Catch "Crescendo" at Asian Arts Initiative Through June 28

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Asian Arts Initiative presents "Crescendo: How Art Makes Movements (1981-1999)". Joyce Chung curated the exhibition.

"Explores the creative explosion that took place within Asian American community, especially in jazz music, that was taking shape in the '80s and '90s," says Chung.

She says it was a time when "a lot of musicians engage with activism" to speak up "against racism and discrimination."

This is the first historical survey of its kind, based on archives.

Chung calls it "a multidisciplinary movement" combining "literature, poetry, dance, opera, martial arts." And it's in keeping with the Asian Arts Initiative's mission.

"To build community through the power of art," says Dave Kyu, Interim Executive Director of Asian Arts Initiative. "Our theme this year is the artist and activist."

More than 400 items are on view. Chung says she gathered video documentations, photographs, posters and programs that were "never digitized or cataloged before." The items provide a glimpse into these marginalized histories that she says were "abandoned" and "forgotten."

"I wanted to bring it back to light," she says.

Hundreds of artists participated in the movement, but the exhibition focuses on three groups, including one from San Francisco called Asian Improv Records/aRts, started by Jon Jang and Frances Wong in 1987.

"This is the very first Asian American record label," says Chung.

The other two groups featured were from New York. The Far East Side Band was started in 1994 under Jason Kao Hwang's leadership and Fred Ho's Afro Asian Music Ensemble began in 1982. Chung says the ensemble was "experimenting with the Asian American sound and African heritage."

"What we are emphasizing is their artistic role in shaping this creative expression, as a part of national flourishing, flourishing within Asian American communities," she says.

You can hear from the artists themselves in the listening section.

Down the hall, the Storefront Gallery is dedicated to Philadelphia-based artists. Chung says collage and poems are on display from Theodore Harris and Amiri Baraka, describing "the frustrations and struggles of the Black communities."

There is also work on display by an Asian American queer zine collective called Fortune.

"They put together different kind of archives from 1971 to 2011, about civic engagement and the Civil Rights Movement," says Chung.

"I hope that people will walk away just understanding a little bit more of the Asian American story, and a little bit more about how that affects, you know, the time period that we're in today," says Kyu.

"Crescendo: How Art Makes Movements (1981-1999)" is on view through June 28 at the Asian Arts Initiative.

For more information:

"Crescendo: How Art Makes Movements (1981-1999)" | https://asianartsinitiative.org/programs/crescendo-how-art-makes-movements-1981-1999
Asian Arts Initiative | https://asianartsinitiative.org/