Photographs of the Asian American Youth Storytellers cohort and exhibition opening, June 29, 2019.

Black-and-white photo of the Asian American Youth Storytellers cohort. 6 youth researcher-artists stand in the background, smiling, while the two facilitators squat in front.
Photo from the Asian American Youth Storytellers exhibition opening. Seng is standing at the microphone, reciting poetry, while an ASL interpreter signs their words. There is a large, multi-racial crowd in the middle of the exhibition space.
Photo of Ayize James, youth researcher-artist, at the microphone. Ayize wears a floral shirt.
Photo of Thet-Htar Thet standing at the microphone, smiling. She is wearing a floral, flowy dress. Xais's artwork is seen on the wall to the left.
Photo of Ahnali Tran, in all black, at the microphone.
Photo of Xais Nathan Vang standing at the microphone, pointing to their large-scale artwork on the wall. Xais is wearing a white t-shirt and black jeans.
Photo of Seng Xiong beginning their dance performance.
A picture of the crowd going wild after a performance!
Photo of Ayize James' installation, "Mapping Mixed Spaces." A couple of people are engaging with the map on the easel and its objects.
Photo of an attendee looking at art by Hannah Soundrarajan and Seng Xiong.
Photo of a small group of people taking a closer look at Xais Vang's artwork -- a series of self-portraits.
Photo of Ahnali Trans standing in front of her self-portrait, painted onto a large mirror. You can see Ahnali's reflection in the mirror, as the gaze on the self-portrait looks back.
A photo of two attendees taking a close look at Ahnali Tran's installation. There is a bookshelf, fronds in a vase, and a series of portraits (paint and pencil) hung on the wall.
Photo of five of the youth researcher-artists standing at the microphone, smiling, cheering, and thanking the crowd. Not pictured: Hannah Soundrarajan.
Photo of five of the cohort members standing and squatting in front of Xais' portraits, posing for the camera. Not pictured: Hannah Soundrarajan.

Asian American Youth Storytellers (2019) was a youth-led arts and research project I founded and facilitated with Khin Oo. A cohort of six youth ages 16-24 conducted research and interviews on intergenerational trauma and resistance in their Asian American communities. From this research, the cohort created art and scholarship sharing their findings. The culmination of the project was an arts exhibition (pictures above) and the publication of Do You Know If Wooden Birds Can Fly? (a 60-page magazine, below).

The Asian American Youth Storytellers cohort included: Ayize James, Hannah Soundrarajan, Thet-Htar Thet, Ahnali Tran, Xais Vang, and Seng Xiong.

This project was funded by Youthprise and BMPP. The exhibition was held at XIA ARTS, a project of the Asian Economic Development Association. Exhibition photos courtesy of Ryan Stopera.