Amsterdam
VIDEO SCREENING
ARTIST IN ATTENDANCE: Richard Fung (Toronto).
Curators Winston Xin and Wayne Yung in attendance.
Saturday, 14 May 2005
20:00 Program 1: Short films/videos by various artists
22:00 Program 2: Spotlight on Richard Fung
Venue: Filmhuis Cavia, van Hallstraat 52-1, 1051 HH Amsterdam
Tickets: 4 Euros for one program, 6 Euros for both programs
Website: www.iamcuriousyellow.com
Paris
VIDEO SCREENING
ARTIST IN ATTENDANCE: Richard Fung (Toronto).
Curators Winston Xin and Wayne Yung in attendance.
Tuesday, 17 May 2005
20:00 Program 1: Short films/videos by various artists
21:30 Program 2: Spotlight on Richard Fung
Venue: Scratch Projection, 46 rue Quincampoix, 75004 Paris
Tickets: 4 Euros for one program, 6 Euros for both programs
Website: www.iamcuriousyellow.com
I am Curious Yellow: Sex & Desire in Gay Asian Videos is a historical survey of videos, which explore and deconstruct the representation of sex and desire by, for, and about gay East-Asian men. It consists of two programs, featuring tapes produced between 1976 and 2003, with a central focus on the major contribution of Asian-Canadian artists to this dialogue.
In the first program, curator Wayne Yung presents a selection of works by influential Canadian video artist Richard Fung. Making his first video in 1984, Fung was among the first to specifically document onscreen the experience of being gay and Asian. His 1991 essay Looking for My Penis: The Eroticized Asian in Gay Video Porn became a classic analysis of racist mis/representation in gay white media, and is today an essential text in film/cultural studies. Pushing the boundaries of form and content, Fung blurs the line between documentary and fiction, weaving together historical footage, family photos, old letters, travel slides, interviews, home movies, and subtitles. His work became both a revelation and a clarion call, for gay Asian artists and activists to step forward and take control of their own imagery by seizing the means of media production. Today, a new generation of gay Asian artists produce films and videos that challenge the cultural hegemony of white producers; even now, they continue to quote (consciously and unconsciously) the pioneering work of Richard Fung.
In the second program, curator Winston Xin presents video shorts made since 1976 by gay Asian men in Canada and abroad. In North American media, Asian men have been either desexualized or completely excluded; the videos in this program challenge that status quo, by placing gay Asian men at centre-stage, and defying stereotypical notions of what it means to be gay and Asian. During the early nineties, queer Asian artists began making videos, under the influence and inspiration of Fung’s writings and videos (particularly Chinese Characters). The majority of these tapes use explicit images of sexual desire to celebrate the Asian male body, exploring issues of eroticism and otherness within and without the gay mainstream (or gay-stream). From personal testimonies to experimental documentaries, each work is an act of subversive empowerment – Asian men producing sexual images by themselves, for themselves. More than just a historical survey, this program serves as a response to the ideas originally laid out by Fung, broadening and expanding his vision.
The artists featured in these programs are truly independent, in that they work without the official sanction of film studios and film boards; they are experimental, in that they renounce the conventional tropes of cinema, preferring instead the total flexibility of video art.
I am Curious Yellow screenings were held in in Paris and Amsterdam where many of these works (particularly Fung’s) had never been seen before. As the capitals of former colonial empires, these two cities have received wave after wave of immigrants from the colonies, and are now home to the largest Asian communities in Continental Europe. Whereas the first immigrants may have been relatively pliable, assuming an acceptably innocuous position in the kitchens (and bedrooms) of Paris and Amsterdam, their children are very different. Educated in local schools, they’ve adopted Western European culture, developing the same sense of empowerment and entitlement, and the ability to argue articulately and eloquently in native French or Dutch. This first generation of Asian-Europeans forms the primary target audience of this program, as a hyphenated diasporic community that has developed in parallel to (but independent of) Asian-Canadian communities.
On a broader level, I am Curious Yellow addresses the emerging debate around the desirability and consequences of emergent “multiculturalism” in traditionally all-white European societies (witness the recent electoral prominence of anti-immigrant right-wing parties in the Netherlands and France, among others). Much of this debate is reminiscent of that in Canada during the 1970s, which saw contradictory (yet interrelated) reactions to Trudeau’s immigration and multiculturalism policies: on the one hand, a simplistic song-and-dance celebration of cultural diversity (usually coded as the richness of “ethnic” cuisine and “world” music); on the other hand, a reactionary defense of a “traditionally Christian national identity” against an invasion of dark-skinned hordes. In France and the Netherlands, the immigration agenda is still largely defined by white voices; to this European debate, I am Curious Yellow contributes a set of non-white (yet undeniably Western) voices, expressing complex and often contradictory analyses of postcolonial diasporic experiences, with all their successes, failures, complications and unresolved questions.
