More info at http://twelvegatesarts.org/
Updated Additional Link: http://www.smithsonianapa.org/beyondbollywood/project/h1b/
“Dreams of the Diaspora,” is a multimedia conversation of photographs, prose poetry, spoken word, and soundscape, in which two voices—an Asian American child of immigrants and an Asian immigrant—explore their very different experiences of both America and the diaspora. The child of immigrants knows how difficult it is to grow up as a minority in America and longs for the certainty of home and culture that the immigrant carries but takes for granted, while the immigrant knows how tenuous his stay in America is and envies the certainty of home and place that the American-born has but does not appreciate. Both voices ache with alienation as they wander the globe, yearning for both the future and the past, independence and belonging. Together, they discover connection and identity and courage in each other. The events following 9/11, including racial profiling at airports and the uncertainty surrounding the H1-B visa, form the turning point of the piece, when the two voices stop arguing about their differences and begin walking together instead.
Despite very different backgrounds and different artistic visions, as Omi and I continue to explore our mutual fascination with landscape, light, space, identity, and the human spirit, we keep finding connections between our work, and our projects keep circling back to each other. We are currently putting together a chapbook to continue this conversation about identity, stereotypes, courage, risk, and who we can become in the space of the beloved.
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