Journalist Aruna D'Souza from The New York Times penned this Art-section cover story “Asian-American Artists, Now Activists, Push Back Against Hate” (from April 18th, 2021) that features Chinatown Art Brigade 唐人街藝術隊／ 唐人街艺术队's work and the important activism of other Asian American artists.
Excerpt from the feature article:
"This change in approach recently led 19 artists involved in Godzilla to withdraw from the exhibition planned by the Museum of Chinese in America in protest of what they called the museum’s “complicit support” of the construction of a jail in Chinatown. (The museum received a $35 million concession from the city, part of a program to invest funds in neighborhoods that will be affected by the construction of facilities in the aftermath of Rikers Island’s closure.)
The museum disputes this characterization. Nancy Yao Maasbach, the museum president, said, “MOCA has always unalterably and vocally been against a Chinatown jail,” adding that its position is that cultural funding for marginalized groups is “critical to redefining the American narrative.”
The artist Betty Yu, a founder of Chinatown Art Brigade (CAB), said that “The way to fight this kind of xenophobia and white supremacy is to organize and fight the root causes of structural racism and capitalism.” With her co-founders Tomie Arai and ManSee Kong, and a network of other artists and organizers, CAB has been working over the past five years to oppose the gentrification of New York’s Chinatown neighborhood and the resulting mass displacement.
The loss of affordable housing and the closing of garment factories employing thousands of new immigrants are not unconnected to the art world. More and more art galleries are moving into the area, driving up rents."
To read the full piece:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/18/arts/design/asian-american-artists-activism.html
