Illustration by Ashley Deng
Thank you for celebrating Chinatown Arts Festival!
This October, Chinatown Arts Festival returned for the seventh year for a jam packed month of exciting cultural programs featuring traditional Chinese arts groups along with emerging Asian American artists. This year’s festival headliner events included an intimate performance with singer and multi-instrumentalist treya lam rooted in wellness practices of Chinese medicine, a guided Cantonese Opera experience of the Legend of the Purple Hairpin in the charming bamboo garden, and the final Chinatown Block Party of 2024. Our newly renovated studio also hosted a special literary night with readings from notable writers and performers, including Ava Chin and Ping Chong, and many others curated by Ed Lin. Rochelle Kwan presented a Listening Session to take us through vinyl records of Chinese music collected from the Chinatown community. Artist John Lee guided us through a drawing jam session in conjunction with his works in the exhibit, “Making or Faking Chinatown.”
Past T!C Programs
[10/27, 2-6PM] A neighborhood block party with YiuYiu 瑶瑶 for the whole family! Rain or shine, come dance to our favorite songs from the Chinatown Records 華埠錄音 archive. Free with no RSVP required.
[10/26, 6:30-9PM] In the hidden bamboo garden at 5 Essex St, enjoy a guided Cantonese opera experience of the Legend of the Purple Hairpin 紫釵記 with translated bilingual supertitles. Cantonese opera performing artist, Eliza (Pui Yan) will guide us through a three act journey about the love story of a female entertainer and poet, played by seasoned Cantonese opera singers, MeeMee Chin and Camille Yeung. Opera acts will be interwoven with interactive performances from dancer Ling Tang. — Pay-as-you-can to RSVP!
[10/22, 6-8PM] “Making or Faking Chinatown” artist, John Lee will share his experience with live observation drawing and lead a drawing jam where folks can sketch still lifes of selected Chinatown objects. Opening reception and party for Think!Chinatown’s annual group call show, MOONSquare will round out the night. Free with no RSVP required.
[10/19, 8-9PM]“Shadowing Tradition”: Innovations in Chinese Puppetry casts a new light on traditional Chinese shadow puppetry with a performance of “Tiger Tales” by Chinese Theatre Works and “So Close and Yet So Far” by Double Image Theater. — Tickets required!
[10/19, 12-4PM] Think!Chinatown’s urban planning-focused exhibition, Making or Faking Chinatown? Representing People, Place and Culture will be open to visitors. Curator Kerri Culhane and artist John Lee will be present to answer any questions about the show. Free with no RSVP required.
[10/16, 6:30-9PM] Get to know Chinatown through the words of New Yorkers who know this neighborhood best! Hosted by Ed Lin, join us for an evening of readings about the “real” Chinatown from writers Henry Chang, Ava Chin, Ping Chong, Alvin Eng, S.J. Rozan, and Radha Vatsal. — Pay-as-you-can RSVP required.
[10/13, 2:30-4:30PM] Rochelle Hoi-Yiu Kwan (aka YiuYiu 瑶瑶) gathers us for an intimate living room listening through the Chinatown Records 華埠錄音 archive. We invite you to bring a favorite song of your own to share and soundtrack our living room with us, whether on a vinyl record or online. Pay-as-you-can RSVP required.
[10/12, 5-7PM] Warm up for the cold season ahead with an intimate musical and healing experience! At this communal gathering, Dr Elizabeth So will call on healing and wellness practices rooted in traditional Chinese medicine in concert with treya lam’s multi-instrumental and vocal performance. — Tickets required!
[10/9, 7-8:30PM] Let’s celebrate Chinatown Arts Festival with a kick-off opening party at Chinatown!Studio. Come hang out, mingle with old & new friends, check out our new space in its soft open stage, and get ready for the exciting month to come! Free with no RSVP required.
