei says. “That’s how we see the value. That’s how we get motivated to keep doing things.”

Photography courtesy of SSEW Project

SHARE