Modern Asian Diaspora Experiences
Modern Asian Diaspora Experiences - MADE is part of my midlife creative journey to reconnect with past collaborators and to connect with Asian Diaspora creatives and cultural leaders to co-create the future of how we center humanity and honor the nature of being human, which is to error, and course correct.
As a 1st generation Taiwanese-American with strong traditional cultural home values growing up in a society that operates under deeply ingrained white supremacy narratives, I understand the challenges of navigating the conflicting narratives of being Asian in American, and returning to ancestral communities.
Thankfully as a pre-teen and young adult I found the power of youth counter culture communities, and diverse mentors that strived to be anti-racist and did their best to provide support as I processed my world. As a young adult I found community through arts and activism at King County cultural organizations such as the Old Fire House to the CMA (Ceramics and Metal Arts Building) at the University of Washington, which served as a launching point for my work as a teaching artist, cultural worker and arts administrator. I am blessed with a diverse and resourced network of creative collaborators who are excited to be connected with the next generation of creatives who are starting their journeys in a cultural landscape that a younger version of myself would find as unrecognizable.
MADE is open to all, but targeted for young culture shifters, who like myself, may struggle with navigating in our modern world. I am grateful for this moment in time when the internet is brimming with information and opportunities to curate and create content to support the developing needs of the Asian Diaspora and its intersections. Especially for the next generation of kids and young adults growing up and needing to connect with their rich cultural background, but might not have any support to do so.
Becoming Guanyin
For those seeking a community of people that are in the process of detangling from dead earth capitalism and neocolonial narratives.
A guided embodiment practice for the Asian Diaspora and our intersections; centering ancestral divine feminine figures as our true north.
Becoming Guanyin
a series of in-person and virtual workshops that support your individual journey of revelations, within a context of a network of Asian Diaspora women that understand that narrative change requires a larger container to manifest the return to a matriarchal society that centers love and expanding the light in others.
April 6th is Guanyin’s birthday, and why we are excited to host a FREE 90 minute virtual workshop that serves as an introduction to those interested in exploring, activating and cherishing your internal modern asian diaspora experiences.
This is a free workshop co-led by Nancy Chang, Sue Lee and Anaïs Maviel that grounds participants in MADE, taking the first steps of decolonizing from oppressive narratives that include internalized white supremacy narratives to toxic confucian patriarchy narratives, and how taking part in spiritual cosplay centered on female divinity can rewire your brain to live in your full light.
Co-Facilitators:
@nantronic: Nancy believes in MADE as co-creation with you. Group manifestations work faster, because the Collective’s “Many hands makes light work,” isn’t just a saying, it’s a strategy. So let’s uplift the Matriarchy together, by remembering and healing our relationship with the divine feminine.
@artbysuejitsu: sue’s calling in life is to rekindle you to inner power if you feel the pull. Facilitating support & guidance thru expressive movement/glamour/sound therapies. She is here to witness, celebrate and advocate for your divinity.
@anaismaivel: Anaïs Maviel is a multidisciplinary artist whose work transforms spiritual concepts into immersive sensory experience, treating perception itself as a medium. A composer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, healing & esoteric arts adept, she works across traditional and experimental practices to explore the power of sound to shape reality and highlight the stakes of cultural multiplicity. She creates multidimensional, “spiritually illuminating” experiences (New York City Jazz Record) and has collaborated with Alarm Will Sound, Craig Taborn, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Meredith Monk. She has received major fellowships and awards, including Van Lier, NYFA, and New Music USA’s Next Jazz Legacy, and holds a master’s degree from Paris Diderot University.
PAST MADE Events
Performative Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Belonging
The Hungry Ghost Festival is observed on the 7th month of the lunar calendar, which is known as the “ghost month”. It is a Chinese tradition of honoring family members and ancestors that have passed, along with wandering spirits who have not yet reincarnated into their next life. “The Hungry Ghost Festival Tea Party,” is a collaborative art performance curated by Nantronic, centering on creating inclusive Modern Asian Diaspora Experiences (MADE) and is based in the philosophy of casting all who come. Nantronic positions, “the Hungry Ghost Festival Tea Party,” as a playful way of creating performative diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging experiences, which centers on actively dismantling white supremacy narratives and normalizes cultural experiences outside of what the dominate Eurocentric narratives find as acceptable traditions.
