Ping Chong Archival Symposium

The Ping Chong Archival Symposium will be a full day gathering exploring the archive and artistic legacy of the visionary artist and Pink Fang Artistic Director Emertius, Ping Chong. It will take place on Saturday, December 6, 2025 from 12pm - 7pm, at the Ida K. Lang Recital Hall at Hunter College (CUNY).

This free, public event on December 6th marks a pivotal collaboration between Pink Fang and Hunter College Theatre Department, a semester-long partnership that includes a co-taught course called Multicultural Theatre Performance: Engaging Community Voices and Stories, class visits, an Artist Lunch for students with Ping Chong, a theater workshop available to the entire Hunter College community, and public screenings of Ping Chong’s archival works followed by talk-backs.

The day-long symposium event will bring together artists, scholars, students, and the public for conversation, panels, artistic activations, and a celebratory reception, illuminating the impact, evolution and future of Chong’s groundbreaking interdisciplinary practice that has transformed the landscape of performance in America and beyond.

This symposium is both a celebration and a continuation of Ping’s lifelong inquiry into how art can create understanding across differences and be the basis for pedagogical and intergenerational, community centered approaches. As we move forward as Pink Fang, the ongoing preservation and activation of Ping Chong’s archive is a key pillar of our mission and work. By including artistic responses, learning opportunities, and activation around Ping Chong’s archive, this event will illuminate all of the tenets of Pink Fang’s new mission.

Ping Chong Symposium Schedule

Keynote Conversation (12:00–1:30 PM): Ping Chong in Conversation with Mei Ann Teo, Artistic Director of New Work at Pink Fang.

Panel Discussion (2:00–3:30 PM): Ping Chong and Pedagogy featuring the following perspectives on the pedagogical influence and evolving study of Chong’s work: Victoria Abrash, MFA (Part-Time Assistant Professor, Theater, Eugene Lang College, New School University), Dong Shin Chang, PhD (Associate Professor, Theatre Department, Hunter College), Claudia Orenstein, PhD (Theatre Professor Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY), Yuko Kurahashi, PhD (Professor Emeritus, School of Theatre and Dance, Kent State University) and Christopher Totten (Assistant Director of Education / School Engagement, New 42/New Victory). The panel will be moderated by Priscilla Page, MFA/PhD (Associate Professor in Theater at University of Massachusetts Amherst, and affiliated faculty in the W. E. B. DuBois Department of Afro-American Studies and Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledge and Sciences).

Archival Activation (4:00–5:30 PM): Six artists present original creative responses to Chong’s archive and influence, Featuring: Nile Harris (Pink Fang Resident Artist), Tomi Tsunoda (Transdisciplinary Artist-Scholar and Dramaturg for upcoming Pink Fang production of The Table), Kate Freer (Projection Designer and Ping Chong Collaborator), Johnnie Cruise Mercer (Choreographer, Dancer, Educator and Former PCC Creative Fellow), Kirya Traber (writer, performer, and cultural organizer and Pink Fang Artistic Collaborator), and Tuce Yasak (An Artist Who Works with Light and Lighting Designer for upcoming Pink Fang production of The Table)

Closing Reception (5:45–7:00 PM): Hosted by Hunter College Theatre Department and Pink Fang.

Registration is free and open to the public.