Chinatown Arts Festival celebrates the cultural richness of Manhattan’s Chinatown. Led by festival curators Yin Kong and Amy Chin, the Festival features programs produced by Think!Chinatown while highlighting cultural events hosted by other Chinatown organizations. By presenting grassroots Chinatown artists and emerging Asian American artists in context and dialogue with each other, we can bring multiple generations together and connect with a wider arts audience. The festival also highlights cultural happenings presented by our neighbors to increase awareness of Chinatown’s cultural assets. Check out videos from previous years!
Photographed by Adora Wang
Photographed by Deb Fong
Photographed by Cal Hsiao
Photographed by Deb Fong
Photographed by Cindy Trinh
Photographed by Tif Ng
Photographed by Ed Cheng
Neighborhood Calendar
Check out the other wonderful events happening in and around Chinatown this October!
[10/23, 7PM, Joe's Pub] Chinatown Dreams is a songwriting album following the journey of a young, second-generation Chinese-American woman, as she and her Chinatown community go through a year of tremendous challenges. This semi-autobiographical story examines the conflict between choosing the safe, expected path vs. following one's heart, a conflict so many second-generation Americans of all sorts face. The music combines the energy of improvised jazz with the precision of progressive rock, in an homage to Manhattan's Chinatown. — More info + tickets!
[10/19, 1-2PM, ICP] Chinatown photographers Cindy Trinh, Ed Cheng, Cal Hsiao and Sonia Tsang join in a conversation moderated by Alison Kuo to discuss mentorship, the legacy of the late street photographer and community figure, Corky Lee—whose work is on view at ICP in We Are Here: Scenes from the Streets—and what motivates their work today. This event is free with RSVP required, register now!
[10/19] Organized by FABnyc with 20 Lower East Side organizations, the Lower East Side Arts & Culture Open House is intended to give folks an opportunity to spend time exploring 20 cultural organizations in the LES without a ticket to a show or the cost of admission! All organizations will have staff available to welcome you & answer questions about their programs — many offer special free activities such as tours, exhibits, workshops, and performances. Check out the participating organizations!
Cartoonist Yao Xiao comes to Metrograph to introduce Coming of Age in a Disorienting World, a series of animated films presented with MacDowell. The animated films that Yao has chosen for this series span cyberpunk fantasies through to nonfiction storytelling, from the 1960s through to 2023, united by shared themes of nostalgia, memory, and most importantly, coming of age. More info + get tickets!
[10/10 to 11/30, BGX Gallery] Founded in 2010 to celebrate the impact of the African Diaspora on New York, Black Gotham Experience (BGX) is honored to present Council 400, an eight-week engagement commemorating the African Diaspora’s impact on the territory of New York City from 1624 to 2024 from October 10th to November 30th. — More info
[10/18, 6-7PM, Chatham Square Library] Come to a book talk featuring Leslie Li as she discusses her new book, The Forest for the Trees: a Novel. Li's new book is a dark comedy about a clash of cultures and generations, a biracial coming-of-age story, and a psychological thriller about inherited trauma from an award-winning writer and début filmmaker. Alvin Eng and Ed Lin will drop by to read an excerpt or two of dialog from the novel. This event is free with RSVP — more info here!
Join David, a 35th-generation Shaolin disciple, for an immersive Qi Gong experience every Tuesday morning in October, 9:30-10:30AM. Attendees will learn the fundamentals of qi gong, an ancient energy cultivation practice. Expect to improve your physical strength, mental focus, and overall health while learning from an expert in both contemporary and traditional martial arts. This event is free with RSVP — more info here!
Join in on a relaxing and nourishing tai chi session in the beautiful Elizabeth Street Garden led by Tai Chi Solution. Every Sunday at 10:30AM.
