On Feb. 23, ETSU’s Slocumb Galleries hosted the “Welcome Home: Her Liminal Asian Appalachian Experience” Artists’ Studio Visit virtually over Zoom and Facebook Live.
This visit is the third part of a series highlighting minorities and their unique experiences and contributions in the Appalachian region.
“What I hope participants from this week’s virtual studio visit take away includes the better understanding and appreciation of the Asian artists’ distinct and yet similar journeys and struggles being immigrants or multiracial or first generation American citizens born from refugee parents,” said Karlota Contreras-Koterbay, director of Slocumb Galleries.
The “Welcome Home: Her Liminal Asian Appalachian Experience” exhibition is curated by Jose Ardivilla and Kreneshia Whiteside. Artists Miyuki Akai Cook, Sonya Yong James, Meena Khalili, Marta Lee, Vy Ngo and Elena Øhlander attended the studio visit, with Whiteside as facilitator.
The artists discussed their works in the exhibition, their artistic journeys, their current art practice and how that relates to concept of having a home and living as Asian American women in the Appalachian region.
“Their amazing personal narratives give in depth knowledge of the process of integration, search for identity and strategies in their navigation of their respective place in the world, as well as the vital role of art in their journeys and survival tactics,” said Contreras-Koterbay. “The art they are creating are very personal but also address some universal experiences and his/herstories of migrants, refugees and biracial children detached from their original home connected only through narratives and connections are made effable through art.”
The event was put on by the ETSU Department of Art & Design and Slocumb Galleries Curatorial Fellowship, in partnership with ETSU Student Activities Allocation Committee, the master of liberal studies program, the Multicultural Center, the Language and Culture Resource Center, the Langston Centre, Africana studies, women’s studies, the department of Appalachian studies and the Tennessee Arts Commission’s Arts Project Support grant and Arts Build Communities grant.
The next event is the “Panel on Asian Women, Migration and Empowerment” on March 3 from 6-8 p.m.. To watch, use the Zoom ID: 710 908 4999.
