Across Cultures and Generations: On Caregiving and Everyday Vulnerabilities

Chinatown Today 今日唐人街, in collaboration with Massy Arts Society 

Across Cultures and Generations is a virtual panel series showcasing local and community-based artistic talent, and facilitating intercultural conversations sharing different experiences of being racialized in spaces within and around Chinatown.

On Sept 25th (Saturday) at 11am, join intersectional non-binary feminist drag artist Maiden China (Kendell Yan) and 3D animation artist and illustrator Thao Vy Le for conversations around caregivers, caregiving, and the beauty of everyday vulnerabilities. In the first half of the event, Maiden and Vy will take turns showcasing their work and walk us through their artistic process. In the latter part of the event, the artists will dive into deeper conversations about caregivers and caregiving, art as an act of self-care, the tenuous relationship between creative inspiration and mental health, and what it means to create art as a means of survival in this capitalistic world.

Click HERE to register to the event.

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Artist bio:

Maiden China

Maiden China (Kendell Yan) is an intersectional non-binary feminist drag artist who disrupts identity expectations and liberates audiences by inducing vulnerability. Maiden China’s drag explores the concept of the “hyphen”, liminal states of embodied being, and incorporates elements of classical Chinese opera, queer theory, resistance politics, and intimate contact performance art. In 2019 Maiden was the subject and one of the creative directors of an award winning documentary titled, “Yellow Peril; Queer Destiny”. They perform regularly as a member of the House of Rice, an all Asian drag family, as well as one of The Darlings, a non-binary drag collective.

Vy Lê

Born and raised in Southern Vietnam, Vy Lê is now currently living and studying 3D Animation in Vancouver, Canada. Although their art practices are now geared towards digital content creation, it was the tactile experiences of traditional art that inspired them to delve into and explore a wide range of visual art making processes, from drawing and sculpting to pixel art. Growing up seeing their parents weathered by the burdens of life they have carried, Vy has learned to appreciate the beauty of the miniscule and insignificant. Focusing on utilizing uplifting colour palettes, Vy aims to re-visualize the beauty of the world as seen through their microscopic lens.

Ticket price

Across Cultures and Generations is a free public event series.

You’ll notice there are two ticket options: one is free, the other is pay what you can (by donation). For the pay what you can option, the suggested donation amount is $10.00, but all contributions are accepted. All proceeds will be donated to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS), a provincial organization providing twenty years of essential services to Residential School Survivors, their families, and those dealing with Intergenerational traumas.

Donations made on the Eventbrite registration page for events of Across Cultures and Generations will be sent to the Chinatown Today financial account. The total amount will be collected, tallied, and donated electronically through the IRSSS website following the conclusion of the panel series. For transparency and accountability, Chinatown Today will post the total donation amount from Eventbrite as well as the donation amount to IRSSS on our Instagram.

Accessibility

This workshop will take place online using Zoom. You can access the workshop on an Internet-connected device, by downloading Zoom to the device (https://zoom.us/), or by opening the workshop video in an Internet browser on the device (no download required). If you will not have access to the Internet for this panel, you can join and listen by phone. Information on how to join the workshop by phone and Internet will be sent to the email used to register.

Language translations

This event will have auto-generated live captions in English. We will also have ASL and live translations in Cantonese. Please note that in order to access the live audio interpretation, you must be joining the workshop through the Internet (not phone dial-in).

Community care

This event will have a dedicated Active Listener. We recognize that sharing lived experiences as IBPOC individuals can be cathartic and liberating, but can also have the potential to be challenging and triggering. The Active Listener will be available via the Zoom chat function throughout the event.

About Massy Arts Society

Massy Arts Society views creative practices as integral to the political and social fabric of contemporary life. Massy Arts operates as a multi-disciplinary arts society that seeks to create a welcoming community invested in acts of care, radical futurisms, and coming together. We view artistic and writing practices as anchors to our day to day understanding of the world, and hope to build a platform where these practices are uplifted and celebrated

About Chinatown Today

Chinatown Today is a non-profit organization whose goal is to share stories from Chinatown’s past and present so they continue to be part of its future.

Any questions about this programming can be directed to Jenn at info@chinatown.today.

Land Acknowledgement

Chinatown Today今日唐人街 acknowledges that although this panel is taking place online, we are conducting this work on the occupied traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically, the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓-speaking xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sel̓íl̓witulh/Tsəl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-waututh) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim-speaking Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) Nations. This land was never surrendered, relinquished, or handed over by these Nations to Canada or British Columbia through a treaty or other means; it is sovereign and unsurrendered. To learn more about whose land you are on, we encourage you to check out the following resources: Native Land or Whose Land.