Art Performance
Nantronic will be hosting two days of the Hungry Ghost Festival on Dai Zen Farms, located in the beautiful Skagit Valley. As part of the performance, she will be “opening” Mei Yueh’s Tea House in honor of her grandmother who passed early this year. Nantronic will be teaching workshops on folding dumplings and making bubble tea passed from her Taiwanese family. The day will also include opportunities to learn and create new traditions for a new generation emerging out of the COVID-19 pandemic and learn how Chinese traditions help to give a process for making sense of our world.
Attendees will have the day to refresh or learn how the Chinese uses Hungry Ghost Festival to give gratitude and use reflection through activities that will help promote cultural awareness, healing and celebration of life.
The Hungry Ghost Festival Tea Party is an outdoor event. All workshop instruction and performances will take part outdoors on the Chang Family lawn located in the Skagit Valley, surrounded by the Cascade foot hills to the east and to the southwest the Olympic Mountains. Please make sure you are ready to be outdoors and properly layered.
Menu: (Please note that the purpose of the workshops are teaching you how to make your own dishes, please note we may not be able to accommodate your dietary needs)
Dumplings will have the following filling options: pork, chicken, and vegan/vegetarian
Rice Noodles will be lamb and baked tofu for vegans
Sushi rolls will be vegetarian / vegan
Daikon soup will have both bone and veggie broth
Altars, Offerings and Joss Paper Art Activities
This activity is meant to be both about reflecting on loved ones that have passed and the importance of caring about our ancestors. The art and altars created are meant to be burned.
The Hungry Ghost Festival Tea Party Schedule: (tentative schedule, may be subject to change)
1 - 3pm: Welcome Asian Diaspora Food
Dumpling Workshop Prep
Boba Tea Workshop Prep
3:30 - 6pm: Welcome Asian Diaspora Artists & Performers
Make Art: Altars, Offerings & Remembrance Meal
Meal Preparation
6:30 - 8pm: Welcome Family & Friends Share and Showcase
Dinner: Dumplings, Sushi, Fried Noodles, Veggies, Daikon Soup
Prepare for Performance
New Ritual Performance
Cost Includes: food, supplies, and workshops
MADE: the Art of Remembrance is centered on the Asian Diaspora and it’s intersections. The cost and registration is set-up for 1 performer and up to 4 guests for the 6:30 - 8pm Dinner and New Rituals Performance Ceremony.
This is meant to be family friendly and all ages event.
(update: August 16th)
Greetings to those that are coming up to the Skagit Valley August 21st - 22nd)
Due to the Covid-19 Delta variant, along with a burn ban the initial weekend that I imagined will be put on pause, and will be scaled down. For Saturday the program will run from 6-8pm, and Sunday will be 5-7pm. Folks are welcomed to come early and stay later to hang.
Make sure to be dressed to cover your legs and arms if you want to pick blackberries. Please bring containers for pears and plums there are tons. The pears are formed and not ripe - but ready to be picked because they ripen off the tree.
Highly encouraged: Bring photos of folks you’re honoring. It would be fun if folks brought a food item that relates to your loved one, and a fond memory to share for those that like an interactive ice breaker.
How to get here:
Dai-Zen Farm is located on State Route 20, Burlington, WA.
From 1-5 you get off on exit 230 and west towards Anacortes.
The farm is located between Pulver Road and Avon-Allen Road.
The driveway is only accessible for traffic going EASTBOUND. If you are coming from I-5 - you will drive to the stop light on Avon-Allen Road and make a u-turn.
Look for the metal lamppost and mailbox on the righthand side. Be careful of traffic behind you, make sure to signal to let traffic behind you know that you are turning.
Big thanks to Dr. Irene Parkhill for contributing to the event.
——-
(July 10th)
You’re invited!
What: the Hungry Ghost Festival Tea Party.
