Photo by Cindy Trinh.
Join Think!Chinatown and 8OX SET for a super special Chinatown Block Party 夏日傾情 with Arshia Haq (Discostan) & Les The DJ (OPM Sundays) to close out our summer of dancing in the streets of Chinatown!
Coming together on the dancefloor for the very first time, YiuYiu 瑶瑶, Arshia Haq (Discostan), & Les The DJ (OPM Sundays) take us on a trip spanning the South West Asian / North African (SWANA) region, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, to their global diasporas. From Chinatown to Discostan to OPM Sundays, our dancefloors and love for music are forever rooted in the power of joy, community, and history to bring us together, across borders and generations.
We'll light up the streets of Chinatown with Prisca Choe 최하연’s stained-glass style acrylic stained-glass style acrylic installation, a playful family of depictions of women pulled from genre paintings from the Joseon Dynasty to uplift the influence of women on the way we celebrate our culture despite the historical erasure of their work and power.
This is a block party for the whole family! No RSVPs needed. Rain or shine! Meet you at the box!
Presented by Think!Chinatown. Produced by 8OX SET. Sponsored by ROAR, LMCC, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), Asian American Arts Alliance, with support from Canal Street Market.
YiuYiu 瑶瑶 (aka Rochelle Hoi-Yiu Kwan) is a cultural organizer, oral history educator, and DJ based on Lenape land in NYC’s Manhattan Chinatown. Her work centers on engaging communities as our classroom and fostering intergenerational dance floors that celebrate art and history as powerful acts of resistance and resilience.
@rochellehkwan
Arshia Fatima Haq (born in Hyderabad, India) works through film, visual art, performance, and sound, in feminist modes outside of the Western model. Her work has been presented nationally and internationally at museums, galleries, nightclubs, and in the streets, and has been featured at Hammer Museum, Broad Museum, MOMA New York, Centre Georges Pompidou, and several others. She is the founder of DISCOSTAN, a collaborative decolonial club space, radio show and record label. Over more than a decade, this diasporic collective has been conjuring past, present and future soundscapes from South and West Asia all the way to the Maghreb. From presenting a vast archive of golden-age music to the most forward-thinking creative producers from our regions, performance collaborations with avante-garde artists outside of the white cube, to galvanizing political engagement and mutual aid, Discostan is an ever-evolving space of possibility, imagination and liberation for its community. Discostan has performed in Europe, Asia and the US, and our work has been featured on Pitchfork, The Guardian, The Economist, Red Bull Music Academy, KCRW, The Quietus, and beyond.
@arshiaxfatima | @discostan | arshiahaq.com
Les The DJ aka Les Talusan is a DJ, photographer, curator, teaching artist and organizer whose practice immerses people in the joy of discovery, empowerment, and community. This approach is informed by Les’ own story of resilience, liberation and courage as an immigrant, mother and v/s. Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, Les fell in love with music at a young age, DJing at local clubs and playing in bands. Les has lived in Washington, DC for over 20 years and continues to expand their talents, performing behind the decks in the U.S. and abroad.
@lestalusan | lestalusan.com
OPM Sundays is a weekly program on Twitch hosted by Les The DJ (@lestalusan), Joel Quizon, and meesterenriquez highlighting OPM + // Original Pilipino Music + Roots, Pop, and Covers from the Philippines and the Diaspora.
Prisca Choe 최하연 is a production designer and visual artist based in NYC’s Chinatown. Through acrylic art installations, film, and photography, her work centers community healing, explorations of identity, and storytelling in the Asian diaspora. She builds her practice around playfully developing rituals of reverence and belonging that ponder how rage and grief can be transformed into humor and play. She particularly enjoys exploring how cherished and inherited traditions can evolve to include identities beyond the ones considered in their development.
@priscachoe
Think!Chinatown is an intergenerational non-profit based in Manhattan’s Chinatown, working at the intersection of storytelling, arts & neighborhood engagement.
@thinkchinatown | thinkchinatown.org
8OX SET is a creative collective of multidisciplinary artists based in NYC exploring the ideas of culture, legacy, and belonging across borders and generations. Converging from a variety of fields including events, film, journalism, photography, music, and beyond; Prisca Hayon Choe, Rochelle Hoi-Yiu Kwan, Cindy VyUyên Trinh, and Wynton Wing Tung Wong, nurture meaningful relationships and intimate moments as the building blocks for revolution. Our practice is born out of community events and will always be rooted in our care and love for our neighbors.
@8OXSET