Investigating the Engagement of College Students in an Activist Exhibition Fierce-Browed and Head-Bowed: Bay Area Asian American Movement

Investigating The Engagement Of College Students In An Activist Exhibition Fierce-Browed And Head-Bowed: Bay Area Asian American Movement

by Danielle Alexandra Coates

B.F.A in Art and Visual Technology, May 2013, George Mason University

A Thesis submitted to

The Faculty of The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Exhibition Design

May 19, 2019

Thesis directed by

Andrea Hunter Dietz Assistant Professor of Exhibition Design

ii Dedication

The author wishes to dedicate this work to her parents.

This is our degree.

iii Acknowledgments

The author wishes to acknowledge the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural

Education at George Mason University and Kylie Stamm for inspiring her research into the Asian American Movement and Christopher Kardambikis for guidance on the printmaking studio and activities.

iv Abstract of Thesis

Investigating The Engagement Of College Students In An Activist Exhibition Fierce-Browed And Head-Bowed: Bay Area Asian American Movement

The present document will investigate the engagement of college students in an activist exhibition through the topic of the Bay Area Asian American Movement. The narratives of the movement will be organized by the locations around the Bay Area, beginning on the college campuses then expanding to San Francisco’s Chinatown-

Manilatown. Each content section has a brief description of the narratives that will be presented to the visitor and their flow within the exhibition. The exhibition will explore the development of the Asian American Movement through the perspective of college students and young adults. The audience for this exhibition is college students. Interviews were conducted with four undergraduate students from George Mason University to better understand their museum visitation, social and political engagement, and their free time. In addition to the interviews, activism on college campuses will also be addressed.

The site of the exhibition will be at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film

Archive, which is very accessible to UC Berkeley students. The exhibition will transform the museum’s Gallery One to an open floorplan with a printmaking studio in the center.

To inform the design of the exhibition four precedent exhibitions were analyzed, highlighting key takeaways which will inspire aspects of this exhibition. The narrative device of the exhibition is the characteristic of activists prints. The narrative device will inform the design and interpretive strategies to create impactful moments throughout the exhibition which will inspire community. The narrative experiences of college students from the Asian American Movement will empower visitors and cause them to draw

v parallels to their own experiences. The layout of the exhibition will facilitate community building through visitors working with their hands creating prints and zines together in an open studio.

vi Table of Contents

Dedication ...... iii Acknowledgments ...... iv Abstract of Thesis ...... v List of Figures ...... vii Introduction ...... 1 History of “Serve the People” ...... 1 Audience Overview ...... 3 Why College Students? ...... 3 Target Audience ...... 5 Student Profiles ...... 6 Paula Alderete, Senior, Global Affairs ...... 6 Gia Ha, Senior, Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering ...... 7 Jose Lopez, Junior, Information Technology ...... 7 Hannah Mitchell, Senior, Secondary English Education ...... 8 Audience Engagement ...... 8 Site Selection ...... 9 Site Analysis ...... 12 Other Sites Considered ...... 12 Design + Content Precedents ...... 13 All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50 ...... 15 Disobedient Objects ...... 16 Into Action ...... 17 Content: Bay Area Asian American Movement ...... 17 Curatorial Goals ...... 22 Design Plan + Strategies ...... 23 Arts Activism and Printmaking ...... 23 Narrative Device + Interpretive Strategies ...... 25 Design Strategies ...... 27 Design Elements ...... 28 Exhibition Experiential Journey ...... 29

vii Narratives of the Asian American Movement ...... 29 Hands-On Experience ...... 34 Conclusion ...... 36 Bibliography ...... 39 Appendix ...... 43 Interviews / ...... 43 Figures ...... 73

viii List of Figures

Figure 1 Exterior of Berkeley Art Museum and Film Archive ...... 73

Figure 2 Ground Floorplan of the BAMPFA ...... 73

Figure 3 Interior of Gallery One, BAMPFA ...... 74

Figure 4 Exterior of Oakland Museum of California ...... 74

Figure 5 Kearny St. San Francisco, outside of the International Hotel ...... 75

Figure 6 Title Treatment for Serve the People ...... 75

Figure 7 Title Treatment for Roots ...... 76

Figure 8 Installation view of wall display and cases in Roots ...... 76

Figure 9 Installation view of wall display, cases, and hanging in Roots ...... 77

Figure 10 Installation view of wall display and case in Serve the People ...... 77

Figure 11 Reading interactive in Serve the People ...... 78

Figure 12 Installation view of Emory Douglas’ work ...... 78

Figure 13 Video installation in All Power to the People ...... 79

Figure 14 Large scale graphic of federal document in All Power to the People ...... 79

Figure 15 Large scale text of Ten Point Plan in All Power to the People ...... 80

Figure 16 Visitor posing in Huey Newton replica chair in All Power to the People ...... 80

Figure 17 Entrance treatment of Disobedient Objects ...... 81

Figure 18 “How To” artist’s instructions for Disobedient Objects ...... 81

Figure 19 Installation view of cases in Disobedient Objects ...... 82

Figure 20 Installation view of large objects in Disobedient Objects ...... 82

Figure 21 Mural outside of warehouse location at Into Action ...... 83

vii Figure 22 Visitor participating in “Shattering” at Into Action ...... 83

Figure 23 Tongva elders posing in gallery at Into Action ...... 84

Figure 24 APA button with Chinese character for East ...... 84

Figure 25 The TWLF marching on Sproul Plaza ...... 85

Figure 26 SF State Picket line ...... 85

Figure 27. Richard Aoki at Huey Newton Protest ...... 86

Figure 28 Copy of Mao Tse-Tung’s “Little Red Book” ...... 86

Figure 29 Portrait of Richard Aoki by Emory Douglas ...... 87

Figure 30 “What is a Pig?” clipping from BBP Newspaper by Emory Douglas ...... 87

Figure 31 Group photo of students and volunteers outside the ACC ...... 88

Figure 32 Mural outside the KSW ...... 88

Figure 33 KSW poster for art classes ...... 89

Figure 34 KSW poster of martial arts fighter ...... 89

Figure 35 Resistance against police force to eviction at the I-Hotel ...... 90

Figure 36 Police outside I-Hotel remove objects from the building ...... 90

Figure 37 Woodcut portrait of Lu Xun ...... 91

viii Introduction

Fierce-browed, I coolly defy a thousand fingers

Head-bowed, like a willing ox, I serve the children.

1 –Lu Xun, 1942

History of “Serve the People”

Fierce-browed and Head-bowed: Bay Area Asian American Movement will address how an exhibition can serve student populations to engender activism and advocacy. This exhibition will facilitate meaningful connections across history with an

Asian American Pacific Islander lens through shared creative experiences. The narratives revealed will focus on college students while inspiring empathy and empowering the audience to seek opportunities to reclaim their power and serve their communities. In the above quote by Lu Xun, “the revolutionaries” are the audience, they must be the oxen and “the children” symbolize the masses, which become the community.

In the historical scope of this exhibition, Lu Xun’s quote is familiar, the Black

Panthers popularized the term “Serve the People” from Mao Zedong, who in turn was inspired by the revolutionary writer Lu Xun.2 In the 1960s and the 70s community was a tool for organizing; community transcended physical space.3 The theory of community was put into action.4 For the Asian American Movement, the idea of community began on college campuses as a principle of Asian American Studies then moved onto physical problems in the city’s Little Tokoyos, Chinatowns, and Manilatowns.5 This exhibition

1 Karen L. Ishizuka, Serve the People (New York: Verso, 2016), 115. 2 Ibid. 3 Karen L. Ishizuka, Serve the People (New York: Verso, 2016), 116 4 Ibid., 116 5 Ibid.

