Performing Artist-in-Residence Program

Overview

The Museum of Chinese in America's Performing-Artist-in-Residence (PAIR) Program invites a cohort of 3 performing artists to individually develop, create and present one theme-based new project by utilizing the resources and collections at MOCA.

Theme: Implied Selves 身之所示

How do we come to understand ourselves, and how do we choose to express who we are? The ways we present ourselves are shaped by family, culture, community, history, and the social conditions of our time. Through clothing, gesture, language, hairstyle, performance, and ritual, we communicate aspects of our identities to the world. Yet these forms of expression are never static. We inherit expectations, question them, adapt them, and sometimes reject them altogether. Throughout history, Asian and Asian American communities have continuously negotiated the boundaries of identity and belonging through acts of self-presentation. Early Chinese immigrants cut their queues as a visible marker of political and cultural transformation. Anna May Wong challenged the racialized and exoticized expectations imposed upon Asian women. Physician Margaret Chung and filmmaker Esther Eng adopted masculine styles of dress that complicated prevailing notions of gender and sexuality. Tseng Kwong Chi wore the Zhongshan suit to heighten his visibility while simultaneously exposing and satirizing the ways Asian bodies were exoticized and perceived as foreign. Across generations, individuals have used appearance, gesture, and performance to assimilate, resist, survive, and imagine new possibilities for themselves.

Program Activities

Throughout the residency, artists will be invited to participate in artist-led workshops and give a work-in-progress presentation to the public.

Submission Deadline

• August 2, 2026