CW @ Shaping SF: The Legacy of Exclusion
A standing-room only crowd packed into the Eric Quezada Center for Culture and Politics for our April ”Seeing Stories” program, The Legacy of Exclusion. This evening of multimedia storytelling and discussions brought to life the impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act on generations of families, with presentations of CW story excerpts; Pat and Ford Lee’s touching personal memories of growing up in a Chinatown segregated from the rest of the City; Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation’s story about a former detainee’s return visit; screening from filmmaker Felicia Lowe’s new work “Chinese Couplets”; and presentation by the Chinese Historical Society of America.
The storefront Center at the hub of the hip, ever-changing Valencia Corridor was buzzing as the cross-generational, cross-cultural audience exchanged earnest reflections and shared insightful personal stories. If you couldn't make it to event, you can still listen to the podcast here. A shout-out to our evening’s host Shaping San Francisco, and a big thank you to all our presenters and audience!
CW: Golden Gate slated for next year
Our thanks also to those of you who have been patiently following us since the workshop reading on ferryboat Eureka in 2012—we are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded a Cultural Equity Grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission, to proceed to full production on Chinese Whispers: Golden Gate for public presentation in 2014. We extend our sincere gratitude to the Arts Commission for their support. We are especially excited about partnering with the Chinatown YMCA to bring contemporary immigrant voices into the production, to connect the present with the past and provide a deeper perspective on the ongoing immigration story. Stay tuned for updates, including our intergenerational Immigrant Voices workshops with the Y this summer, and more!
We’re looking for volunteers to help with these workshops – see sidebar for more information, and email jen[at]reneyung.com or give us a call at 415.648.1302!
CW in D.C.
Chinese Whispers Artistic and Founding Director Rene Yung was in Washington D.C. in May for the White House Forum on AAPI Heritage. Senior Obama Administration officials, including Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, as well as scholars and community leaders, spoke about the importance of recognizing, preserving, and interpreting this legacy for future generations, and there was a palpable sense of timeliness, commitment and pride. Rene enjoyed a collegial dinner gathering with the AAPI Initiative’s Theme Study scholars and the National Park Service, and returned inspired by the exchanges and with continued dedication to the CW mission of bringing overlooked history to light through the power of multimedia storytelling.
City Beneath the City Exhibition @ Stanford Archaeology Center Closes June 28!
If you haven’t seen City Beneath the City yet, you still have a chance to catch the exhibition before its extended run ends on June 28 at the Stanford Archaeology Center. This art installation by CW Director Rene Yung features over 60 artifacts from San Jose’s Market Street Chinatown. Originally commissioned for the Zer01 Art and Technology Biennial in San Jose, the installation finds telling poetry in the materiality of the remains of a town destroyed by anti-Chinese arson. Witness this poignant confluence of cultural history, archaeology and the everyday experience of the people that lived there. Details in sidebar.
Click
here for a video of Rene's gallery talk for the Stanford Archaeology Center Workshop Series. Contact us at stories[at]chinese-whispers.org if you would like to have a copy of Rene's paper on CBC that she presented at the recent Society for California Archaeology annual conference.
Wishing you a happy summer!
—The Chinese Whispers Team
Meet the CW Community
Meet our growing community here! The CW Community is made up of all kinds of people spanning generations -- professionals, scholars, retirees, students, "regular folks" who joined us to bring forgotten stories to light.