1 will re-capture the idea of empowering people through community. Community will be built through the parallels drawn between the historical narratives and the audience’s experiences, and additionally by the audience working together creatively with their hands. The shared creative experiences created within the exhibition will transcend the space inspiring the audience to find their truth in service.

Thesis Statement

In 1968, the Asian American Movement was born. The myth of the model minority has obscured the Asian American Movement from the social justice movements of the 1960s and 70s. Visual narratives will lead the visitor through university campuses and community organizing to protesting in California’s Bay Area. The visual material, photographs, prints, and publications, collected from the movement express the fervent energy of this moment in history. The visitors will become immersed in narratives of the youth that were the heart of the Asian American Movement as a result of this immersion; visitors will leave inspired by the energy and creativity of the Asian American Movement to impact their communities.

Message

“Without the reconciliation of the self to the community, we cannot invent ourselves. This

‘community’ begins with but extends beyond the boundaries of our families, far beyond

Chinatown to wherever resistance to domination is taking place.”

6 -Elaine H. Kim, Asian American Studies Scholar

6 Karen L. Ishizuka, Serve the People (New York: Verso, 2016), 116

2 The exhibition will explore how the Asian American Movement was involved in the social justice movements of the 1960s and 70s and how it shaped the “Asian

American” identity. The perspective of the exhibition will be from the college students and young adults, who were at the forefront of the movement. This exhibition will follow the grassroots community organizing that expanded from the college campuses to San

Francisco’s Chinatown-Manilatown. Finally, the exhibition will draw parallels to the current political climate encouraging the visitors to reflect on the tactics and organizing used during the Asian American Movement.

Audience Overview

Why College Students?

College exposes many students to social justice work for the first time and challenges them to think critically. Through social and political engagement, college students expand their thinking about community from personal to interpersonal and finally to systemic. Students are away from their families and find themselves as part of a broader campus community. Then within this broader community, they begin to connect with a small group of their peers. These “transitional moments” of altering their everyday routines and social networks enhances the chances for activism significantly.7 These new and broader social networks expand the possibility that students will become more committed to activism, which increases the chance that their participation will “spill

8 over” to other social movements.

7 Jennifer Earl et al. “Youth, Activism, and Social movements,” Sociology Compass, (2017): 2. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12465.

8 Ibid.

3 College creates an environment where students can passionately apply the concepts and new ideas from their courses to their interests. The energy around these ideas brings students together. For social and political movements campuses are beneficial for recruitment, mobilization, and coalition building since students are on campus and have time between classes to organize.9 Since the turbulent social and political atmosphere of the 1960s and 70s, universities have fostered student activism.

In 2000, some scholars began to worry that youth political engagement was at an unhealthy low.10 However, others argued that youth were not disengaged but had shifted to the “engaged citizenship” model by volunteering, protesting, and embedding politics into their daily lives.11 The audience interviews conducted for this exhibition reflect the latter argument. Students have integrated activism into their lives. For the last 50 years,

12 students were critical to the rise of social movements and organizations.

Contrary to this, the “deficit model” explains that “youth are or perceived to be, less engaged than adults and are often treated as incomplete members of society who have to be taught how to correctly engage with politics.”13 Research challenging the deficit model suggests that youth are not politicalized by others; youth politicalized themselves.14 To combat the deficit model, this exhibition will serve college students by providing them a space where they can explore, engage, and feel empowered by the narratives of the activists who came before them.

9 Ibid. 10 Ibid., 1 11 Ibid. 12 Ibid., 2 13 Ibid., 3 14 Ibid.

4 Target Audience

The target audience for the exhibition is UC Berkeley college students. Since the

Bay Area, Asian American Movement started at UC Berkeley; the movement is a significant part of their campus’ history and the students’ legacy. To have a better understanding of the relationship college students have to museums, what inspires them, and how they spend time with their friends, I interviewed four undergraduate students

15 from George Mason University.

These undergraduate students are on a spectrum of museum visitation. Their visitation ranges from once every couple of years, a couple of times a year, to every other month. Coursework is associated with museum visitation for these students, which can cause exhibitions to feel like work and a requirement. The interview questions were developed with the Smithsonian IPOP method in mind to identify what aspects of the exhibition would capture the students; attention.16 In addition to their museum visitation,

I asked questions about their assumptions and expectations of a history exhibition, which will be challenged and addressed directly in the design.

The students generally know very little about the Asian American Movement.

Most of the content would be new information for them, which they have expressed an interest in learning to increase their awareness. These students are socially and politically active on and off campus. On campus, they hold multiple leadership positions, where they can mentor their peers and influence change. Their activism is also on a spectrum,

15 See appendix. 16 Smithsonian Institution, “What is IPOP?,” Office of Policy and Analysis, Smithsonian Institution (2015): 1, accessed October 20, 2018, https://www.si.edu/Content/.../IPOP/IPOP%20short%20description%20150806.pdf.

5 ranging from being an active voter to an immigrant rights advocate. They are already actively applying diversity and advocacy work into their academic courses and campus experience.

To better understand the students outside of their academic life, I asked the students about their design style, memorable moments with friends, and what inspires them. The students' friends are a critical part of creating memorable and fun outings or experiences. To foster these memorable moments, they go to places where they can relax, be themselves, and where everyone feels included. They are often inspired and motivated by those around them and the stories of their lives. For artistic inspiration, they use visual social media platforms such as Instagram and Tumblr. Spotify is their most used app, which plays a significant role in their mood.

Student Profiles

17 Paula Alderete, Senior, Global Affairs

Paula is an immigration rights advocate; she works both on and off campus to educate the community about the realities of immigration and connecting them with resources. Paula does not visit museums frequently. Her most memorable museum experience was viewing classical paintings at the National Gallery of Art. “From this experience going to see the grandiose curation of artwork was impressive. I like to be near artwork that was renowned, and hundreds of years old was awe-provoking.”

When asked about her assumptions or expectations of a history exhibition, she describes history exhibitions as tedious, and the delivery of information dry. She defines

17 Paula Alderete (student) in discussion with the author, October and November 2018.

6 a successful history exhibition “as one that once completed; the participants can comprehend the connections of the past with the present, moreover see how the present’s actions create pathways for the future.” Paula says she would like to see an exhibition that focuses on the voices of communities fighting for justice. However, her focused is on the Latinx community and immigration.

18 Gia Ha, Senior, Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering

As someone who is exceptionally hardworking and holds multiple student leadership positions, the people in her life inspire and motivate her. She values getting to know people and their personal stories of what they have accomplished and overcome.

Her most memorable museum experience was the layout and guided experience of the Holocaust Museum. “Before I entered the elevator to the main exhibit, I was given a little pamphlet that told the story of one of the people who lived through the Holocaust, and it set the somber mood for the rest of the experience. My favorite aspect of the museum was the way it was laid out.” When asked about her assumptions or expectations of a history exhibition, she describes history exhibitions as text heavy and Eurocentric.

She defines a successful history exhibition as an experience that attracts a lot of people that will learn and gain a new perspective; additionally, it should also be “accessible to all people physically, financially, and intellectually.”

19 Jose Lopez, Junior, Information Technology

18 Gia Ha (student) in discussion with the author, October and November 2018. 19 Jose Lopez (student) in discussion with the author, October and November 2018.

