Kitchen Table Stories Project
The Kitchen Table Stories Project a multimedia healing justice initiative that aims to address generational trauma from systemic violence and oppression by reclaiming ancestral healing practices, renewing cultural rituals and traditions, and reaffirming the interconnectedness of art and daily life. The project centers the voices, experiences and stories of the local Asian, South Asian and Pacific Islander American diaspora, and intends to claim space in the community through the arts. It creates collective power through art, and claims space in the community with our stories, traditional practices, and cultural wisdom.
Background
In 2020-21 there was a marked an increase in US media coverage of violence and hate crimes against people of Asian, South Asian and Pacific Islander (ASPA) descent within the context of COVID-19. Anti-Asian racism is not an outcome of the pandemic, it is endemic to our country, and there is a history of scapegoating Asian communities in times of national crisis. Still, the surge of shuttered ASPA-owned small businesses and family-owned restaurants due to the devastating effects of the pandemic and the increase in political attacks on immigrants and communities of color, is contributing to the silencing and erasure of ASPA voices in our communities. The Kitchen Table Stories project aims to disrupt anti-Asian narratives, combat erasure, and create a sense of place and cultural permanence for ASPA communities through allied voice. It recognizes care as an art form that draws on cultural wisdom, ancestral healing and collective power, and will take place in multiple physical and virtual community spaces.
Contact the Kitchen Table Stories Project at kitchentablestoriesproject@gmail.com
In the news...
A Portrait of Wong Aloy: A Chinese Immigrant’s American Journey
Evanston Roundtable, September 2022
​
100 Years of Overlooked History: Uncovering Asian American Stories in Evanston and the Midwest
Evanston Roundtable, September 2022
​
Evanston Roundtable, May 2022
​
Lantern Floating Ceremony Honors Loss, Celebrates Heritage and Creativity
Evanston Roundtable, May 2022
​
Check out Evanston’s Asian, South Asian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month Events
Daily Northwestern, May 2022
​
Daily Northwestern, May 2022
​
Kapwa & Kapé Event Brings Live Music, Poetry and Art to Evanston for Filipino American History Month
Daily Northwestern, October 2021
​
Spotlight on Kitchen Table Stories Project
Our Evanston, October - 2021
​
Community Artist-Activist Invites Evanston's ASAPIA Residents to the Kitchen Table
Dear Evanston, September 2021
​
Residents Join City’s First Ever ASAPIA Heritage Month Arts Festival
Daily Northwestern, May 2021
​
Daily Northwestern, April 2021
Evanston Art Center, April 2021
Featured Evanstonian: Melissa Molitor
City of Evanston, May 2021
Thank you to all who participated in and supported the Kitchen Table Stories exhibition at the Evanston Art Center!
Kitchen Table Stories Exhibition
July 9 - August 21, 2022
Evanston Art Center
The Kitchen Table Stories exhibition is a celebration of stories shared by local artists who identify as Asian, South Asian and Pacific Islander. Artists were asked to share the stories that have been passed down to them from ancestors through family and friends, and create work that reflects their own lived experiences. The result is an exploration of the intersections of immigration, citizenship, race, culture, social identity, multigenerational relationships, and family history. In the spirit of stories that are shared at the “kitchen table,” the guest is invited to participate by engaging in discourse that considers the importance of telling our own stories and the power of the arts in that process. The audience is asked to reflect on universal themes such as language, food, home, family, heroes and belonging through the lens of their Asian, South Asian and Pacific Islander neighbors in a space that centers hospitality as an art form that draws on cultural wisdom, lineal healing, and collective care.
28 artists are participating in the exhibition, listed here in order of last name; Jose G. Aggari Jr., June Chen Ahleman, Bhagya A. Ajaikumar, Daniel Aquino, Magdalena Arguelles, James Bulosan,
Ashwaty Chennat, Sun H. Choi, Pritika Chowdry, Cesar Conde, Susan Cua, Kevin L. Cuasay, Marissa Domantay, Alyssa Marie Obcemea Gayapa, Richard Gessert, Indira Freitas Johnson, Alex Belardo Kostiw, Geraldine Martinez-Benz, Viola Mayol, Jessa Mae Mendiola, Abbey Poniente Monsalud, Pranita Nayar, Melissa Raman Molitor, Jason Reblando, Jonathan Taala, Jocelyn Victoria, Sarah Whyte, and Levi Yutuk.