Neon Was Never Brighter

Chinatown Media and Arts Collaborative’s (CMAC) inaugural festival 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