This tour included two venues: the Cinemasia Queer & Asian Film Festival, and Scratch Projection in Paris, both in May 2005.
Cinemasia Queer & Asian Film Festival (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Although queer Asian festivals are popular in North America, this is the first of its type in Europe. The premiere edition (May 2003) included short and feature films from independent filmmakers and video artists from Asia, Australia, and North America- but none from Continental Europe, because none (as yet) exist. Nonetheless, the first festival was a resounding success, selling out every ticket at each show. This level of enthusiasm bodes well for the future of Amsterdam's emerging queer Asian community; the screening of I am Curious Yellow aims to inspire the development of local dialogues and independent artworks that speak to and speak of the unique experience of queer Asians in Europe.
Scratch Projection (Paris, France)
Founded in 1983, Scratch Projection is the programming arm of Light Cone, a media art centre dedicated to the history and exhibition of experimental media art. In addition to presenting weekly screenings, Light Cone also fosters interest in experimental work through a distribution service, resource centre and numerous publications. The programming of I am Curious Yellow matches Light Cone's commitment to highlighting experimental media art; artists such as Richard Fung, Paul Wong and Ho Tam are strong examples of independent artists who push the boundaries of media art in both form and content.
Program 1: Short films/videos by various artists
Curated by Winston Xin
Exotic 101 (Michael Shaowanasai, Thailand, 1997, 7'00)
1000 Cumshots (Wayne Yung, Canada, 2003, 1'00)
Peter Fucking Wayne Fucking Peter (Wayne Yung, Canada, 1994, 5'00)
Sniff (Ming-Yuen S. Ma, USA, 1997, 5'00)
Forever Bottom! (Hoang Tan Nguyen, USA, 1999, 4'00)
60 Unit Bruise (Paul Wong & Ken Fletcher, Canada, 1976, 4'00)
Season of the Boys (Ho Tam, Canada, 1997, 4'00)
Yellow Fever (Raymond Yeung, UK, 1998, 26'00)
Total running time: 56 min.
Program 2: Spotlight on Richard Fung
Curated by Wayne Yung
Chinese Characters (Canada, 1986 20'30)
Sea in the Blood (Canada, 2000, 26'00)
Islands (Canada, 2002, 8'45)
Learning to be Fabulous (with Tim McCaskell, Canada, 2004, 3'00)
Total running time: 58 min.
"I am Curious Yellow" was screened in Amsterdam on Saturday 14 May, 2005 at the Filmhuis Cavia. Advertising was done through local arts and gay periodicals, announcements at gay Asian internet sites and chat rooms, and through the mailing list of the local Asian film festival. In all publicity, a link was provided to our website: www.iamcuriousyellow.com. Some thirty people attended the Amsterdam screening. Many audience members remained afterwards in the foyer sitting area, to engage in a lively discussion with Wayne Yung and Richard Fung. In addition Richard and Wayne had dinner with Kam Wai (organiser of the Netherlands Transgender Film Festival) and lunch with Marjolein Veldkamp (manager of the Filmhuis Cavia and organiser of Pink Film Days gay/lesbian festival of Amsterdam).
In Paris, Winston Xin met up with Richard and Wayne. They were hosted by the two curators of Scratch Projections, Marc Bembekoff and Christophe Bichon, as well as the founder and past-curator, Yann Beauvais who originally helped get this project started.
The first program of shorts had about 45 people while the Richard Fung screening had about 35 people. Winston and Wayne Yung introduced the program as well as a q&a afterwards. In the second program, Richard Fung provided an introduction and a q&a after the screening facilitated by Wayne Yung and Yann Beauvais.
Two journalists and queer activists approached Winston Xin afterwards. They were organizing a queer asian event for Paris Gay Pride June 2005 and wanted to show two of the artists, Raymond Yeung and Ho Tam. Light Cone distribution, which is connected with Scratch Projections also picked up Richard's tapes for European distribution since they had been subtitled in French for the program.
Winston Xin & Wayne Yung
July 20, 2005.
Vancouver