7 For Jose, he finds inspiration when talking to his parents. He listens to their stories of how they grew up and immigrated to the US. Their story proves to him that anything is possible with faith and a positive frame of mind.

When asked about his assumptions or expectations of a history exhibition, he describes history exhibitions as organized chronologically, images depicting the era, artifacts, infographics, and well lit. He defines a successful history exhibition as “an exhibit that drew me enough to stay and want to learn more.” If the exhibition is successful, he would want to return.

20 Hannah Mitchell, Senior, Secondary English Education

For Hannah, her most impactful community experience is working at the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Education on campus with minority students.

Hannah primarily visits art and history museums once every other month. Her most memorable museum experiences were at the Artechouse and National Museum of

African American Cultural and History. At Artechouse the interactive element made the art more significant, while the political and social relevance of the NMAACH informed her reality.

When asked about her assumptions or expectations of a history exhibition, she expects to relate the content to the present. She defines a successful history exhibition by leaving with new knowledge.

Audience Engagement

20 Hannah Mitchell (student) in discussion with the author, October and November 2018.

8 The exhibition will embody the spirit of “Serve the People” and focus on building community within the space. Based on the audience feedback, the atmosphere should be inclusive to encourage visitors to relax and engage with others in the exhibition. In addition to the atmosphere, the experience is going to be primarily visual. There will be limited added text to allow the visitor to construct meaning from the movement’s prints, publications, and photos without the feeling of being overtly lectured. The limited curatorial text will invite the visitor to explore the objects more intimately. The look of the space is going to draw from the posters and prints of the late 60s and early 70s. The content of the exhibition will present the perspective of college students and young adults who were leading the movement. By sharing the experiences of college students, the visitors will feel empowered and draw parallels to their own experiences. To actively build community, the visitors will work with their hands to create prints and zines together in an open studio inspired by history.

Site Selection

The site of the exhibition is the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Archive

(BAMPFA) (Fig. 1). The UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Archive is the visual art center of the University of California, Berkeley. The museum is an eight-minute walk from the UC Berkeley campus; it is very accessible to students. UC Berkeley students have free admission into the museum and admission is $11 for non-UC Berkeley students.21 The BAMPFA inspires the imagination, ignites critical dialogue, and activates

21 University of California Berkeley, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, “Hours & Admission,” BAMPFA, accessed October 6, 2018, https://bampfa.org/visit/hours.

9 community engagement through art, film, and other forms of creative expression.22 The mission of the BAMPFA aligns with the exhibition’s message to empower and engage visitors visually about community organizing. The museum’s target audience also encompasses UC Berkeley students. The Bay Area Asian American Movement began on the UC Berkeley campus and is an intricate part of the university’ activist history.

BAMPFA’s collection is characterized by artistic excellence and innovation, intellectual exploration, and social commentary.23 The breath of the collection’s global cultures and historical periods is extensive. The collection features Ming and Qing dynasty Chinese painting, Mughal dynasty Indian miniature painting, Baroque painting, old master prints and drawings, early American painting, nineteenth- and early-twentieth- century photography, Conceptual art, and international contemporary art.24 It is also essential to recognize that the modern art collection is built around 50 works by Abstract

Expressionist painter, Hans Hofmann.25 In addition to the museum’s collection they have access to the university’s archives, where a significant amount of the artifacts from the

Asian American Movement reside.

The Pacific Film Archive aspect of the museum was modeled after the

Cinémathèque Française in Paris, where the cinema patrons, artists, students, and critics could watch films in the best technical and environmental conditions.26 In addition to the film screenings, there is a center for study, discussions, and exchanges.27 The Pacific

22 University of California Berkeley, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, “BAMPFA Mission and History,” BAMPFA, accessed October 6, 2018, https://bampfa.org/about/history-mission. 23 University of California Berkeley, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, “BAMPFA Collections,” BAMPFA, accessed October 6, 2018, https://bampfa.org/about/bampfa-collection. 24 Ibid. 25 Ibid. 26 University of California Berkeley, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, “Exhibition History,” BAMPFA, accessed November 25, 2018, https://bampfa.org/about/exhibition-film-history. 27 Ibid.

10 Film Archive offers 450 films screening opportunities each year to explore cinema from every film-producing country in the world.28 They present rare and rediscovered prints of classics, new and historic works by the world’s great film directors, restored silent films with live musical accompaniment, thematic retrospectives, and innovative works made by today’s film, video, and new media artists working in the areas of animation, documentary, experimental, and fiction film.29 Film screenings are accompanied by in- person appearances by filmmakers, authors, critics, and scholars, who engage in

30 discussion with audiences.

In March 2018 the BAMPFA had a program, “Kearny Street Workshop: Evolving

Legacy,” the Kearny Street Workshop is a key content area within the exhibition.31 This program shows that the museum is aware of the art produced during the Asian American

Movement and has access to works and artists that could potentially be included in this exhibition.

In addition to the art produced during the Asian American Movement, there have been a couple of independent documentaries, The Fall of The I-Hotel and The

Manilatown Series. 32 The exhibition could potentially be accompanied by a documentary film festival on the Asian American Movement. These films could be shown in conjunction with the exhibition to provide more background about the residents in San

Francisco’s Chinatown-Manilatown.

28 Ibid. 29 Ibid. 30 Ibid. 31 University of California Berkeley, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, “Kearny Street Workshop: Evolving Legacy,” BAMPFA, accessed November 10, 2018, https://bampfa.org/event/kearny- street-workshop-evolving-legacy. 32 Chonk Moonhunter, “Our Films,” Chonk Moonhunter, accessed November 25, 2018, http://www.mcssl.com/store/chonkmoonhunter.

Site Analysis

The architecture of the building is an amalgamation of 20th and 21st-century style.

The stainless steel-class curvilinear volume streamlines into the Art Deco style of 1939.33

Similar to the form of the building, this exhibition will bring together the 20th and 21st century.

The exhibition will be in BAMPFA’s Gallery One (Fig. 2). Gallery One is about

10,000 square feet; it is one of the museum’s more extensive galleries located on the first floor of the museum.34 On the first floor, there is an auditorium and large film theater.

Next, to Gallery One is a smaller gallery space. The floor of the gallery is cement with six steel columns running down the center. The ceiling is made of steel rafters with large skylights (Fig. 3). This gallery receives natural lighting, which will need to be reduced for the archived paper and prints on display in the exhibition. However, a majority of the archived documents and historical photographs will be reproductions, which will help reduce conservation requirements.

Other Sites Considered

The Oakland Museum of California is located on the bay in Oakland and focuses on the natural science, history, and art of California (Fig. 4). They designed the All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50 exhibition, which is within the same vein of social

33 University of California Berkeley, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, “The Architecture of the BAMPFA,” BAMPFA, accessed October 6, 2018, https://bampfa.org/about/about-bampfa/architecture.

34 Kelly Bennett (preparator) in discussion with the author, October 2018.

12 justice movements as the Asian American Movement. This exhibition could have potentially fit into the history section of the museum as a cultural narrative. The museum is also community focused, which aligns with the message and goals of the exhibition.

However, this exhibition aims to highlight Asian Americans distinguishing the Asian

American Movement from the Black Panthers. The Black Panther Party will be mention in a smaller narrative section of the exhibition, to acknowledge the groundwork they did for other minority movements.

