BORN A PROBLEM

Multimedia Exhibition
— in collaboration with Paula Te

In 1965, a CIA-aided military coup marked the beginning of a tumultuous period in Indonesia. The new authoritarian government, perceiving a "Chinese Problem," initiated a series of anti-Chinese policies from 1967-2000: Chinese language names barred on official documents, Chinese language media and schools shuttered, while public celebrations of cultural festivals such as Chinese New Year were banned.

These exclusionist and forced assimilation laws, echoing the Indian Treaties & the Removal Act, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, and the Immigration Act of 1924 in the United States, fostered resentment and discrimination that led to massacres and sexual violence against the Indonesian Chinese community in 1965 and 1998.

This multimedia exhibition by artist Paula Te and writer Edward Gunawan (who are both of Chinese Indonesian descent) takes the form of erasure poems based on actual laws from this dark chapter of history. The large-scale interactive installation contains the context behind the redacted text, revealed through augmented reality (AR) to investigate the invisible historical forces that impact present-day culture, society, politics–and ultimately, our sense of personal flourishing and communal belonging.

ENGAGEMENTS

    • Awarded by Seattle Print Arts to create an artist book

    • Apr 28 - May 2, 2024: APICC’s United States of Asian America Festival 2024

    • Apr 28: Opening Reception Reading with poet laureates Ayodele Nzinga (Oakland), Kim Shuck (San Francisco), & Lee Herrick (California)

    • May 1: Artist Talk with Paula Te (Exhibition Artist), Edward Gunawan (Exhibition Writer) & Colin Sullivan (Exhibition Soundscape Artist)

    • May 3: Panel Discussion featuring Dr. Jessica Elkind, Reuven Pinnata, Vincent Bevins (author of The Jakarta Method & If We Burn) & Dr. Viola Lasmana

    • May 5: Erasure Poetry Workshop with Jason Wyman (Queerly Complex)

    • May 5: Closing Celebration Reading with Cynthia Dewi Oka, Edward Gunawan, Giovanna Lomanto, Jeddie Sophronius & May-Li Khoe

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