The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean

“We want viewers to understand, in this exhibition, the complexity and the processes of each individual artist: working within their own countries, within their own contexts, and their very specific family histories, histories of migration, how they ended up being Latin American,” says Tie Jojima, co-curator of The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean. “But also understand these artists as a whole, understand this being a conversation within Latin America, with specific histories of racialization that in many countries excluded Asians from narratives of national identity.”

Mimian Hsu, a Costa Rican artist, explains the process and meaning behind her work, which is based on a letter found in her country archives that requests for Chinese immigrant families to be reunited. Hsu embroidered the text on a bedsheet that is traditionally used during wedding nights to adorn the newlyweds' bed. She is one of 29 artists from 15 different countries featured in the exhibition, with works produced on different mediums, including painting, photography, sculpture, and video. 

“They are bridging the local, the regional, and the global, in terms of thinking about what is particular and what is common to broader transnational experiences of diaspora,” says Yudi Rafael, co-curator of the exhibition, about the artists and their work. 

The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean centers on the artistic production of the Asian diaspora in the regions from the 1950s to the present. The show opened on September 4 and will be on view through December 14, 2024.

• Visit The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean exhibition.
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• Subscribe to Americas Society's Visual Arts YouTube to watch events on the exhibition and other performances.

Funders

The Appearance: Art of the Asian Diaspora in Latin America & the Caribbean is made possible by generous lead support from Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas). Additional support for the exhibition and related programming is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the Cowles Charitable Trust, the Japan Foundation, Instituto Guimarães Rosa, Carolyn Hsu-Balcer and René Balcer, and the Garcia Family Foundation. In-kind support is provided by Almeida & Dale Galeria de Arte.

Americas Society acknowledges the generous support from the Arts of the Americas Circle members: Amalia Amoedo, Almeida e Dale Galeria de Arte, Estrellita B. Brodsky, Virginia Cowles Schroth, Emily A. Engel, Isabella Hutchinson, Carolina Jannicelli, Diana López and Herman Sifontes, Maggie Miqueo, Antonio Murzi, Gabriela Pérez Rocchietti, Marco Pappalardo and Cintya Poletti Pappalardo, Carolina Pinciroli, Erica Roberts, Patricia Ruiz-Healy, Sharon Schultz, and Edward J. Sullivan.