New Narratives: Reclaiming Asian Identity Through Story
Organized and presented by Unbound Visual Arts
Curator: Leslie Anne Condon
How we define the terms "Asian" and "Asian American" in the United States is often driven by our visual and popular culture. Over the span of only a few generations, the meaning of these terms has continued to evolve, heavily influenced by changing immigration patterns, academic scholarship, the National Census Bureau, and domestic policy. The unique histories of our respective ancestral lands (East, South, and Southeast Asia), shaped by war, Imperialism, Colonialism, and more recent tensions, further complicate the concept of identity within our communities. Many of us, our parents, and our grandparents, came to the States seeking new opportunities, only to face racism, xenophobia, anti-Asian rhetoric, and discriminatory legal practices. While much progress has been made in recent decades to overcome such notions as the Model Minority Myth, we continue to push for more authentic, comprehensive, and nuanced representation within all facets of American society. Through this reclamation, we actively empower ourselves and reinforce our sense of agency within the greater community. New Narratives: Reclaiming Asian Identity Through Story features forty artworks by twenty-five Boston-area Asian artists who are exploring aspects of their identity through their art, as well as Asian culture and narrative informed by personal experience. Whether the work is referencing the self and body, sexuality and gender, or intergenerational conflict and healing within the Asian community, each artist brings their distinctive perspective to the exhibition through unexpected visuals and contemporary techniques. Collectively, the exhibition offers a partial glimpse rather than a sweeping overview of the many complex issues that Asians and Asian Americans navigate daily as part of our lived realities. It also reflects, in some part, the complex and evergrowing iterations of Asian identity that continue to emerge from every corner of the Greater Boston area. These creative gestures are at once expressions of pain and resiliency, resistance, and celebration.
-Leslie Anne Condon
Partnering Organizations: Asian Glow Boston, Asian American Resource Workshop, Dorchester Art Project, Pao Arts Center, Network for Arts Administrators of Color, Subcontinental Drift Boston
Exhibition Coordinator: John Quatrale Exhibition Assistance: Sofija Chroneos, Rachel Hargreaves, Julia Marcantonio, Sequoya Molzan, Cynthia Bryndis Schilling
