“The fetishization, objectification, and consumption of Asian bodies, particularly gay and/or queer bodies, is systemic and violent. In the LGBTQ community we continue to perpetuate harmful colonialist patterns of behavior. Antonius’s performance last night was visceral and brilliant. Thank you for adding a poignant end to Queer(ed) Performativity. “ -Andy Johnson, curator of Queer(ed) Performativity
eating the Other was inspired by my personal experiences existing as a queer Asian body in a predominantly cisgender, white, able-bodied, heteronormative, LGBTQIA+ community. A View from the Bottom by Tan Hoang Nguyen, Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance by bell hooks, and Queer Phenomenology by Sara Ahmed greatly influenced this performance as well.
Special thanks to Dylan Lewis and Andrew Jacobs for consuming all that rice. Documentation by Benny Harps of Napizum Magazine.
This piece was performed at DC Arts Center on May 20, 2018, the closing reception of Queer(ed) Performativity.
yêu em dài lâu
Dec. 7, 2018-March 3, 2019
Lawndale Art Center (Houston, TX)
Gracie R. Cavnar Gallery
My first solo show since undergrad features two sculptures and a new series of life-size, hand-cut paper portraits that celebrate Queer AAPIs (Asian American Pacific Islanders) in my life.
Thank you Stephanie Mitchell, Emily Fens, and Lauren Lohman for embracing me and my work. I love all of ya’ll at Lawndale so, so much!!!
*photos by Lauren Lohman
Repatriation was performed at the Smithsonian Arts & Industry Building on June 23rd for By The People, an international arts & dialogue city wide festival presented by Halcyon in Washington D.C.
In March 2017, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reversed a longstanding practice and began subjecting Vietnamese refugees to lengthy periods of detention under the threat of deportation, despite an agreement between the US and Vietnam made in 2008. Under this agreement, Vietnamese American refugees cannot be deported back to Vietnam if they entered the US before July 12, 1995, the date the two governments established diplomatic relations.
Recently, Brendan Raedy, an ICE spokesman, announced that 8,600+ Vietnamese nationals are subject to final deportation order. As a child of Vietnamese refugee parents, I constantly question, who is worthy of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
The agreement of 2008: https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/108921.pdf
Special thanks to Nicole Dowd for making this performance night possible.
*Performed on 10/5/18 at the Heurich House Museum in Washington D.C. for the opening of A Good American, a group exhibition curated by Philippa Hughes. Audience members took turns answering 50 out of the 100 invented questions for one hour.
I transformed the didactic and imperialistic questions of The Naturalization Test into The Nurturalization Test, a series of open-ended questions that are meant to be answered collaboratively by audience members. Without any “correct” answers, this test challenges the process and prerequisites of naturalization in the United States.
Thank you Kunj Kunj for caking my face! I performed in drag as a way to not only challenge the expectations of a drag queen, but also as a means of imagining queer people of color in positions of power.
*photos by Christopher Chen, instagram: furcafe
More information on how to get involved with the “Missing Piece Project” will be released in the upcoming months. Please check out our interviews with SBTN Radio Station to learn more about the pilot intervention that took place on Black April of 2018.
Kim Tran, the founder of the project.
Feel free to contact Kim Tran at tran.kim.nguyen@gmail.com for more info.
A Collective Intervention: Creating Space for Memory Work at the Wall for Refugees
"All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory." -Viet Thanh Nguyen
One of the most visible and public ways that the US has remembered its involvement in the Vietnam War is through the somber, black, wall erected on the Washington Mall in our nation's capital. The names of US veterans who died during the conflict are engraved into the Wall, while reflecting back the faces of visitors in its polished black marble. The Wall has been hailed as a profound site of healing for those that visit, often leaving items there dedicated to fallen loved ones or to let go of traumatic experiences.
There are no Vietnamese names on the Wall. Framed in the nationalist context of the Washington Mall, this memorial conveniently "forgets" the Vietnamese (both civilians and veterans alike) and "remembers" American veterans as the primary victims of war. Yen Le Espiritu writes that "without creating an opening for a Vietnamese perspective of the war, these dramatic and public commemorations of the Vietnam War refuse to remember Vietnam as a historical site, Vietnamese people as genuine subjects, and the Vietnam War as having any kind of integrity of its own."