San Francisco’s Chinatown is where the movement moved to after leaving the UC

Berkeley campus. The community organizing rallied around the Asian Community

Center, Kearny Street Workshop, and International Hotel, which were at the intersection of Kearny Street and Jackson Street (Fig. 5). Shops and restaurants have commercialized the area. However, the International Hotel has been rebuilt and is the Manilatown Center.

The Manilatown Center has an exhibition space, which could be utilized with the neighborhood intersection.

The format and layout of the narratives within the exhibition will take inspiration from walking tours and the feeling of being transported to historically locations rather than take the form of a walking tour. The visitor being present in the physical location is not necessary to convey the importance and the impact of the movement.

Design + Content Precedents

The design and content precedents exhibitions researched focus on the different aspects of social justice movements and community advocacy. Each exhibition focused on how to best communicate narratives through objects, display, and audience

13 participation. Serve the People and Roots are two examples of exhibitions on the Asian

American Movements in New York and Los Angeles.35 They meaningfully curated archival works to tell the historical narrative of the movements and offered opportunities for individual experiences with re-created publications and zines. All Power to the People balanced the history and artwork of the Black Panther Party while weaving together past and present narratives.36 Disobedient Objects took a unique perspective on protest culture focusing on the objects and incorporating the makers’ voice.37 Into Action was a large scale pop-up art exhibition which invited visitor participation through interactive art installations and workshops.38 Moving forward in the development of this exhibition these are important components of each exhibition, which will influence the creation of meaningful connections within Fierce-Browed and Head-Bowed.

Serve the People and Roots

These two exhibitions were curated by Ryan Lee Wong, whose work connects the

Asian American Movement history to the present.39 Serve the People and Roots are the primary exhibitions on the Asian American Movement in New York and Los Angeles

(Fig. 6, 7). These exhibitions interpreted archival materials as the principal objects of the exhibitions.40 The minimalist design of the space allowed the colors and content of the archive to stand out (Fig. 8, 9, 10). In Serve the People, they were able to create small

35 Serve the People: The Asian American Movement in New York, Interference Archive, Brooklyn, December 5, 2013 – March 23, 2014 and Roots: The Asian American Movement in Los Angeles, 1968 – 80s, Chinese American Museum, Los Angeles, January 19 – August 13, 2017. 36 All Power to the People : Black Panthers at 50, Oakland Museum of California, October 8, 2016 – February 26, 2017. 37 Disobedient Objects, Victoria and Albert Museum, July 26, 2014 - February 1, 2015. 38 Into Action: Social Justice Festival of Art and Ideas, Los Angeles, January 13 – 21, 2018. 39 Ryan Lee Wong, “About,” Ryan Lee Wong, accessed October 8, 2018, https://www.ryanleewong.com/. 40 Ryan Lee Wong, “Exhibitions,” Ryan Lee Wong, accessed October 8, 2018, https://www.ryanleewong.com/exhibitions-1/.

14 intimate moments for the visitors to experience archival materials. Visitors experienced the objects as they were intended and were able to create a personal connection to the objects. Visitors were invited to handle and read through the seminal collection of art and poetry Yellow Pearl, and copies of the nationally-circulated Bridge Magazine (Fig. 11).41

Roots was accompanied by a zine, which offered stories from older activists and ideas for future action.42 The zine continued the importance of DIY culture in grassroots organizing and provided an opportunity for people to contribute to the movement. The zine contains a way for visitors to continue engaging with the content of the exhibition after they have left.

All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50

All Power to the People was a successful blockbuster commemoration exhibition of the Black Panther Party. It explored the misunderstood history of the controversial and revolutionary party43. The exhibitions featured rare historical artifacts, never-before-seen photographs, first-person accounts from former Panthers, scholars, and community members.44 Even though the Asian American Movement is not as well-known as the

Black Panther Party, the exhibition is telling a similar narrative of resistance and serving the people. All Power to the People was a successful compilation of art and history of the movement (Fig. 12, 13). The exhibition also provided a contemporary view of the party through artists and their influence on the fight against oppression and injustice, and through historical documents and photographs. The exhibition presented the history of

41 Ibid. 42 Ibid. 43 Oakland Museum of California, “Exhibition All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50,” Oakland Museum of California, accessed on October 8, 2018, http://museumca.org/exhibit/all-power-people-black- panthers-50. 44 Ibid.

15 the Black Panthers visually through large scale wall text, enlarged documents, and video installations, which replaced wall panels (Fig. 14, 15). One of the impactful design moments was the bronze replica of Huey Newton’s iconic peacock chair, which the public could sit in (Fig. 16). The visitor was able to place themselves in an iconic and powerful image of the revolution.

Disobedient Objects

Disobedient Objects was an object focused exhibition, examining the powerful role of objects in movements for social change (Fig. 17).45 Everyday objects turned for a new purpose; to engage the theatrical side of a demonstration.46 The main idea of the exhibition was how ordinary people could be creative with limited resources under duress.47 This exhibition also recognized that the work or action was unfinished; this is a critical point to embody when exploring a living movement that the audience can join.

The exhibition featured multiple voices of the makers and users of the objects. Even though the focus is the object, the human connection was not lost. The makers wrote the labels by giving the objects an emotional meaning and context.48 The exhibition offered

“How to Guides” for the visitor to understand the objects like the makers (Fig. 18).

Pressed wood and steel pipes were used for the platforms and other displays to emphasize handmade and industrial look which referred back to the conditions the objects were created in (Fig 19, 20).

45Victoria and Albert Museum, “Closed Exhibition-Disobedient Objects,” V&A, accessed on October 6, 2018, http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/disobedient-objects/disobedient-objects-about-the- exhibition/. 46 Victoria and Albert Museum, “What are Disobedient Objects,” V&A Blog, accessed on October 6, 2018, https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/disobedient-objects/what-are-disobedient-objects..

47 Ibid. 48 Ibid.

16 Into Action

Into Action was a free event, which featured art installations and over 25 hours of live performances, symposium/panels and workshops.49 The art exhibition component was about cultural gathering and community organizing (Fig. 21).50 The event illustrated what happens when artists and activists come together. Their mission was to illuminate our resilience and take back our hope.51 There was an interactive designed by Detroit artist Ann Lewis, “Shattering”, the visitors were given a white ceramic plate and invited to write something they wanted to rid themselves of or the world of (Fig. 22).52 The visitor would then smash the plate in a private chamber. This interactive embodied the point and purpose of the exhibition; to smash the system of oppression. The festival caused the visitors to reflect on a year that had left many people feeling insecure in the

US.53 The content of the exhibition addresses the intersection of race, gender, religion, and class. They provided a voice for those who came to participate (Fig. 23). The organizers and speakers let the visitor know that they were not alone and they were a part of the change.

Content: Bay Area Asian American Movement

49Into Action, “Into Action: A Celebration of Community Power + Cultural Resistance,” Into Action, accessed on October 8, 2018, http://into-action.us/. 50 Into Action, “Into Action: A Celebration of Community Power + Cultural Resistance,” Into Action, accessed on October 8, 2018, http://into-action.us/. 51 Deborah Vankin, “’Into Action’ festival blends art, music and social justice; a ‘momentum builder’ for speaking activism,” Los Angeles Times, accessed on October 8, 2018, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-into-action-20180112-htmlstory.html. 52 Deborah Vankin, “’Into Action’ festival blends art, music and social justice; a ‘momentum builder’ for speaking activism,” Los Angeles Times, accessed on October 8, 2018, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-into-action-20180112-htmlstory.html. 53 Ibid.