[9/18 to 1/12, Pearl River Mart Gallery] During the shutdown of 2020, Edward Cheng roamed the streets of Chinatown with his camera. Businesses were closed. Work had dried up. There was nothing else to do. On these treks he ran into people he knew. He saw the same friends, acquaintances, and community members time and again. Eventually he asked to photograph them. TINY GRAINS is at once local and universal. While the photographs capture one particular neighborhood (and in some cases one particular cross street) during one particular, unprecedented time, the stories they tell go beyond. They are stories of community and tradition. Joy in the face of adversity. Striving toward the future in an uncertain present. — More info
“Placeless Place/别无他处“ is a multidisciplinary work combining dance, music, visual installation, and film that aims to provide an honest and safe outlet for a group of emerging Chinese/Asian immigrant artists to reflect upon the struggles of their own journey as they seek to re-shape their artistic identity by overcoming issues ranging from cultural relativism and cultural barriers, social inclusion and integration, to racial prejudice and discrimination; ultimately finding their Ithaka, their “inner home,” their Placeless Place. 《别无他处》是一部结合了舞蹈、音乐、视觉装置和影像的多学科表演作品,旨在为新一代的中国/亚洲移民艺术家提供一个诚实和安全的创作渠道,通过探索对文化相对主义和文化障碍、社会包容/融合、种族偏见和歧视等问题来探寻(或重塑)他们的艺术身份和创作声音,并最终抵达内心的”归属地“。— More info!
“Placeless Place/别无他处“ is a multidisciplinary work combining dance, music, visual installation, and film that aims to provide an honest and safe outlet for a group of emerging Chinese/Asian immigrant artists to reflect upon the struggles of their own journey as they seek to re-shape their artistic identity by overcoming issues ranging from cultural relativism and cultural barriers, social inclusion and integration, to racial prejudice and discrimination; ultimately finding their Ithaka, their “inner home,” their Placeless Place. 《别无他处》是一部结合了舞蹈、音乐、视觉装置和影像的多学科表演作品,旨在为新一代的中国/亚洲移民艺术家提供一个诚实和安全的创作渠道,通过探索对文化相对主义和文化障碍、社会包容/融合、种族偏见和歧视等问题来探寻(或重塑)他们的艺术身份和创作声音,并最终抵达内心的”归属地“。— More info!
The W.O.W. Project, Chinatown Art Brigade, and Immigrant Social Services invites you to a zine launch party, “A Jail in Chinatown: Zines on Abolition.” We are so excited to launch two zines, “Envisioning Abolition in Our Local Asian American Communities” by Chinatown Art Brigade (CAB), and “The Jail, the Police, and the People’s Chinatown” by Serena Yang that explore the connections between the proposed jail in Chinatown, the police and other forms of state control, and people’s struggles for self-determination in Chinatown. — More info!
Join us to learn together. Calligraphy writing techniques. Bring your own calligraphy pens. 加入我們,一起學習。書法寫作技巧。帶上你自己的畫法筆。
Come & learn the techniques of Chinese Traditional Painting! Please bring your own brushes, paint plate, small water container and traditional Chinese ink; we will provide paper and color ink. 學習國畫繪畫技巧!請帶上畫筆,水彩板, 装水器和墨; 我們將提供紙張和彩色墨水。
Meet and greet and book reading with Sophia N. Lee, author behind Lolo’s Sari-Sari Store! A little girl holds lessons learned in her grandfather's sari-sari store close while adjusting to a new home in this sweet picture book about the joy of community, connection, and Filipino culture. — More info!
Think!Chinatown is a place-based intergenerational non-profit in Manhattan’s Chinatown, working at the intersection of storytelling, arts, neighborhood engagement, and creative placekeeping. We believe the process of listening, reflecting and celebrating develops the community cohesion and trust necessary to work on larger neighborhood issues. By building strength from within our neighborhood, we can shape better policies and programs that define our public spaces, celebrate our cultural heritage and innovate how our collective memories are represented. T!C is the team powering the Chinatown Night Market, Chinatown Block Parties, Chinatown Arts Festival, and more.
Chinatown Arts Festival is held on the unceded land of the Lenape peoples. This festival is supported by public funds from the New York City Dept of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Funded in part by a grant from the New York City Tourism Foundation. Think!Chinatown programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional funding is provided by New York City Dept of Small Business Services, Con Edison and many individual friends.