This project calls for a collective intervention at the Wall by Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, and other refugee community members still affected today by the legacy of American militarism and imperialism in Southeast Asia, allowing the community to reclaim their past experiences, history, and memories, on our own terms. This project envisions a nationwide, coordinated, mass dedication of items at the Wall by refugee community members on the upcoming April 30 anniversary in 2020 (45 years after US military withdrawal from Vietnam). However, this proposal asks for seed money for a smaller-scale, pilot run of the dedication organized by members of the progressive Vietnamese American organization VietUnity, to take place on April 30, 2018. Items would be created, found, collected, by VietUnity members and their local networks throughout the year, then placed at the Wall on April 30, 2018 by several VietUnity representatives.
Since its opening in 1982, national park rangers have collected all items left at the Wall, which are catalogued and stored in a national archive. During a visit to the archive in 2015, with the help of archive staff, I found that only six items had been left by members of the refugee community, out of thousands. There has been both an explicit (the names of your dead are not here) and implicit (this space is not for you, don't leave your items here) exclusion of refugee voices from this national memorial.
The pilot project in 2018 would design and build an online archive documenting the items brought to the Wall by VietUnity members, along with oral histories that elucidate the meaning of the items. Excerpts of these oral histories could be read aloud at the Wall when items are placed there. Through the recording of oral histories, this project encourages multigenerational engagement and would serve as a starting point for inter-generational conversations about refugee experiences that are often very difficult to speak of. The pilot online archive of objects and oral histories would serve as a demonstration of the project's possibilities, helping spread word across refugee networks when the larger project is launched in 2020. This pilot online archive would be designed as a template that other refugee community organizations nationwide could use to coordinate their own collective dedications and upload their digital documentations to.
The coordinated, mass dedication of items from the refugee community at the Wall on April 30, 2020 would act as a physical and symbolic disruption of the US nation state's memory project that justifies US militarism and imperialism in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world through the "forgetting" of its victims, both in the past and present. This intervention centers refugee experiences in ways that refugee community members will determine for themselves, as a collectively curated archive of objects and memories, rather than one designed by state institutions or policy-makers. The open nature of the collective archive insists that the refugee community is not a monolith; that there are complex disjunctures, contradictions, and intersections in our identities and in the ways that we remember the conflict and its continuing legacies felt in our everyday lives today. This project carves out space for a public, nationally recognized memorial formed from the collective engagement of diverse voices in the refugee community rather than one determined by the policies of any single institution.
-Kim Tran
Thank you VietUnity members for allowing me to collaborate with ya’ll on this project. Special thanks to Lan Nguyen and Qyuen Nguyen-Le for documenting this piece.
*This is my homage to Felix Gonzalez-Torres and the 1993 Whitney Biennial.
unsaid invites audience members to take from the pile of fortune cookies. Contained in each package is 1 of 9 possible fortunes.
*installation shots from “Queered Performativity” at DCAC in Washington D.C. & “Sondheim Semifinalist Show 2018” in Baltimore
Category Is was performed on March 29th in D.C. as part of Unraveling the Living Archive, Halcyon Arts Lab's second performance cycle. For 2 hours, audience members were invited to perform my gender using weapons of femininity and masculinity.
"“Unraveling the Living Archive” is an exhibition that presents new durational performances by emerging artists and current Halcyon Arts Lab Fellows: Mercedes , Chloe Benhasel, and Antonius Bui. *
*
Throughout “Unraveling the Living Archive” the artists seek to interrogate both historical and personal archives in order to find answers and ask questions that solicit the liberation of the body, or lack thereof."-Hoesy Corona (curator)
Video of the performance here: https://vimeo.com/265665934
Special thanks to the Napizum team for documenting the performance. I love you, Jie, Jay-r, and Benny! Follow them on instagram @napizum
I had the honor of co-organizing Guard(en) with Tattiana Aqeel and Beverly Price, two incredible D.C. native artists. Guard(en) showcased the wide array of talent from the Queer POC community in the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) area. We are so grateful for Camille Kashaka from the Anacostia Arts Center for hosting the show from June 17-24th, 2018. Here are a few snapshots from Guard(en)’s dynamic opening night!
