Diaspora Bingo, 2018
computer cut adhesive vinyl, 1200 × 330 cm

Commissioned for the 2018 NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship, 16 November – 16 December 2018, curated by Alexie Glass-Kantor, Michelle Newton and Lola Pinder, Artspace, Sydney. This work was supported by the 4A Beijing Studio Program.

Diaspora Bingo is a text and video installation that appropriates the form of user-generated bingo cards — popular online memes which are usually tailored to specific communities or fandoms — to convey some of the lived experiences of the Filipino and broader Asian Australian diaspora. Consisting of a mixture of statements, stereotypes, questions and truths sampled from his own encounters as well as those of his family, friends and peers, Diaspora Bingo explores the potential of memetic humour and exchange to empower generations of diasporic communities to acknowledge and unlearn cultural shame.

Photos: Zan Wimberley