17 Content is organized by the locations around California’s Bay Area beginning on the college campuses then moving out into the surrounding community. The first section upon entering the exhibition is UC Berkeley then San Francisco State College. After the college campuses, moving counter-clockwise in the gallery would be Oakland which would introduce the Black Panther Party and their relationship to the Asian American community. The final location in the exhibition is San Francisco’s Chinatown-

Manilatown which focuses on several storefronts on Kearny Street and the International

Hotel.

The first content section the visitor will encounter is on the UC Berkeley campus.

It will focus primarily on the development of the Asian American Political Alliance

(AAPA). The American Political Alliance was created by Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee and a handful of other students in 1968 (Fig. 24).54 They were the first group to call themselves “Asian American,” which was a term proposed by Ichioka.55 They viewed themselves as a broader, all-inclusive community grassroots alliance.56 Many were involved with the civil rights/ Black Power movement, anti-war and anti-poverty movement.57 AAPA aimed to be an openly anti-imperialist political organization for all

Asian nationalities, which could stand equally with other dominant Third World groups.58

Through newspaper articles59 and the founding rally speech60, the organization makes it very clear they would not be “another Sunday social club.”61 The organization vocalized

54 Asian Community Center Archive Group. Stand Up: An Archive Collection of the Bay Area Asian- American Movement 1968–1974 (California: Eastwind Books of Berkeley), 2009, 23. 55 Ibid. 56 Ibid. 57 Ibid. 58 Ibid. 59 Ibid., 25 – 40. 60 Ibid., 27. 61 Ibid.

18 their opinion on Asian Americans in American society, the third world, and how they could impact their community.

The second content section would introduce the Third World Liberation Strikes at

San Francisco State College and UC Berkeley. This section will focus on how the students organized on campus and the outcomes of their demonstrations. The Third

World Liberation Front led student strikes that demanded the establishment of the Third

World Liberation Colleges comprised of Asian American, African American, Chicano, and Native American studies departments.62 Minority students were able to unite in solidarity against institutional racism, and the strikes won the formation of the Ethnic

Studies Programs.63 The students’ tactics were informational picketing, blocking of campus entrances, mass rallies and teach-ins (Fig. 25, 26).64 These actions were met with police arrests, teargas, and campus disciplinary actions.65 Over the fall and spring semester in 1968–9 hundreds of students were arrested at the SF State strike, and 155 were arrested during the UC Berkeley strike in the Winter Quarterly in 1969.66 Students published their demands to the university 67 and documented injuries due to police brutality.68 After these demonstrations, a large number of Asian American students

69 became involved in the community-based organizing effort for the movement.

After the sections about campus organizing, the location changes to Oakland. This section will touch on the Asian American Movement’s connection to the Black Panther

62 Ibid., 43. 63 Ibid. 64 Ibid. 65 Ibid. 66 Ibid., 43 – 44 67 Ibid., 45 – 53 68 Ibid., 47 69 Ibid., 44.

19 Party and tools that the Asian American Movement adopted from the Black Panther

Party. Richard Aoki, a Japanese American activist, was a founding member of the AAPA and spokesperson of the TWLF (Fig. 27).70 He was one of the few non-African American

Black Panthers.71 Community programs were modeled after the Black Panther’s “serve the people programs” such as free food programs, youth mentoring, health clinics, and legal services.72 Mao Zedong inspired black revolutionaries; the Black Panthers sold copies of the Little Red Book alongside the Black Panther Party Newspaper (Fig. 28).73

The Black Panther Newspaper was even sold at Everybody’s Bookstore along with other radical Asian American publications.74 Asian American artists began taking inspiration

75 from the Black Panther Newspaper and Emory Douglas (Fig. 29, 30).

The most extensive content section is located in San Francisco’s Chinatown-

Manilatown. This section will cover the tools and forms grassroots organizing took in the community. Community activism organized around issues of community control and basic living. 76 The Asian Community Center (ACC) was formed by former AAPA members and others (Fig. 31).77 It opened on the ground floor of the International Hotel to address community concerns.78 They offered a broad range of “serve the people” programs including a free food program for low-income families, a youth after-school

70 Karen L. Ishizuka, Serve the People (New York: Verso, 2016), 62. 71 Ibid. 72 Asian Community Center Archive Group. Stand Up: An Archive Collection of the Bay Area Asian- American Movement 1968–1974 (California: Eastwind Books of Berkeley), 2009, 85– 86. 73 Ibid., 43. 74 Asian Community Center Archive Group. Stand Up: An Archive Collection of the Bay Area Asian- American Movement 1968–1974 (California: Eastwind Books of Berkeley), 2009, 99. 75 Karen L. Ishizuka, Serve the People (New York: Verso, 2016), 141. 76 Asian Community Center Archive Group. Stand Up: An Archive Collection of the Bay Area Asian- American Movement 1968–1974 (California: Eastwind Books of Berkeley), 2009, 77. 77 Ibid. 78 Ibid.

20 program, labor struggle support, and low-income tenant organizing.79 Specific narratives that will be highlighted will be the Wei Min She film program, Free Food Co-operative program, and the Chinatown Co-operative Garment Factory.

Everybody’s Bookstore was also located in the International Hotel building and was the first Asian American bookstore.80 The founders of the bookstore were members

AAPA as a way to promote processive change in an oppressed community.81 The bookstore provided Asian American history and social change, in a central location where Asian American literature and other books would be available.82 The bookstore also specialized in handling revolutionary materials from China.83 Also available in the bookstore were movement newspapers such as the “Black Panther Party News,” “Getting

Together,” “Gidra,” “The Guardian,” “New Dawn” and “Wei Min Bao, Chinese

84 Community News.”

Kearny Street Workshop (KSW) was conceived in 1972 by Leland Wong, Jim Dong,

Lora Foo, and Mike Chin (Fig. 32).85 KSW is the most prolific source of poster art during the Asian American Movement.86 They held numerous workshops and classes in arts, crafts, music, and dance (Fig. 33).87 The prints communicated an important sub-textual message, “Asian American ethnic communities are to be valued and made visible in society. (Fig. 34)”88 The original motivation of the organization was to make artists out of

79 Ibid., 78. 80 Ibid., 97. 81 Ibid. 82 Ibid. 83 Ibid., 96. 84 Ibid., 99. 85 Karen L. Ishizuka, Serve the People (New York: Verso, 2016), 134. 86 Ibid. 87 Ibid. 88 Ibid., 135.

21 community members and community members out of artists.89 KSW went on to survive after the eviction of 1977 moving repeatedly and is the oldest Asian American arts

90 organization in the country.

The International Hotel is one of the critical events of the movement, which brought together students and the residents. The International Hotel’s first eviction notice was served to 150 elderly Filipino and Chinese tenants in the Manilatown district of San

Francisco (Fig. 35, 36).91 The threat of eviction launched a nine year-long anti-eviction campaign of widespread student and community grassroots support.92 Protests and demonstrations mounted in the community, which postponed the eviction. In 1977, the campaign lead to the deployment of 300 riot police, mounted patrols, anti-sniper units, and ladders.93 There was a 3,000 human barricade of students, young adults, and community members which were brutally cleared before tenants were forcibly removed.94 The International Hotel storefronts such as the ACC, KSW, and Everybody’s

95 Bookstore became conductors for political, social, and cultural change.

Curatorial Goals

The Asian American Movement is often left out of the canon of social movements from the 1960s and 70s. Activist and educator Elizabeth Martínez pointed out, “The most serious neglect is in the treatment of Asian Americans. Not one of the twenty-four books

89 Ibid., 119. 90 Ibid. 91 Asian Community Center Archive Group. Stand Up: An Archive Collection of the Bay Area Asian- American Movement 1968–1974 (California: Eastwind Books of Berkeley), 2009, 63.

