Betty Yu’s Book Launch- Magnum Foundation & Daylight Books Presents: Family Amnesia: Chinese American Resilience

Please join Magnum Foundation on Thursday, July 24th, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM for an artist talk and conversation celebrating the launch of Betty Yu’s new art and photography book, Family Amnesia: Chinese American Resilience.

Co-hosted by Magnum Foundation and Daylight Books, the evening will begin with a short reading by Betty Yu, the artist will then be joined by Rochelle Kwan for a conversation about the uncovering of family roots and the intergenerational memory work. The evening will end with a Q&A and book signing. Light refreshments will be provided.

Family Amnesia is a visual tribute and love letter honoring my Chinese American family roots in the U.S. The art book explores my family’s multi-generational resilience and resistance through mixed media collages, my grandfather’s photographs, my own captured images and archival material. The book project honors the past and current lives of Asian Americans and immigrants in the U.S. by examining the incalculable and traumatic impact that historical events like the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act continue to have on the Asian American experience. This is a painful part of our American history. I am reclaiming that narrative through my own personal family’s story. The book will feature my grandfather’s role as a founding member of the Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance of NY, my mother’s plight as a garment worker who became a labor organizer, and my sister’s legacy as a community activist. I know my family story is not unique. It is part of the larger collective Asian-American immigration experience.
– Betty Yu

[Buzz #13 at the door]

Magnum Foundation is in an elevator building and has a restroom that is wheelchair accessible and gender-neutral. For access requests or questions, please contact events@magnumfoundation.org.