Echoes of our ancestors,
Heard across time and space,
We find the key to our future
As we look into the past.
Our collection offers a space for sharing narratives that speak to different intersections of histories and experiences, within those who identify as Asian American.
This collection is by and for us, our ancestors, and our future generations.
To grow in community, we must become curious on how we can not only grow as one, but with the multitudes we intersect with.
Nourishing ourselves from a creative well, to refill our cup and continue to explore without boundaries, to stretch the limits of our imaginations — we use our creative practice to puzzle through the times we’re in together towards a future of collective liberation.
Envisioning the Future
introduction
A joint statement from contributors to the Andean and Asian American collections, speaking on what Alternative Worlds means to us, what we hope folks take away from this, and what we're grateful for.
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Generations
artwork
A sequence of pieces going back through time exploring lineage, ancestors, history, memory, remembrance, and loss.
It begins in the present day with me, as one piece in a portrait series spanning three generations of women in my family.
1. "Me / 2020"
2. "Mother / 1994"
3. "Grandmother / Before I Even Was on This Earth"
4. "49 Days" When we arrive at my grandmother, we see her recent journey to the afterlife in the video piece "49 Days." (see entry below)
5. "The Time Before–"
The last piece in the series, a generation from a neural network of a Chinese papercut, represents the imperfection of memory & dissolution of generational history, as time inexorably marches on... (continued)
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49 Days
short film
In Buddhist tradition, they say that the soul wanders the earth for 49 days before crossing to the afterlife. This is my imagining of my grandmother's journey after she passed.
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Pumasi: A Lasers & Feelings Hack
tabletop roleplaying game
You are passengers aboard the interstellar ark Nabi. With 90 years remaining until your destination, New Earth, you must maintain the ship and its onboard sustainable farms by drawing inspiration from the agricultural customs of communal labor—PUMASI.
PUMASI is a hack of John Harper’s Lasers & Feelings.
Within the Fold
short story
A short story about legacy, revolution, and obliquely, terraforming Mars. Also contains a dumpling recipe.
Links
…this [was the] beginning of my journey into adulthood, the first time I would be listening to a story as its caretaker rather than its recipient.
— Within the Fold by Alda Yuan
shortly, briefly
interactive webzine
An interactive story of my trip to Hong Kong with my friends a while ago, centering mundane moments of joy and tiny lessons about what "home" means to me.
Content warnings: looping GIFs in motion, images of food.
Becoming Our Own Prayer
artwork and poem
Called forth from the dreamers, healers, witches, womxn of our bloodline, we are the beginning of a new story...
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Acceptance
artwork and essay
Initially, I wanted to start this project under the idea of being a “perpetual foreigner,” or the concept that regardless of me being an American citizen and having the tokens of what makes up an American (whatever that means… since the U.S. is a mix of cultures after all), I will always be perceived as “the other''...
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Winter 2019
artwork
This Mandala was a project of mine during the winter months a few years ago, where I was inspired by moving into a new home and wanting to create something that represented where I come from, and just flowing with life in a circular pattern.
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Shared
Collection
The twin collections Asian America and the Andes were born in solidarity with one another to both celebrate our diversity and recognize our shared humanity.
The following pieces, part of both collections, transcend the boundaries of either community, reflecting our interdependence and our ability to create in harmony with one another.
In this way, may this shared collection offer a glimpse and path forward towards a reciprocal world.
AltWorlds Intro
animated collage
To kick off this project, we brought together the art and music of AltSalt contributors from both the Andean and Asian American communities.
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displacement.
artwork and poem
A piece about the conflicting experience of being disconnected from cultures that have faced so much adversity and colonization. It is about feeling intrinsically connected to these cultures and yet being so displaced from them.
i am a temple forged from sun
an army of iron shimmers from its
golden rays off a white cross
lodged into the beating heart of an empire...
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I am a temple forged from sun...
— displacement. by Julien Nakamoto
Cultural Correspondence
zine
A creative game of telephone, this zine contains poetry, artwork, and reflections on our creative processes as they relate to our Andean and Asian cultural heritages.
Located across the United States, each person passed the project to the next, who then responded to the previous piece, building up the collaboration via long distance in a manner befitting of our times — digital, cultural correspondence :D
Dear Art, Dear Charles
essay series
In the tradition of those old timey letter exchanges, in this series of essays we delve into generational anxieties, life reflections, and vulnerabilities as we unpack what it means to be a human in the 21st century. Letters are written in response to one another with no prior planning and only exchanged when they are posted publicly. In this way, we hope to foster discovery at every point along our journey; we invite you to join us!
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Contributors
To envision an alternative world,
Because representation matters,
Sharing knowledge and consciousness,
Let's create the future.
ALTERNATIVE WORLDS
THE ANDES