92 Ibid. 93 Ibid. 94 Ibid. 95 Ibid., 64.

22 [on the progressive social movements of the 1960s] seriously recognizes Asian American protest.”96 The curation of the exhibition will be through the archival materials that will be in each narrative location. The perspective of the narratives will come from college students and young adults who were producing the material. The curatorial text will support the archival materials by connecting to the larger community-based narrative of the exhibition. However, the additional text will be limited to focus the visitor’s attention on the prints and publications.

• Learn and appreciate how printmaking can be a tool to organize around the needs

of a community through the lens of the Asian American Movement.

• Explore the impact of the Asian American Movement on “Asian American”

identity.

• Learn about the intersection between the Asian American Movement and other

minority movements like the Black Power, Chicano, and Native American

Movement.

• Recognize the work college students contributed to the movement.

• Reflect on how the past movements can inform current grassroots organizing and

sociopolitical events.

97 Design Plan + Strategies

Arts Activism and Printmaking

96 Karen L. Ishizuka, Serve the People (New York: Verso, 2016), 4. 97 See design package for more information

23 Arts activism as a teaching tool reflects critical pedagogy, which views

“education as central to creating students who are socially responsible and civically engaged citizens.”98 This exhibition will use arts activism as a tool to empower the visitor in the studio space.99 The studio activity will take the skills, ideas, and values explored in the narratives of the Asian American Movement and apply them to printmaking.

Printmaking will provide the opportunity for visitors to physically response with their expression to the content of the exhibition.

Art becomes socially conscious when it actively protests against war, injustice, and corruption.100 Printmaking has a particular advantage when it comes to politically conscious art; it is reproducible, low cost, and graphically expressive.101 The intention of political prints has always been to engage the viewer, change opinion, and inspire change.102 This intention is an intricate part of the atmosphere of the exhibition. The printmaking of the Asian American Movement can also be traced back to the revolutionary writer, Lu Xun, who was a supporter of public art. Lu Xun inspired the

Chinese Woodcut Movement in the 1920s with his writings of poverty and oppression in

China (Fig. 37).103 Chinese artists similar to Mexican revolutionary artists used their work to respond to social and political ideologies.104 Decades later, Lu Xun’s work inspired another generation of artists and activists in the US. These artists and activists then mobilized and organized a community utilizing printmaking as a tool for change.

98 Jane McPherson et al. “Using Arts Activism and Poetry to Catalyze Human Rights Engagement and Reflection,” Social Work Education, (2014): 944-958, https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2014.885008. 99 Ibid. 100 Josh MacPhee, ed. Paper Politics : Socially Engaged Printmaking Today (Oakland: PM Press, 2009), accessed December 13, 2018, ProQuest Ebook Central. 101 Ibid. 102 Ibid. 103 Ibid. 104 Ibid.

Narrative Device + Interpretive Strategies

105 “Art is not entertainment. At its best it is revolution” – Salman Rushdie

The narrative device of the exhibition is the characteristics of activist prints. A screen print, which appears to be simple, can be an act of resistance. This act of resistance can inspire community engagement bringing together the artists’ and the publics’ needs.

Printmaking is often described as a democratic process reaching a wider audience than a single work of art.

The exhibition will embody the characteristics of activist prints through spatial interventions and experiential moments. Prints are a method of delivering information, and they also contain layers of information within their design. They are created in multiples to disseminate their message quickly. Each print creates a powerful person to person connection traveling from the creator to the unexpecting audience. Prints are given freely moving until they find a temporary spot to live. The prints of the Asian

American Movement will be delivered to the visitor by hanging them into their space directing their eyes up while causing them to navigate the space more intentionally. The hanging prints will transition with the narrative areas, and the number of prints throughout the exhibition will remind the visitors of the amount of creative production that was happening at the time; as well as the amount of work that can be produced through printmaking. The hanging prints will primarily be screen prints, which contain bold graphics, typography, and vibrant colors. Since they contain a wealth of information

105 Karen L. Ishizuka, Serve the People (New York: Verso, 2016), 163.

25 and can often speak for themselves, they will primarily stand-alone from further interpretation.

There will be unexpected moments throughout the space that the visitor can experience individually or in a group. These unexpected moments will invoke the feeling of first encountering a print on the street or being handed one by someone unknown. The moment a print catches someone’s eye their reaction to the print is immediate. The prints that will be featured in this exhibition have traveled from the artists and activists through the critical points in the movement to this exhibition.

The layering process in the creation of the prints will be referred to in the exhibition through the graphic design, the physical display, and curatorial information.

The outer walls of the gallery will be collaged with black and white photos layered over vibrant screen printed textures. These wall graphics create monumental backdrops for the narrative sections providing the visitor with a sense of place within the Bay Area. The displays in each narrative section will feature publications, photos, and curatorial panels.

These elements will be organized in a way where they overlap on one another on the wall frames. The layering of the artifacts and curatorial panels visually reference how the prints in public spaces begin to layer and build upon each other as more information is added to the surface. The visitor can engage with the multiple levels of information within each area of the exhibition. The visitor has the opportunity to dive as deeply as they desire into the content. In each narrative area, there will be an overview panel and narrative panels detailing a particular story in addition to reproduced publications.

26 The exhibition space will be partitioned with wood screens; the screen will allow the visitor, select reveals into the next section. These reveals through the screens creates small moments when the visitor can see what is ahead, revealing the layers within the physical exhibition. These moments also help convey how the movement developed and built upon itself. Each section acts as a layer within a print, which creates the entire exhibition.

For the creator, the process of screen printing is done by hand, and each pull of the squeegee adds another layer of ink. No two prints are ever the same. Evidence of the hand will be present throughout the exhibition through the graphic treatments and the raw materials used in the displays. Screen printed textures in vibrant colors will be used on multiple surfaces to create depth in the space and depict the energy and movement that goes into printmaking. The unfinished wood will be used in the displays to give the appearance of something that could be quickly produced with simple materials. The handmade look and feel is essential to capturing and reminding the visitor of the people behind the movement. The narrative device of activist prints is a metaphor for the different creative forms information can be disseminated through to inspire a community to come together.

Design Strategies

The gallery space is conceptually divided into two broad sections: narratives and programming. The narrative sections provide a walk-through of critical moments and developments in the Asian American Movement. The programming sections consists of the Printmaking Studio and the Bookstore of the Masses, a reading lounge, which are

27 both interactive areas. The narratives move counter-clockwise around the gallery. The studio is at the heart of the exhibition, and the final section is the reading lounge.

Design Elements

Throughout the exhibition, there are design elements which repeat and shift to fulfill the design needs in each narrative section. The gallery itself is an industrial space with an exposed ceiling, skylights, steel columns, tall white walls, and a cement floor. The first spatial intervention in the gallery begins with the ceiling; there are two rows of skylights in the space which became an opportunity to manipulate the natural light in the gallery.

