Performing History: Documenting and Enacting the Asian American Midwest

press release: The untold stories of Asian Americans in the Midwest will be brought to the stage May 1 and 2 as part of “Performing History,” a two-day event at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that weaves the real-life experiences of Midwestern Asian Americans into a moving dramatic performance.

Based on oral histories gathered in Wisconsin, Illinois, and throughout the Midwest as well as historical archives, the performance “Our Stories, Our History: Snapshots of Asian America in the Midwest,” directed by David Furumoto, will be held on May 1 at 7pm in UW-Madison’s Mitchell Theatre, Vilas Hall, 821 University Avenue.

On May 2, “Performing History” continues with a workshop at 2.30pm, “Scents of Home,” by Chicago-based performer and scholar Patricia Nguyen. By using the scents of food as a mnemonic aid, this sensorial workshop explores how food is an essential ingredient in grappling with histories of forced migration and resettlement, and how community and cultural bonds are created through everyday eating rituals. The workshop will take place in room 6191, Helen C. White Hall, 600 N. Park Street. Interested participants should register at https://goo.gl/CqRjBq or on the event’s Facebook page, @asianamericanmidwest.

Also on May 2, at 4pm, there will be a panel discussion, “Asian Americans in the Midwest,” featuring UW-Madison researchers Victor Jew and Timothy Yu, as well as scholar Rebecca Kinney of Bowling Green State University. “Performing History” will conclude with a 7.30pm reading by Bich Minh Ngueyn, nationally-acclaimed author of Stealing Buddha’s Dinner (2007) and other novels. Both events will take place in room 309, Pyle Center, 702 Langdon Street. All events are free and open to the public.

“Asian Americans are rarely part of the stories we tell about the Midwest,” Yu said. “Yet Asian Americans have a history in the Midwest that goes back over a century. Our project has recorded dozens of stories from Asian Americans who grew up and live in the Midwest. Incorporating some of those stories into a public performance is an exciting way to make Asian American communities more visible in Madison and beyond. It allows Midwestern Asian Americans to see themselves on stage and teaches wider audiences about the importance of Asian American stories to the way we think about the Midwest.”

“Performing History” is the culmination of a two-year research project on Asian American history in the Midwest led by Timothy Yu, professor of English and Asian American studies at UW-Madison; Victor Jew, senior lecturer in Asian American studies at UW-Madison; David Furumoto, professor of theatre and drama at UW-Madison; and Ji-Yeon Yuh, associate professor of history and Asian American studies at Northwestern University. The project is supported by the Humanities Without Walls consortium, based at the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Humanities Without Walls consortium is funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. “Performing History” is co-sponsored by UW-Madison’s Department of English, Department of History, Department of Theatre and Drama, the Asian American Studies Program, the Institute for Research in the Humanities, the Center for Visual Cultures, and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies.  

For additional information or queries, please contact Jacqulyn Teoh at jgteoh@wisc.edu.