I had the honor of co-organizing a Queer Zine Fest with Hillyer Art Space in celebration of Pride Month 2018! Together we worked with the editors from DIRT, Homie House Press, MelaNation, and Vănguard to hear about the themes that drive their work, learn about upcoming issues, and find opportunities to submit. Learn more about each of the publications at the bottom of the page! special thanks to IA&A at Hillyer for the images
DIRT
Jordan Martin, Co-founder and Editor | Andy Johnson, Contributing Editor
Founded by a collective of art writers, art historians, artists, and curators, DIRT hopes to be an answer to the problematic lack of coverage, visibility, criticality, and authenticity within our immediate art community. DIRT seeks to survey, publish, and disrupt the cultural landscape through essays, public intervention, exhibition reviews, poems, interviews, and other non-traditional formats. With a focus on highlighting the DMV’s art, culture and history, we use our online platform to advocate for our community’s network of artists, exhibitions, events and happenings in both traditional and unconventional spaces.
Facebook: /DIRTDMV
Instagram: @dirt.dmv
Twitter: @DIRTDMV
Homie House Press
Adriana Monsalve, Co-founder, Artist, and Producer | Alexa Schaffer Quintero, Office Manager
Homie House Press is a skeleton bones crew of femmes creating + publishing in the foto book medium. We are book makers + educators holding space for and with QTPOC artists + other marginalized groups. We are a playground where fotos become books, a safe space for secret stories and an open house for honest content. Find us migrating through the in between, the world wide web, and al otro lado del charco.
www.adrianastories.com/homiehousepress
Instagram: @homiehousepress
MelaNation
Jordan Deloach, Lead Editor and Designer
MelaNation is an art zine and digital space that uplifts Black liberation and elevates the voices of Black folks in the DC metro area. The zine is run by cultural organizers at BYP100 DC, a collective of young Black activists who fight for justice for all Black people through a Black queer feminist lens. We believe that no one is free from oppression until the most marginalized within our society
are liberated! By publishing contributions from Black creatives in the DMV, doing youth art workshops, and collaborating with creative and activist collectives, MelaNation aims to be a creative world for Black folks in the DC metro area to explore what liberation could look like in our communities.
http://melanationzine.com
Facebook: /melanation.zine
Instagram: @melanation.zine
Vănguard
Khanh "Aiden" Nguyen, Co-founder | Thanh "Nu" Mai, Co-founder
Vănguard is an underground literary and art zine made by the LGBTQ Vietnamese community for the LGBTQ Vietnamese community.
www.vanguardzine.com/
Facebook: /vanguardzine
8.9"x11.4" laminated collages using traditional votive paper and imagery from the Vietnam War.
I still remember the first time a U.S. government worker scolded me for laminating my social security card. He embarrassed me in front of the entire line by pointing out that I couldn't read the instructions on the back. I went home imagining my parents laminating all of their government papers in order to secure their citizenship in this foreign land.
This ongoing body of drawings began shortly after my first trip to the motherland. I miss you Vietnam.
For the Tulsa Artist Fellowship's end of the year exhibition, I exhibited my email correspondence with Ken Levit, the executive director of GKFF (George Kaiser Family Foundation). These emails are a follow up to a meeting that I had with him where I was asked to be transparent about all of the wrongdoings of Julia White, the current Program Manager. Instead of reliving all of the trauma that I endured due to the unqualified staff, I provided stories that stood out. This included her racist remarks concerning my partner, Brandon Brooks.
To encapsulate how troublesome the staff at TAF is, three artists of color, including myself, left the fellowship before the 1st year even ended. That should say enough. The Declaration of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion featured on their website is obviously just a front.
Akiko Jackson and I both exhibited pieces that "are openly critical of the leadership of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship."
http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/newnow-works-tulsa-artist-fellowship
We both found it necessary to use our platform to fight for true equity and justice in the fellowship. We want the future artists, specifically queer and poc artists, to thrive in this community because we struggled immensely.
News of hiring a new program director came out on February 5th, along with a notice that "Any questions, comments or suggestions can be directed to Judy Rabinowicz and team at recruit.search@gmail.com."