Traditional Chinese wooden window frames would be added to the skylights, which would cast the pattern of the frame into gallery adding movement through light and shadows. To fully utilize the wall space of the gallery, there will be large black and white photo collages in most narrative sections. The wall graphics will create a landscape of building scapes and people, which overlook the narrative sections. Behind each wall graphic is a screen print texture giving the photo collage a rough edge. The screen print texture will also be used as a wall surface treatment for the smaller displays. The gallery has an expansive cement floor, which is another surface that would be activated by graphics. In each narrative section, there will be large typographical sayings, dates, and locations. These graphic treatments will direct the visitor toward key objects as well as add another layer information for them to encounter.

Moving into the interior space of the gallery, the space will be divided by wood screen. The wood screen were inspired by partitions and screens in pan-Asian architecture. The wood screen also retains a handmade quality, as if it were quickly

28 constructed in the space. The wood screen will also display a majority of the artifacts and curatorial panels. By using the wood screens to divide the space, there are moments of reveal. In some areas of the exhibition, the visitor is provided a glimpse of what is to come.

To create unexpected moments with the content, prints will be suspended and hang off the wall across the space. The hanging posters will create a different viewing experience from how prints are traditionally presented in a gallery setting. This will also cause the visitor to navigate around the prints since they are now occupying the same space. The hanging prints will also create physical thresholds, and visual transitions as the visitor navigates through the different narrative sections.

The curatorial panels in the exhibition will be limited to introduction panels for each narrative section and narrative panels which will highlight more in-depth stories. In one style of panels the title and subtitle will be separated from the main content of the panel treated as wall graphics. The graphic panels will be mounted on wood frames causing them to project off the wall surface. The graphic style of the panels will feature simple sans serif with bold block typefaces and vibrant colors taken from the screen prints in the exhibition. In addition to the panels, the photographs and publications are going be displayed together overlaying on one another.

Exhibition Experiential Journey

Narratives of the Asian American Movement

As the visitor enters the gallery, the lighting is low. The space is enclosed by the wall screen and the drop ceiling which creates a more intimate space. At the entrance, the

29 introduction panel is spotlit providing an overview of the exhibition topic. As the visitor moves further into the space, they will become immersed in a soundscape of phone calls.

The low lighting of the space will heighten the visitor’s sense of hearing. The content of the phone calls are recordings from Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee trying to recruit Asian students to form what would later be the Asian American Political Alliance.

As the visitor continues to move into Becoming Asian American, they see a black and white photo collage of images from the Freedom of Speech Movement, Ichioka and

Gee’s home, and Ichioka and Gee themselves on the left wall. Ichioka and Gee are highlighted with a transparent yellow silhouette. Along the back screen wall, there are different graphics and publications from the AAPA newspaper; however, the key object is the speech notes from Richard Aoki at the AAPA Founding Rally. On the back wall, the light raises spotlighting the speech notes. As the visitor examines the posters and speech notes the sound transitions to a recording of Richard Aoki delivering his speech at the AAPA Founding Rally in July of 1968. As the visitor leaves this section, they are provided a glimpse through the wood screens into the next two narrative sections.

The gallery opens up and the visitor enters the next section is On Strike, Shut It

Down!. A floor graphic leads the visitor to a newspaper case featuring student and campus newspapers detailing their accounts of the student strikes at UC Berkeley and SF

State. Looking up from the newspaper case the main wall of this section features a black and white photo collage of students of various racial backgrounds protesting at UC

Berkeley and SF State. In the collage the students are larger than life-size becoming heroes in the eyes of the visitor. Behind the collage is a bright red screen print texture.

Above the collage is a wall quote, highlighting that the Asian American students were the

30 best organized, the hardest working, and the most committed the cause of the strike.

Overlaid and projecting off of the same wall are recreated protest signs, which highlight the handmade designs and passionate statements the students carried. The protest signs again emphasize the message the students were carrying. Across from the graphic wall, there is an opportunity for visitors to sit down and watch a video about how the TWL strikes which led to the establishment of Ethnic Studies.

To the left of On Strike, Shut It Down! is The Black Panther Party. The Black

Panther Party is the first narrative section that uses hanging prints to transition the space from university campuses to the community. The prints hanging in the section are by

Emory Douglas and produced in the Black Panther Party Newspaper. The prints chosen for this section focus on serving the people, revolution by the people, and freeing Huey

Newton. These are only prints featured outside of the movement to express the intersectional design influence between Douglas and Asian American artists, as well as a political ideology. The key objects in this section are Richard Aoki’s BPP beret with the

AAPA button and the Free Huey flag. Both of these objects represent the intersection between the Black and Asian American communities. As the visitor navigates through the posters the beret is revealed. The beret case is in front of the portrait of Aoki at the

Free Huey rally in which he is wearing the beret. The beret is an example of how three- dimensional objects would be incorporated throughout the exhibition to complement the prints and publications.

The section behind the On Strike, Shut It Down! and The Black Panther Party is

Serve the People. Serve the People is divided into three smaller narratives which

31 highlight the Wei Min She’s Film Program, the Free Food Co-operative Program, and the

Chinatown Co-operative Garment Factory, which were run out of San Francisco’s

Chinatown-Manilatown. A more intimate and hidden moment in this section is the Film

Program. The wall screens create an alleyway for the visitor to walk down. The background of this section is the building scape of Kearny Street in San Francisco at different points during the movement. Behind the collage is a rich yellow screen print texture. As the visitor navigates down the alleyway, they are viewing hanging prints featuring events and depictions of life in Chinatown-Manilatown. When the prints clear, the visitor encounters a vintage film projector showing film clips from the People’s

Republic of China. The screen that the film is projecting onto is comprised of layered pieces of paper, which reinforces the idea of multiplicity and information. Through the projection, the visitor can see layers and the texture of the paper. The two other sections,

Free Food Co-operative Program, and the Chinatown Co-operative Garment Factory, feature photos and prints layered on a wall screen with the additional key objects like a denim jacket and recipes. The prints hanging in this area focus on workers’ rights.

One of the essential locations in San Francisco’s Chinatown-Manilatown to the exhibition is the Kearny Street Workshop (KSW), which is the Art of the People. As the visitor continues to navigate through Chinatown-Manilatown, they come to an open area filled with hanging posters. This section features a significant amount of hanging prints that capture the breath and diversity of the KSW’s work. Art of the People is the most wide open allowing the visitor to spend time and explore the hanging posters. In addition to the hanging prints, there are photographs of the workshops and other events that happened at the KSW. The background is a black and white photo collage of the KSW

32 murals on the Kearny St. block. In one of the photographs, there is a row of police office occupying the street in front of the murals. The police in the wall graphic is life-size to create a moment of contention with the visitor. The Art of the People incorporates contemporary artwork creating a dialogue between the current and past Asian American

Movement. Some of the artists who were founding members of KSW are currently working artists. Exhibiting their contemporary work with their prints from the 70s provides an opportunity for the visitor to see how their work has evolved and how their identity as Asian Americans continues to influence their work. For example, a mandala created by Nancy Hom would be displayed at the center of Art of People, illustrating to the visitor her connection to the movement and how her work remains social justice

106 focused.

The final narrative section of the exhibition is the Battle for the I-Hotel. As the visitor moves from the open area of the KSW, they enter into a smaller compressed area of the I-Hotel tenants. This intimate area partitioned by the wood screens and above the space is a small drop ceiling. The photos in this area focus on the lives of the tenants and their relationship with the students. The closeness of the space reflects the size of the living spaces and the conditions in the I-Hotel. Leading the visitor into the space are pieces of paper covering the floor. Upon further inspection, the pieces of paper are eviction notices. Once the visitor realizes this, they began to feel the fear and pressure the community was facing.

