Archives

A person stands slightly facing the viewer's left, with their fist raised up. The foreground has the words "Stand with Us" and the background contains bright florals.

We Are More | AAPI Art & Stories

We Are More is an art series which seeks to break down tired worn out cliches and stereotypes of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and forge in its stead a brilliant, multidimensional identity that encompasses the resilience and range of AAPIs. Featuring dynamic visuals, bold typography, and human stories, this art series consists of seven free digital posters. In May 2021, this series was on view in Times Square, New York City, in partnership with Times Square Arts; subsequent installations appeared in Boston and other cities around the United States.

The website also features stories from Asian Americans and a discussion guide based on 20 hand-selected prompts and inquiries from the We Are More campaign, designed to facilitate discussion and exploration of the AAPI experience. This guide is freely available to educators, activists, and allies. Website visitors are also welcome to submit their own stories.

A graphic showing the relations between organizations, artists, and works in the Asian-American Art Activism community

VAAAM | Asian American Art Activism Relational Map

The Virtual Asian American Art Museum (VAAAM) is a multi-year, inter-institutional digital humanities project initiated and led by the following major partners: the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, NYU Libraries, Getty Research Institute, Smithsonian Institution, Bowdoin Art Museum, San Francisco State University, DePaul University, Tome, Artl@s/BasART, and Japanese American Service Committee in Chicago.

Co-curated by Yvonne Fang and Alexandra Chang, the Asian American Art Activism Relational Map is an ongoing project to visualize the interconnections and collaborative nature of Asian American art movements and the ongoing landscape of Asian American art activism. Learn more and see the map at this link.

If you’d like to add a resource to this map, fill out the survey here.

A graphic of two photographs with their edges torn, both depicting people holding books, above the words "SAADA Social Media Creators Workshop: South Asian American Digital Archive"

SAADA | Social Media Creators Workshop

On May 21, 2022, the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) brought together fourteen social media creators at HAPPYMONDAY Studio in NYC to engage with the archive and create new content based on stories from SAADA.  

Learn more here.

A Safe Place to Heal, Tiare Lefotu. Three young faces appear ghost-like in the horizon, looking down onto land rising out of the sea.

EPIC | Pasifika Art Gallery: Reflection, Revival, (R)evolution

Pasifika Art: Reflection, Revival, (R)evolution is a multimedia project grounded in the Samoan cultural practices of talanoa and teu le vā, meaning talk story and to care for the space that connects us. EPIC understands the critical role that art plays in articulating the realities of our communities while also creating space for dreaming of radically different futures

Reflection has a duality that speaks to the need for PI’s to be seen and be in critical dialogue about our roles in social justice movements. Revival speaks to healing and the renewed energy that elders and youth are feeling in response to the pandemic and racial justice uprisings. (R)evolution is both a call to action and a meditation on the changes our communities have undergone due to colonization as well as the conscious decisions younger generations are making about what parts of culture to preserve and evolve. 

What We Heard 

The EPIC team crowdsourced responses to prompts issued through Instagram asking: Can you envision a world without police/prisons? Who or what makes you feel safe? 

WE TAKE CARE OF US. When asked what makes them feel safe, respondents told us about sisters, siblings, prayer circles, parents, friends, and family. Hundreds of times they named people and not systems. It’s clear that the abolition we want will require deep relationships that center community and connection. 

THE FUTURE WE WANT IS POSSIBLE. Though a strong majority of our respondents want abolition, the current state of the world has made it feel unattainable. We want to illustrate that it’s not only possible, in many ways it is already here. 

TOGETHER, WE HAVE THE POWER. This message and framework comes directly from Culture Surge’s The Storytellers’ Guide to Changing Our World. We disrupt traditional notions of power that are exploitative and instead inspire movement building towards a collective power because we know that liberation will require all of us. 

Click here to view the Art Gallery, including film screenings, commissioned artists, and an art contest.

DRUM #FundExcludedWorkers

Korean Resource Center Hotline

“We at KRC are heartbroken to hear about yesterday’s shooting that killed 8 people in Atlanta, including six Asian American women. Our hearts go out to all the victims’ families and ⁠⁠to all our AAPI community members across the country who are processing this news and feeling a heightened sense of fear, anger, and grief. ⁠⁠It is hard to find the right words in the face of this appalling tragedy. As the details of this incident continue to unfold, we will be sharing resources and ways to offer care and support. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Note that KRC has a designated hotline (213-709-3695) ⁠⁠where we provide in-language assistance and compassionate support to our community.”⁠⁠
⁠⁠”민족학교는 어제(16일) 조지아주 애틀랜타에서 발생한 총격 사건에 대한 소식을 듣고 가슴이 무너지는 느낌입니다. 이번 총격으로 인해 8명이 숨졌고 그 가운데 6명이 아시안계 여성이었습니다. ⁠⁠
모든 희생자의 가족은 물론, 공포와 분노, 슬픔을 ⁠⁠느끼고 있는 아시안계 이민자들에게 심심한 애도의 뜻을 전합니다. 우리는 이 끔찍한 비극을 어떻게 표현해야 할지 그조차도 가늠하기 힘듭니다. 이 사건에 대한 자세한 내용이 나오는 것에 맞춰 민족학교는 ⁠⁠우리가 할 수 있는 지원 방법과 정보를 공유하겠습니다.⁠⁠
⁠기억하세요. 민족학교 핫라인은 213 709 3685입니다. 한국어로 도움을 받을 수 있습니다.⁠⁠”