September 27 – December 6, 2019
Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Opening Reception: First Friday, October 4, 6-9pm
Closing Reception: First Friday, December 6, 6-9pm
Asian Arts Initiative
1219 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA
Mainstream fictions, especially science fiction of doomed futures and metaphors for oppression often evoke fear. Instead, what if we repaired the imaginations of fragmented pasts and accepted the new formats of allegory, dialogue, expression; accepted the post-human biome. A shift in perspective and observing multiple histories of diverse communities can inspire us to look forward to looking forward. What if we could use a new futurism to create a narrative of hope?
In New Asian Futurism, we asked artists to imagine a place beyond time and space, a backdrop for the imagination of queer, differently abled, of multiplicity of thought; to continue the journeys embarked upon by Afrofuturists like Samuel R. Delaney, Sun Ra and most importantly, Octavia Butler. What if we made the traditional purview of science fiction more inclusive; unapologetically naturalist, spiritual and healing. Responding to these questions with existing media, New Asian Futurism is a public arts program to showcase visual art, digital media, poetry and performance.
ARTISTS: Saks Afridi | Melissa Chen | Amir-Behan Jahanbin | JiSoo Lee | Firoz Mahmud | Leeroy New | Tomorrow We Inherit the Earth: The Queer Intifada | Eva Wǒ
WORKING GROUP: Ching-In Chen | Wit López | Atif Sheikh | Li Sumpter