I sent the following to Judy,
"Greetings Judy Rabinowicz,
I have a few suggestions concerning the requirements for the Director position.
I believe the following are necessary for the success of TAF:
1. A Master's Degree
2. Listing of salary and benefits
3. A national search/call that lasts 4-6 months
4. Transparency concerning the hiring process
5. Extended experience in the arts outside of Oklahoma
6. Preferably a Woman of Color
I hope to see a replacement of current staff with qualified staff to better serve the needs of the TAF artists and community as well. The long term success of TAF depends on hiring staff with remarkable experience in the arts.
Best,
Antonius "
I truly hope to see change in the upcoming years.
I am happy to share more of my experience in the Tulsa Artist Fellowship anytime.
9/9/17
Dear Ken,
I hope you're doing well. I've been meaning to write with various concerns about our TAF staff and the need for help. One latest concern was regarding a man roaming the halls of the Archer studios, a new 2018 Fellow and guest. We were not given a formal introduction and from what I understand, this was startling for fellows to hear.
There have been many concerning and problematic issues with the decision making of both Julia and Megan. My fellow colleagues requested our staff to send out a simple email introduction, and this request was ignored after inappropriate and defensive comments were made in response. Why? It makes no sense.
We were introduced to Rett during our monthly meeting on Wednesday, and we requested an introduction be sent out through email to all the fellows, as everyone was not present. This still has not happened. He has been roaming the halls for over two weeks without proper introduction. To illustrate "why" this is important, this is for the awareness, safety, and comfort for everyone. An unfamiliar man walking through the hallways late at night is startling. If I turn a corner and walk into an unfamiliar man, this is traumatizing for both of us, moreso for me. How do I know he isn't someone that broke into the building? Archer is very easy to access and forgotten doors are always left propped open by construction when I come to work. Yes, we can ask Amanda to make sure doors aren't propped after her workday, but we ask for the common foresight of why an introduction email is simple and important to begin with.
In addition, may we request Julia and Megan receive sensitivity/cultural awareness training and generally be held accountable for poor management practices? This has been requested on numerous occasions with Stanton, and we have brought this up in our meetings as well. Fellows have had many ignored emails when asking questions with our staff. Ignored. In addition, evading response to questions, illustrated in an email, that was accidentally sent saying: "Do not respond." from Julia, meant for Amanda. We know this is unprofessional. Ken, I hope you can see the extreme frustration we face with constant incompetence. Myself, and all the fellows, are just trying to work in a functioning program. I personally believe in the mission of this organization, and wish to see it improve on all levels of management and thus improving the experience for fellows.
To be direct, last year there were 12 fellows affected by mismanagement. I heard about the lack of professionalism shortly after arriving in Tulsa this year. After 21 months and now 34 fellows, more people are affected by poor decision-making and inappropriate behavior of our staff. We have fellows leaving the program early as a result of the program not treating them well, amongst other reasons. Our current staff may have told you they simply leave for other opportunity, of course, however, this is selective information and censors the true reasons.
We ask for your help. We ask for a harmonious work place. We also ask our reputation in Tulsa not be tarnished by our staff speaking poorly or misrepresenting fellows by telling known Tulsa artists "they wouldn't be interested" in connecting or "they're out of town, don't bother" when this is not the case, has happened, and I keep hearing it continues to happen. This clearly blocks our ability to work with specific people in our community and is extremely unprofessional.
We need some help for the betterment of our program, and it starts with fixing the unprofessional and inappropriate staff we all have been doing our best to navigate and assist. The grander request we have is a national search for a qualified Director. This may seem very direct, however, many fellows are flabbergasted with the current staff whom have no qualifications for managing an art program, let alone, have the passion, sincere, and vested interest in artists, and do not understand 'how' to facilitate this program for the artists in a healthy, harmonious, and professional way. Please, we need a national search to hire a qualified staff, with years of successful arts administration experience, and a masters degree in the arts.
