Art-Focused Exhibit Explores Themes of Belonging and Individual Emotional and Physical Journeys Toward Identity
SEATTLE, November 13, 2024 (Ecnetnews.com)
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The Wing Luke Museum announces its latest exhibit Lost & Found: Searching For Home, running from Nov. 15, 2024, through Sept. 14, 2026. The exhibition asks “What is home?” and explores themes of race, identity and belonging within the AANHPI diaspora. The Museum will host a special members-only preview on Nov. 14 from 6-8 p.m. in the Museum’s Community Hall.
Featuring contributions by a diverse group of artists, the multimedia exhibit challenges visitors to explore and question the complex relationship between place and belonging through the prism of the AANHPI identity. The exhibition features the work of: J.D. Nālamakūikapō Ahsing, Nari Baker, Donnabelle Casis, Eric Chan / 陳志宇 / 진지유 , Bunthay Cheam, Lauren Iida, Chu Ki Won, Ravleen Kaur, Joshua Lue Chee Kong, Julia Kuo, Bovey Lee, Hilary Lee, Kyler Pahang, Safwat Saleem and Hae Soup.
Represented through paintings, photographs, video, textiles, and installations, artists present diverse characterizations of home. Through their work, they invite visitors to experience their own personal and complex journeys to reconnect with their cultural homelands, physically, spiritually and emotionally, to find their place in the world and a larger sense of belonging.
The exhibit, for the contributing artists, has been cathartic and generative.
“Being part of the art-selection process and to see themselves express themselves in their art forms has been healing,” said Islanda Naughton, who proposed this exhibit a few years ago and helped co-create it. “It was a realization that we are in charge of our own destiny. Home doesn’t have to be a physical place; it is just finding connection virtually and in your own community within your family.”
The exhibit offers two main areas of focus. The first explores the relationships and homebound journeys that individuals experience. The second part of the exhibit emphasizes the role that policies play and the ongoing challenges the community faces around barriers that influence one’s sense of identity and what “home” means.
“This amazing exhibit asks the central question: ‘Who am I?’” said Interim Executive Director Kamahanahokulani Farrar Law. “Identity and belonging are concepts all too familiar to the AANHPI community and this exhibit invites the community to join our artists in taking a deep and thoughtful look at the tensions and anxieties experienced by our community. At the same time, we also ask visitors to experience reconciliation with these tensions by finding their own sense of home and belonging.”
About The Wing Luke Museum
The Wing Luke Museum’s mission is to connect everyone to the rich history, dynamic cultures, and art of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders through vivid storytelling and inspiring experiences to advance racial and social equity. As a Smithsonian Affiliate, National Park Service Affiliated Area, and the only pan-Asian American museum in the nation, The Wing Luke Museum is a national treasure, preserving and sharing the personal stories of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. In 2025, the Museum will celebrate the 100th birthday of Wing Chong Luke, our namesake and Washington state’s first Asian American to hold elected office. To learn more about the Museum, visit www.wingluke.org.
Source: Wing Luke Museum
