neon was never brighter: a Glimpse into the Future
presented by edge on the square
curated by re.riddle
April 30, 2022 | 3pm-10pm
800 Grant Avenue
Edge on the Square (CMAC) is proud to present its inaugural event, Neon Was Never Brighter: A Glimpse Into the Future, the first ever contemporary art festival in San Francisco’s Chinatown. To kick-off APA Heritage Month, this free, multi-sensorial outdoor experience will showcase art activations created from diverse media such as performance, sculpture, interactive sound, site-specific installation, film, music, fashion, augmented reality, scent and dance.
The genesis of Chinatown Media & Arts Collaborative, a collective platform anchored in San Francisco that celebrates, explores, and supports leading and pioneering creative expressions at the intersection of community, culture, contemporary art and media, is vital during this period in Chinatown’s history.
CMAC’s inaugural event, Neon Was Never Brighter, reflects on Chinatown’s fortitude - by honoring its unique history and diverse cultural landscape. It affirms an initiative of optimism and hope for the future. Despite the severe challenges of the past and current years, the neighborhood's tenacity and resilience endure. Neon is a metaphor for Chinatown’s brightness and strength – a “light” that is embodied by and reflected through the people. As such, the festival’s title is Chinatown's self-proclamation that it has never shined brighter against the darkness of adversity because its light is from within.
Neon Was Never Brighter focuses on the notion of Chinatown “personified.” It celebrates this unique neighborhood identity by symbolically giving it a face, body and voice. By way of its people and place, Chinatown breathes and lives. We seek to feel its pulse, still beating as a testament to longevity and posterity.
The artists’ activations are guided by the theme of Chinatown personified: See Me, Hear Me, Sense Me, Know Me, Remember Me and Join Me. The participating artists are Autonomous Region, Bijun Liang, Billy Ola Hutchinson, Brian Singer, Chet Canlas, Corey Tong, Danny Clay, Dorothy Quock, Haoyun Erin Zhao, Felicia Lowe, Fernanda D’Agostino, Heesoo Kwon, James Q. Chan, Knxout, Laura Hyunjhee Kim, Lauren Lee McCarthy, LionDanceME, Mark Baugh-Sasaki, Miche Wong, Mike Arcega, Paolo Asuncion, Penelope Wong, Rice Rockettes, Summer Mei Ling Lee, Theresa Wong, Tony Remington, Victor Tung, Yosh Han.
Altogether, the art activations in the festival are embedded in broader social practices and speak to the diversity and plurality of identities and narratives of Chinatown’s residents, API cultural traditions and community-oriented activities that remark on new beginnings and future prosperity.
Curated by Candace Huey, re.riddle
看見我
See me.
認識我
Know Me.
傾聽我
Hear me.
記住我
Remember Me.
感受我
Sense me.
加入我.
Join Me.
map
Events
schedule
CMAC Community Reception
Saturday, April 30, 2022
3:00 pm
3:00pm
Festival Opens
3:00 — 4:00pm
Community + Artists Reception
Autonomous Region Jazz Performance
800 Grant Ave
4:00 — 5:00pm
Chinatown Immemorial Community Blessing and Procession: Summer Mei Ling Lee, Lotus Taoist Institute, Li Ka Sing (Cantonese Opera Singer), LionDanceME, Rice Rockettes, CYC Youth
800 Grant Ave
4:30 — 4:45pm
Cosmocrane: Laura Hyunjhee Kim, Site Specific Performance, presented by KADIST SF + CMAC
Ross Alley
5:00 — 6:00pm
Chinatown Shorts: You Are Here, James Q. Chan, Corey Tong, Penelope Wong, Film Screening & Fashion Show with Dorothy Quock and Victor Tung, presented by CAAM
Great Star Theater
5:30 - 7:00pm
TNT Traysikel: Michael Arcega, Paolo Asuncion,
Grant Ave + Throughout Chinatown
7:00 - 8:00pm
Autonomous Region Jazz Performance
800 Grant Ave
8:00 — 8:15pm
Cosmocrane: Laura Hyunjhee Kim, Site-Specific Performance, presented by KADIST SF + CMAC
Ross Alley
8:30 — 10:00pm
Memories to Light: Chet Canlas, Tony Remington, Theresa Wong, Danny Clay. Projection Mapping: Fernanda D'Agostino. Presented by CAAM + McEvoy Foundation for the Arts.
