The Red Head Gallery is pleased to showcase the first show The Green Suitcase by Bogdan Luca.

My mother and I immigrated to Canada in 1996 bringing along a suitcase full of photographs. I rediscovered this luggage decades later and found myself captivated by its contents. The photographs are a history of my family: many people whose futures I know. My interest was particularly piqued by my grandfather, a paternal figure who had a classified parallel life. He served the Romanian communist regime from the 50s to the 70s as a detector of spies.

The Green Suitcase is my way of articulating the mystery of my grandfather’s extraordinary life. You can sense his gaze in the notes and markings he made on some of the photographs. His life and actions were similarly scrutinized by another gaze: the state. The suitcase suggests to me a layering of witnessing, vigilance, and surveillance.

This show was generously funded by a Canada Council Grant.