106 University of California Berkeley, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, “Kearny Street Workshop: Evolving Legacy,” BAMPFA, accessed April 22, 2019, https://bampfa.org/event/kearny-street- workshop-evolving-legacy

33 Also in this section is a mini black box theater which will play clips from the documentary film Fall of the I-Hotel by Curtis Choy. Fall of the I-Hotel showed at the

BAMPFA in 1983; this would be an opportunity to connect the film archive with the exhibition.107 The purpose of the film is to highlight the resistance of the community to the eviction of the elderly tenants and the police brutality that the community endured.

Hanging in the theater is a banner declaring “Stop Evictions,” which was hung outside the I-Hotel.

Hands-On Experience

The programming sections of the exhibition consist of two hands-on interactive areas that challenge the visitor to move from a passive role to an active role.

The Bookstore of the Masses is a reading lounge modeled after and inspired by

Everybody’s Bookstore. This area of the exhibition allows visitors to slow down and reflect upon the narratives they have learned through the exhibition. They will also have the opportunity to carefully examine the full reproductions of the publications and posters from the movement. There will be flat files that correspond to the narrative sections in the exhibition. The visitors will be able to check out the publications and read them in the space. In this area, there will also be a facilitator similar to the studio, who will help the visitor find what they are looking for and make suggestions for what they should explore.

In addition to the publications and books from the movement, there will be an area for a community board. The community board will feature information about local grassroots

107University of California Berkeley, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, “A New San Francisco Documentary,” BAMPFA, accessed April 22, 2019, http://archive.bampfa.berkeley.edu/film/FN3677

34 organizations, student organizations, actions, and resources in the Berkeley area.

Displayed in this section will be prints from the People’s Republic of China and book covers of Asian American literature to reflect the material that would have been available at Everybody’s Bookstore. The lounge area features long benches which wrap around half of the space and bean bags. There is floor space which has been left open for programs such as live reading, talks, and workshops. There are also shelves which are on casters, so they can be easily moved to accommodate the changing space.

At the heart of the exhibition will be the Printmaking Studio. The structure surrounding the studio draws upon the architecture of San Francisco’s Chinatown. The studio structure resembles an archway that could exist in Chinatown. The archway is a threshold that signals to the visitor they are entering into a space different from the narrative sections. Three of the four sides of the studio are open providing entry points for the visitor. After the visitor has experienced the first narrative area of the exhibition, they can access the studio space. Since the studio area is open, those who are in the exhibition can see the creative activity while those working in the studio can look out and be inspired by the content. In the studio, the visitor has the opportunity to respond to the past with their creative voice.

The studio space is organized into two areas: zine making and screen printing. The zine making area consists of multiple work tables, a risograph, and photocopier. The facilitators in this area will teach how the risograph and photocopier can be used as tools of production. Reproductions of the publications and photographs from the exhibition will be available in the studio for visitors to use in the creation of their zines. Through

35 zine making the visitors will be able to directly respond to the exhibition’s content through re-using the material produced during the movement and adding their mark.

The screen printing area consists of one long screen print table with three stations set up and a storage area for equipment. In this area, the facilitators would be demonstrating the layering process of screen printing. The visitor would have the opportunity to pull ink creating several layers of a screen print; through this process, the visitor will be able to experience how the prints in the exhibition were created. The visitors would be recreating prints that were hanging in the exhibition. Each week the printmaking studio would cycle through different designs, and the screens would already be prepared for the visitors.

Since a critical component of printmaking is reproduction and multiples, facilitators will collect copies of zines and prints from the studio to be displayed outside of the museum, providing the local community with an opportunity to also respond to the production in the exhibition.

The Printmaking Studio is where the content of the exhibition and the action of printmaking come together. The studio provides a shared space for visitors to experiment with different methods of production. The creative experience of making art in a community space will inspire the visitor to continue this creative process outside of the exhibition.

Conclusion

Fierce-Browed and Head-Bowed is bringing awareness to an obscured movement, the Asian American Movement, through printmaking. The two main takeaways of

36 Fierce-Browed and Head-Bowed are the exhibition will connect college students to the

Asian American Movement and inspire college students to make change through art. As the students navigate through the exhibition, they will connect with the narratives of college students that came before them. Specifically, the exhibition will be examining how college students and young adults disseminated their message, which was through

DIY publications and prints. The current students will draw parallels between their experiences and those expressed in the exhibition. The structure of the exhibition introduces the visitor to the movement through the students at UC Berkeley before moving out into the rest of the exhibition. From the university campuses, the narratives move out into the community, to Chinatown-Manilatown.

The exhibition is designed through the lens of printmaking as an activist tool.

Printmaking takes two forms, the content of the exhibition and the physical action of printmaking at the heart. The look and feel of the exhibition is overwhelming; posters hang in the visitors’ space, prints and photographs cover the walls, and bold screen print textures and typography cover the floor and walls. The look and feel reflects the chaos and energy of production. The built structures of the exhibition are inspired by pan-Asian architecture. They also have a handmade quality appearing as if they were quickly constructed in the space. The handmade quality refers back to human connections and the history of grassroots organizing within the movement. The open floor plan of the exhibition allows visitors to see the layers of visual information and activity throughout the gallery.

In addition to the narratives, they are viewing the amount and quality of work that was produced during the movement. Lastly, the Printmaking Studio provides a space for

37 the students to experience the different methods of production they have seen throughout the exhibition. The Printmaking Studio is a catalyst for the students to incorporate printmaking into their activist practices. Fierce-Browed and Head-Bowed will highlight

Asian American activism while inspiring arts activism that transcends the exhibition space.

38 Bibliography

Asian Community Center Archive Group. Stand Up: An Archive Collection of the Bay

Area Asian-American Movement 1968–1974. California: Eastwind Books of

Berkeley, 2009.

Earl, Jennifer, Thomas V. Maher, Thomas Elliott. “Youth, Activism, and Social

movements.” Sociology Compass, (2017): 1-3.

https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12465.

Fogarty, Lori. “How A Black Panthers Exhibition Connected Activism of the Past to an

Evolving Present.” Zocalo Public Square.

http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2017/06/22/black-panthers-exhibition-

connected-activism-past-evolving-present/ideas/nexus/.

Into Action. “Into Action: A Celebration of Community Power + Cultural Resistance.”

Into Action. Accessed on October 8, 2018. http://into-action.us/.

Ishizuka L., Karen. Serve the People. New York: Verso, 2016.

MacPhee, Josh, ed. Paper Politics : Socially Engaged Printmaking Today. Oakland: PM

Press, 2009. Accessed December 13, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central.

McPherson, Jane and Nicholas Mazza. “Using Arts Activism and Poetry to Catalyze

Human Rights Engagement and Reflection.” Social Work Education, (2014): 944-

958. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2014.885008.

39 Moonhunter, Chonk, “Our Films.” Chonk Moonhunter. Accessed November 25, 2018.

http://www.mcssl.com/store/chonkmoonhunter.

Oakland Museum of California. “Exhibition All Power to the People: Black Panthers at

50.” Oakland Museum of California. Accessed on October 8, 2018.

http://museumca.org/exhibit/all-power-people-black-panthers-50.

Smithsonian Institution. “What is IPOP?,” Office of Policy and Analysis, Smithsonian

Institution (2015): 1-2. Accessed October 20, 2018.

https://www.si.edu/Content/.../IPOP/IPOP%20short%20description%20150806.p

df.