Countering Hate with Art Grant Recipients
The Slants Foundation is proud to announce the first round of recipients for the Countering Hate with Art grant. These are artistic works that help address racial discrmination by sparking conversations grounded in empathy and compassion.
May 2020 Recipients:
Reinhardt Kenneth: Hate is a Virus
Kristin Leong: You Speak Really Good English: On Art & Empathy With a Misfit Musician
Ellisa Sun: I’m From Here
jason chu: living.room
Jess X. Snow: Little Sky
Caius Chew: The Usual Will Not Be Business But Love
Farah Art Griffin: The Internment of Our Humanity
Taryn Cheng: Between
For more information on the grant, visit this page.
If you would like to support this kind of work, please consider a donation. 100% of our funds go directly towards programs like this.
HATE IS A VIRUS
Artist: Reinhardt Kenneth
That exact world came to Reinhardt’s mind as he woke up to a swarm of Coronavirus-related news pre-quarantine one Tuesday morning. Times felt uncertain, as the news highlights videos of Asian Americans all over the country getting harassed and assaulted left and right out of blame and hatred. Images of groceries running out of daily essentials and produces also spark the internet, raising a thought in his head. That same thought was the world he wanted to create, not to glamourize a pandemic, but to raise awareness. He personally thinks that, as deadly as it is to contract the Coronavirus, blame, hatred, xenophobia, mass hysteria, and the abuse of privilege is an even deadlier Virus.
To see images from the #HateIsAVirus campaign and to learn more about the artist, visit http://instagram.com/reinhardtkenneth
You Speak Really Good English: On Art & Empathy With a Misfit Musician
Artist: Kristin Leong
This is an audio feature of rebel violinist Joe Kye, that includes a written interview with Kristin Leoing about bringing this story to life as a bicultural & biracial Asian American producer. Joe is a Korean American immigrant. Like Joe's bicultural identity, his music is also layered. In one song, he can move from classical violin to hip hop to singer-songwriter to storyteller. Kristin is also a bicultural multimedia artist. This audio feature and interview explores the blessings and challenges that come with Asian Americans identity, and ultimately, what it is like for those who have finally embraced the freedom of being a misfit.
In addition to supporting this piece, the Countering Hate with Art grant will help turn this feature into shorter audiograms that compels audiences to combat with art - and a little misfit making.
To see and hear the original feature, visit this page. For more on the artist, visit their website.
I’m From Here
Artist: Ellisa Sun
Artist Statement: My song "I'm From Here" is based on my feelings of other-ness, not truly belonging, and being American but not feeling American enough as a mixed-race Asian American woman. I actually wrote this song before COVID-19 cases hit the USA while it was spreading through China, when I found myself on the receiving end of anti-Asian jokes regarding the coronavirus and other racist comments not related to the virus. For so long, many Asian Americans have seen themselves as blending into the fabric of American-ness, an invisible people with eyes a little different from most. For the first time, I see myself clearly--and I'm actively working towards being truly proud of what I see.
To learn more about the artist, visit their website.
living.room
Artist: jason chu
The new album from Chinese American rapper jason chu is 10 tracks of casually lyrical lo-fi rap music. A reflection on growth, presence, and letting go of the past, it’s perfect for warm, thoughtful days at home.
living.room began as demos written on the floor of his childhood room, on a trip home to move his parents out of their family house. It was completed in the midst of a global pandemic, in the hopes that its gentle, jazzy sounds might comfort friends and fans sitting at home.
Order the album here. To learn more about the artist, visit their website.
Little Sky
Artist: Jess X. Snow
Jess X. Snow’s forthcoming film celebrates the complexity of the queer Asian American experience. This film is about a non binary drag queen who confronts their estranged father about domestic violence. It is a film about asian american community and the power of chosen family. As Asian-American communities are increasingly targets of hate crimes, was important for the director to make a film that told stories this experience in order to share nuances, and ultimately, spark empathy for these marginalized identities.
To learn more about the film, visit littleskyfilm.com. To learn more about the artist, visit their website.
The Usual Will Not Be Business But Love
Artist: Caius Chew
The Usual Will Not Be Business but Love is a poetry series that calls for community in a time of tension. It is a vision of a community that is built on hope and it puts an emphasis on creating an environment where people do not have to fear.
Reach the poems on Instagram here. To learn more about the artist, visit their website.
The Internment of Our Humanity
Artist: Farah Art Griffin
Artist Statement: In this creation, I navigated through an examination of the oppression endured by Japanese Americans in internment camps. Sewing with the symbolic nature of the cherry blossom fabric speaks to the fragility of life that was directly imposed on human beings during internment. Crafting the barbed wire spiral reflects on the emotional entrapment and physical cages that were constructed to oppress. To oppress human beings who simply share our collective humanity. This art piece is a painful reminder and contemplation of what has happened to Asian Americans when hostility, racism, and oppression replaces kindness, compassion, and generosity.
Earlier this year, The Internment of Our Humanity was accepted into the permanent collection of the WWII Japanese American Internment Museum.
Learn more about the artist here.
Between
Artist: Taryn Cheng
Artist Statement: As a dancer, choreographer, and creative director, my narrative as a Chinese American has undoubtedly shaped much of my work and creative decisions. By combining the mediums of film, dance, writing, and speaking, I have created this open letter to all willing to listen to my story, of the joys of growing up as a Chinese American, and also of the struggles. My hope is that it creates more empathy and understanding of the Asian American story, particularly that of the second generation.
“Between” will be released on the artist’s YouTube channel here.
Learn more about the artist here.