2010 GRANT PROJECTS
• ARTS WORKSHOP
Double Exposure: War Narratives at Home • $9,000
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
Double Exposure: War Narratives at Home is a multi-media, Pan-Asian arts workshop that focuses on the experiences of Asian American girls ages 14-18 displaced by war. A nine-week, intensive summer workshop led by women artists will bring together low-income, underrepresented girls who are primary and secondary witnesses to war (from the Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Burma, Iran, etc.) to share the stories of their lives through photography and writing, encouraging bonds across nationalities and generations.
• PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION AND COOKBOOK
Paglalakbay: Journeys of Filipina Domestic Workers • $9,000
DAMAYAN Migrant Workers Association
Paglalakbay is a multi-arts project that partners domestic workers with young Filipino cultural workers (photographers, visual artists, performance artists, poets and musicians) to document their working conditions, life, resilience and resistance. Through arts skills training workshops, Filipino women workers will make cultural products including the Paglalakbay Memory Cookbook, featuring recipes from regions of the Philippines that have been adapted to the Filipino Americans, and a month-long public installation of art works created over the course of the project.
• MULTI MEDIA SERIES AND FILM TOUR
Out of the Kitchen and Into the Fire • $8,000
Desipina Productions
Founded in 2000, Desipina Productions is a Brooklyn-based South Asian and Asian American theater and film arts company. Out of the Kitchen and Into the Fire is a three-month series of events including a college and community tour of Hiding Divya, a film about mental illness among three generations of women in a South Asian family produced and directed by Desipina’s founders, play readings, and a panel on APA women in the arts.
• MULTI MEDIA
Cycles • $10,000
Hanalei Ramos and Jung Ung and the Asian Arts Initiative
Cycles is a multi-ethnic, multi-media art project that includes a documentary featuring short interviews with more than150 customers at two laundromats in Woodside, Queens and Jersey City, NJ who reflect the dynamic and evolving demographic changes in their communities. The project will post interview highlights online and to show at Asian American film festivals, community centers and college campuses and will mount installations in both laundromats displaying photographs and oral histories of local Asian women, empowering them to become advocates for community issues.
• MUSIC VIDEO
Someday • $9,000
May Ling Lai and the New York Asian Women’s Center
May Ling Lai is an Asian American woman singer, songwriter, and producer. Building on the success of a music video and public service announcement (PSA) she produced about domestic violence entitled Someday, Lai will launch a public education campaign to raise awareness about the problem of child trafficking, globally and here in New York City with online discussions, forums, blogs, and other Internet media to inspire activism.
• DOCUMENTARY FILM
Can • $10,000
Pearl J. Park via Light Fish Arts
Can, a documentary film produced by Asian American director Pearl J. Park, is a realistic, balanced and in-depth film portrayal of mental illness and suicide within the Asian American community intended to educate mental health providers who have little to no cross-cultural training and may be unfamiliar with traditional Asian practices and beliefs. The film will be shared with key Asian American opinion leaders to stimulate social dialogue about this serious health issue.
• THEATER, DVD AND WEBSITE
Undesirable Elements: Secret Survivors • $10,000
Amita Swadlin and Ping Chong & Company
Secret Survivors is a theatrical multimedia production featuring survivors of child sexual abuse sharing their stories through dramatic narrative. The piece, which draws upon Ping Chong & Company’s Undesirable Elements model (an interview-based theater project exploring social justice issues through the lens of culture and identity), seeks to break taboos, improve community and policy responses, and generate healing through storytelling. Led by Amita Swadhin, a queer educator, anti-violence activist, and incest survivor, the performance will showcase the story of a South Asian American survivor and provide tools to help service providers better understand child sexual abuse in Asian American communities.
• MULTI MEDIA PROGRAM
Glamourbaby Diaries • $8,000
Ruby Veridiano
A project developed by writer, speaker/arts educator, and media personality Ruby Veridiano, Glamourbaby Diaries is an empowerment program for young women, ages 14 to 21, incorporating media, fashion, and women’s history. The goal of this program is to create an inspiring and provocative space for young women to explore their identity and assert their voices in the public sphere. The program focuses on the leadership and personal development of female leaders, thinkers, and writers and creating opportunities to better represent themselves in their families, schools, and communities.
• DOCUMENTARY FILM
Slaying the Dragon: Reloaded • $9,000
Elaine H. Kim and Asian Women United
Slaying the Dragon: Reloaded is a 30-minute sequel to the 1986 award-winning film, Slaying the Dragon: Asian Women in U.S. Television and Film, a comprehensive look at media stereotypes of Asian and Asian American women since the silent era of film. The film addresses how Hollywood’s visual representations of Asian women have changed with globalization and the transformation of America’s population over the past two decades. By challenging viewers to question the pop culture images they see and by offering alternative voices, this film aims to help create real change in the way that Asians are seen.