Envisioning Diaspora: Asian American Visual Arts Collectives

Author of the new book Envisioning Diaspora: Asian American Visual Arts Collectives (Timezone 8 Editions and project partner A/P/A Institute at NYU) and A/P/A Institute Director of Public Programs and Research Manager, Alexandra Chang investigates “Asian American Art” through the formation, membership and artwork of three important post-’90s Asian American artist collectives: Godzilla: Asian American Art Network, Godzookie and the Barnstormers. Through in-depth interviews with artists, arts administrators and writers, as well as the search for archival documents from university and museum archives to the storage shelves of participant artists, Chang traces the shifts within the changing historical contexts of the initial coinage of the term “Asian America.” We see how the term began as an outgrowth of the late ’60s civil rights movement, to its integration into mainstream multicultural discourse and its legacy today. Envisioning Diaspora peers into the nuances of artist collective formations and communities of affinity, and ultimately the core issues of identity politics, aesthetics and diaspora involved in Asian American Art.

Artist Conversation:
The talk will be followed by a conversation with Alexandra Chang and artists featured in the book:
ON megumi Akiyoshi, Tomie Arai, Bing Lee, Ken Chu, Che Jen, Skowmon Hastanan, Arlan Huang, Chris Mendoza, and Mike Ming.