Voices of the Diaspora with Charles Gaines, Gala Porras-Kim, & more

Mar 02, 2024

In an afternoon organized by the Asian American Pacific Islander Arts Network, ARTNOIR, and The Here And There Collective, artists, art historians, and curators discuss the ways that their identity shapes their lives and creative practices. Panelists address how artists of various diasporas navigate existing systems and band together for cultural code switching, when excluded from the art market. These conversations demonstrate that collectives can catalyze cultural innovation, while individual artists can give nuance to identity expressions through their studio practice, and systems can shift towards more visibility for marginalized artists in the mainstream art world. Panels are introduced by independent curator, writer, and art historian, Danielle Shang.

PART ONE
Diasporic Artists in Community

Moderator and REDCAT Chief Curator and Deputy Director, Programs, Daniela Lieja Quintanar is joined by artist Harry Gamboa Jr. (ASCO), Marvella Muro (Self Help Graphics), Claire Kim (The Here And There Collective), and independent curator Kris Kuramitsu to examine the relationship between artists and their communities and how diasporic artists create networks, initiatives, and interventions to lift up the marginalized status of their communities.

PART TWO
Artists’ Diasporic Experiences and Identity Expressions

Artists Charles Gaines, Tala Madani, Gala Porras-Kim, and Vincent Valdez discuss identity as a dimensional, discursive, and embedded part of their practices and explore how diasporic experiences inform their artistic, pedagogic, and social practices. Moderated by ARTNOIR co-founder Larry Ossei-Mensah.