When: Sat Aug 21st (Art Focused) / Sun Aug 22nd (Family Focused)
Time: 6-8pm or come early and take part in activities starting at 1pm
Where: Dai-Zen Farms, 17632 State Route 20, Burlington, WA 98233
Why: I would like to share my family’s Taiwanese culture and traditional practices of celebrating loved ones that have passed, honoring our ancestors, and sharing compassion with wandering souls through hosting a weekend of food, art, culture and creating new rituals and traditions.
Read up on the Hungry Ghost Festival and get a better understanding around the folklore and festivities.
Please RSVP by August 15th.
More info: The Hungry Ghost Festival is observed on the 7th month of the lunar calendar, which is known as the “ghost month”. It is a Chinese tradition of honoring family members and ancestors that have passed, along with wandering spirits who have not yet reincarnated into their next life. We do this by preparing altars, food and offerings. These offerings include putting out food, burning incense, and burning ghost paper money. Buddhists and Taoists believe this practice of gratitude and acknowledging our past is what keeps us connected with our ancestors that have paved the foundation for us to be here today.
“The Hungry Ghost Festival Tea Party,” is also my way of reintroducing myself to my family and friends my new direction in life, as an artist and someone proud to be part of the Asian Diaspora. “The Hungry Ghost Festival Tea Party,” is what I see as my collaborative art performance with my family and friends; centering on creating inclusive Modern Asian Diaspora Experiences (MADE) and is based in the philosophy of casting all who come. “The Hungry Ghost Festival Tea Party,” is my way of providing community as we process our COVID-19 losses, and an inclusive opportunity to evolve and create culture together.
Art Performance
Nantronic is a handle that I created for myself in the 2000s. Nancy + Electronic. The Hungry Ghost Festival on Dai Zen Farms is located in the beautiful Skagit Valley, where I grew up. As part of the performance, guests will be served at a pop-up dedicated to my grandma Mei Yeah who lived on the property for the past 40 years before her passing early this year. Mei Yueh’s Tea House is the result of watching my grandma host people at the farm throughout my childhood. I will be teaching workshops on folding dumplings and making bubble tea passed from watching my family and family friends host dinners. The day will also include opportunities to learn and create new traditions for a new generation emerging out of the COVID-19 pandemic and learn how Chinese traditions help to give a process for making sense of our world.
Attendees will have the day to refresh or learn how the Chinese uses Hungry Ghost Festival to give gratitude and use reflection through activities that will help promote cultural awareness, healing and celebration of life.
The Hungry Ghost Festival Tea Party is an outdoor event. All workshop instruction and performances will take part outdoors on the Chang Family lawn located in the Skagit Valley, surrounded by the Cascade foot hills to the east and to the southwest the Olympic Mountains. Please make sure you are ready to be outdoors and properly layered.
Menu:
Dumplings will have the following filling options: pork, chicken, and vegan/vegetarian
Rice Noodles will be lamb and baked tofu for vegans
Sushi rolls will be vegetarian / vegan
Daikon soup will have both bone and veggie broth
Altars, Offerings and Joss Paper Art Activities
This activity is meant to be both about reflecting on loved ones that have passed and the importance of caring about our ancestors. The art and altars created are meant to be burned.
Sponsorship Support:
If you want to help support the event and help to off set costs of food, materials and supplies. I would be grateful in your support. You can send me money via Venmo @Nantronic
Kids & Pets:
This is meant to be family friendly and all ages event. Dogs are welcome, naughty ones too - but they should be under control.
Encouraged to bring:
This weekend is about co-creating together. Please consider bringing a photo of the loved one(s) that you are honoring, consider bringing offerings like their favorite snacks / drinks / fruit.
Dai-Zen Farms has always been a working farm. The property consist of trees, wild grass, and other plants. There is plenty of shade, as well as sunny spots, we encourage you to bring your own camping, picnic and/or beach chairs, blankets, umbrellas etc. This is an outdoor event - please consider wearing.
There will be opportunity to pick plums and Asian pears. Make sure to bring bags. If you feel more comfortable with having your food, please feel free to even bring a cooler and a grill! This is a great day to drop in and out of activities. You can bring your games, books, and activities.