Willie ”Woo Woo” Wong Clubhouse Façade, Waverly Pl
8:30 — 10:00pm
Movement, Memory and Mirage: Fernanda D'Agostino, Felicia Lowe, Miche Wong, Sound performance by Knxout, presented by CHSA.
Joice St
9:30pm
Closing Performance with LionDanceME
800 Grant Ave
Continuous activations
3:00pm — 10:00pm
Fäcępåłm: Bijun Liang, Interactive Art Installation
Ovulation: Heesoo Kwon, Video Projection,
800 Grant Ave
I’m Glad You Asked: Lauren Lee McCarthy, Augmented Reality (AR) Experience
Portsmouth Square + throughout Chinatown
Granite City: Mark Baugh-Sasaki, Site-Specific Art Installation,
Joice + Clay Sts
TNT Traysikel: Michael Arcega, Paolo Asuncion,
Grant Ave + Throughout Chinatown
Neither Here, Nor There: Brian Singer, Site-specific Installations,
Wentworth Pl + YMCA, Sacramento St
Peach Blossom Spring: Haoyun Erin Zhao, Interactive Art Installation,
Wentworth Pl
壽 Shou Longevity, Yosh Han + Billy Ola Hutchinson,
Throughout Chinatown
Memories to Light: Chet Canlas, Tony Remington, Theresa Wong, Danny Clay.
Projection Mapping: Fernanda D'Agostino. Presented by CAAM + McEvoy Foundation for the Arts.
Willie ”Woo Woo” Wong Clubhouse Façade, Waverly Pl
Movement, Memory and Mirage: Fernanda D'Agostino, Felicia Lowe, Miche Wong, Sound performance by Knxout, presented by CHSA.
Joice St
About Chinatown Media & Arts Collaborative (CMAC)
Neon Was Never Brighter, presented by Chinatown Media & Arts Collaborative (CMAC), harnesses the power of art and culture to contribute to the social and economic recovery of Chinatown as well as the shaping of a more inclusive and just society.
CMAC is an unprecedented partnership that formed to establish Edge on the Square. Its founding members include Chinese for Affirmative Action, the Center for Asian American Media, the Chinese Culture Center & Foundation of San Francisco, the Chinatown Community Development Center, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, and the Chinese Historical Society of America. The collaborative sees the new platform as a transformative addition to Chinatown, complementing the area’s existing restaurants and businesses and spurring economic development. The six founding organizations represent best practices in their field and each contributes their expertise to ensure a successful launch of Edge on the Square, which is slated to open in Spring 2025.
GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY
California Assembly member Phil Ting
Governor Gavin Newsom
California Legislature
California State Librarian
Mayor London Breed
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Office of Economic and Workforce Development
San Francisco Arts Commission
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
Community Youth Center
Chinese Progressive Association
Cameron House
Chinatown YMCA
Far East Restaurant
Dragon Papa
Mister Jiu's
Chinatown Merchants Association
Be Chinatown
I-Hotel Manilatown Heritage Foundation
Self-Help For The Elderly
Lion's Den
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
McEvoy Foundation for the Arts
KADIST San Francisco
AKArt
Art + Action Coalition
CatchLight
May Fu Beauty Center
SF Central Station Police Station
San Francisco Recreation & Parks
Neon Was Never Brighter Team
Candace Huey, Linda Lui, SK Kerastas, Yunyi Zhang, Robyn Mallery, Hoi Leung, Erika Pallasigue, Hana Kadoyama, Kitty Teerling, Thomas Kohler, Kara Owens, JiaJing Liu, Corey Tong, Katlyn Marker, Masashi Niwano, Amy Fong
CMAC Program Committee
Jenny Leung, Stephen Gong, Ed Tepporn, Amy Zhou, Justin Hoover, Kara Owens
Mural Selection Committee
Abby Chen, Hoi Leung, Justin Hoover
inaugural Mural artists
Bijun Liang and Hou Yumei
SPECIAL THANKS
Claudine Cheng, Sarah Wan, Kari Lee, Eva Lee, Lily Lo, Brandon Jew, Calvin Yan, Cathie Lam, Tan Chow, Shaw San Liu, Jenny Robinson, Lai Wa Wu, Doug Mei, Laura Li, Bill Lee, Kathy Lee, Ning Ho, Caroline Cabading, Carlos Serrano-Quan, Kewei Jiang, Corey Tong, Meifeng Deng, Liuyu Ivy Chen, CYC youth volunteers and CCDC Ambassadors