This brings me to the 2018 Fellowship agreement. Many fellows, especially the marginalized folk, are under duress with this agreement. With a rigid deadline of being told to sign a 22-page document without proper review, editing, and joint agreement, we feel forced. In our May monthly meeting, a fellow had an explosive and violent outburst from the stress of our staff attempting to change agreements on us based on their personal feelings, and the conversation to find a solution was extremely stressful for us. There was no workplace trauma counseling, and people were shell shocked. We concluded from that meeting that all 2016 and 2017 Fellows would not be held to any changes in the contract, and be able to serve through their terms of the following years and grandfathered in. We recommended in good faith, new agreements be drafted before people actually move their lives to join a program and commit themselves to TAF. Our security in the program is from the understanding of being protected and supported, not a rug pulled from under us.
This new 2018 Fellowship agreement is unfortunately one-sided and does not protect and support the artist. The language in this contract, upon the sole discretion of our staff, clearly puts a handful of fellows at risk of discriminatory practices. We have endured difficulty with Julia and Megan's shortcomings, but continue onward to work in Tulsa because we believe in the arts. Seeing this contract specifically twist our concerns throughout the last several months into language that says anything can happen to us and hold staff harmless, is quite scary. Especially with our inappropriate and unprofessional staff, unqualified for their positions. I understand my feedback is straight to the point and candid, but please know I wish the best for our program and want to see artists protected, supported, and treated fairly and equally. Four points we've been advocating for in every correspondence.
I sincerely request a stop to this September 20th deadline to sign the newly created agreement so Fellows do not feel forced, and it will open dialogue on how to better this document for the future of TAF. Granted, we are going beyond our positions to help our staff and it is time consuming, but it is clear this contract was created from a defensive perspective and continues to be problematic and punitive. This agreement should truly be worked on for future fellows not already moved to Tulsa.
Writing such a candid and honest email to you is extremely difficult and terrifying for me, however, I realize you may be in the dark of all the unprofessional acts performed by Julia and Megan, which has created the massive distrust many Fellows have for these two specifically. A result of dishonesty and inappropriate behavior that is quite appalling.
Please help, again, we are under duress and seek harmonious solution together.
Sincerely,
Antonius B.
9/9/17
Thanks for note. It helps to hear various perspectives. This is a complex undertaking and there is clearly room for improvement. The Foundation is spending enormous resources to make the program a success, maybe more than any foundation is in the country, and we want it to be the best it can be. Your feedback helps a great deal. There is a lot to digest so I will reflect on it deeply. I deeply appreciate it and know it is not easy to come forward with candid views.
As to the contract, it may not be perfect and I am working on listening and making changes. But we also have to move forward reasonably given the commitment of the foundation to the program and the people served by it. We have some appointments on Monday and then will see what adjustments need to be made over the next few days. I have appreciated the feedback that several have provided.
Again, thank you very much. I am sorry of the negative experiences you have suffered. I hope that there have been some redeeming features of the fellowship for you and your work. I am committed to significant improvement as we move forward. —Ken
10/17/17
Hi Ken,
How have you been? What have you been up to?
I just wanted to see if there were any updates concerning hiring a new director for TAF. It has only been two weeks since I've started my fellowship at the Halcyon Arts Lab in Washington D.C., and I already feel the difference.
Nicole Dowd, our program manager, is an adopted Korean woman who has extensive experience in exhibition design, arts administration, public installations, and more. With her leadership, I feel secure in my practice as a working artist. We just had our grand opening for the pubic yesterday, and she did an amazing job inviting professionals from all sectors of society to listen to our ideas. More importantly, she validates my existence and listens to my experiences. Nicole has been there for me every step since Day 1.
I can't help but compare my experience thus far to the tumultuous 8 months in Tulsa.
I share all of this to emphasize the urgency for a new director for TAF.
Thank you so much for your time. I look forward to hearing updates.
Best,
Antonius
10/17/17
Glad you are doing so well. Working on it all. -Ken
10/18/17
Hi Ken,
Awesome! What does that look like? I am interested in the concrete steps that will lead to progress and change.
Best,
Antonius
10/18/17
I appreciate your feedback and interest. You’ll have to let me work on it In the best way I can.
No response or update since then. I found out from another source that a call for a new director went out early February.
Hand-cut paper portraits of Queer People of Color I’ve had the honor of befriending.
She no longer fits into them.
I never will.
Dress pins embroidered into my mom's old Ao Dai.
