TONG ZHI/COMRADES: OUT IN ASIA AMERICA

Museum of Chinese in the Americas
New York, NY, USA.

Installation | 2000
Material: Handset letterpress posters, wooden library tables, gravel, light bulbs, silk flowers

first image | installation view, to the right upon entering
Twenty gay Asian and Pacific Islander (API) men were invited to contribute a snap shot and a profile of personal data (i.e., name, ethnicity, occupation, hobby, sport, etc.) that included a reference to his sexuality. Each handset letterpress poster was printed in an edition of 100. The posters were piled on wooden library tables set on gravel.

second image | installation view, looking back towards the entrance
As lesbians and gay men in the United States, we worked at securing our civil rights and etched out a safe public space in society, but not in our culturally specific communities. Tong Zhi brings this discourse into our communities, and looks at what might be a safe public space for us in the Chinatowns, Koreatowns, Manilatowns, Little Tokyos, Little Saigons, and Little Bombays.

third image | detail of poster

Photos by Becket Logan and MoCA