.png)
Asian American Panel Discussion
*This event has passed
Edge on the Square’s 2nd annual contemporary art festival presents a panel discussion with changemakers in various disciplines to share their perspectives on the critical issues that impact the Asian American community and how their work/practice reimagines the edges of social justice and equity. Speakers include Sierra Katow (Stand-up Comedian, Actress, Writer), Weston Teruya (Artist, Cultural Producer), TT Takemoto (artist and scholar), and Vincent Pan (Co-Executive Director of Chinese for Affirmative Action); moderated by Miko Lee (Director of Programs at AACRE and Producer and Host of APEX Express).
About Miko Lee
Miko Lee is an activist, storyteller and educator. She believes in the power of story to amplify voices. Miko is lead producer of APEX Express on KPFA Radio focused around AAPI activists and artists. She is Director of Programs for Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality and on the National Advisory Committee of Teaching Artists Guild. Miko’s career has been rooted in the nonprofit world, first as a theatre actor, director and writer and then as an artistic director and as an arts education leader. Miko was executive director of Youth in Arts for over a decade and prior to that was Director of Arts and Public Education at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts. In addition to Teaching Artists Guild, Miko is an arts Equity BIPOC leader and serves on California’s Special Education + Arts Working Group and the Public Will Committee of CREATE CA. Miko’s extensive background in theatre includes working on shows at Berkeley, Seattle and South Coast Rep, Public Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and many others.
Miko Lee 是社會運動者、說書人和教育家。她相信故事有助人發聲的力量。Miko 是 KPFA 電台 APEX 節目的首席監製，亞裔美國人和太平洋島民的社運人士和藝術家。她身兼亞裔美國人公民權利及平等協會（Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality）以及藝術家教學協會國家諮詢委員會（National Advisory Committee of Teaching Artists Guild）的項目總監。Miko 的職業生涯扎根於非牟利組織，先是劇場演員、導演及劇作家，及後成為藝術指導，以及藝術教育領袖。Miko 曾出任藝術青年（Youth in Arts）總幹事逾十年，此前則於東灣表演藝術中心（East Bay Center for the Performing Arts）任藝術及公眾教育總監。除了藝術家教學協會的職務外，她亦積極透過藝術推動黑人、原住民和有色人種的平權，扮演領導角色；同時在加州的特殊教育＋藝術工作小組（Special Education + Arts Working Group）以及「創意加州」公共意向委員會（Public Will Committee of CREATE CA）服務。Miko 擁有廣泛的劇場工作經驗，曾參與柏克萊、西雅圖、南岸話劇團（South Coast Rep）、「公眾劇場」（Public Theatre）和 Mark Taper 論壇等多個場地發團體之製作。
About Sierra Katow
Sierra Katow is a standup comic, writer, and actor. She recently shot her first hourlong standup special with Comedy Dynamics and can be seen playing Evangeline on Mindy Kaling's The Sex Lives of College Girls on Max. In the past, she was part of the main cast of The G Word with Adam Conover on Netflix and voiced characters for Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon. She has also written for shows like Exploding Kittens (coming soon to Netflix), Close Enough (Max), Earth To Ned (Disney+), and Eureka! (Disney+).
Sierra Katow 是一位單口喜劇藝人、作家兼演員。她最近與美國最大的獨立喜劇製作及發行公司 Comedy Dynamics 拍攝了個人首部長達一小時的個人脫口秀特輯，並且在串流媒體 Max 播出、由Mindy Kaling 主演的《女大學生的性生活／慾望女大生》(The Sex Lives of College Girls) 一劇中扮演 Evangeline。 她曾是 Netflix 製作的《The G Word with Adam Conover》影集的主要演員之一，並為迪士尼電影《尋龍使者：拉雅》(Raya and the Last Dragon) 中的角色配音。她還為即將在 Netflix 推出的《Exploding Kittens》撰寫劇本，其他編劇作品包括 Max 串流媒體的《Clear Enough》、Disney+ 串流平台的《Earth To Ned》與《Eureka！》等。
About TT Takemoto
TT Takemoto is a queer Japanese American artist and scholar exploring Asian American history, sexuality, and identity. Their experimental films delve into hidden dimensions of same-sex intimacy and trauma that exist within Asian and Asian American archives. Takemoto interacts with found footage and archival materials through labor-intensive processes of painting, lifting, and manipulating 16mm/35mm film emulsion using scotch tape, razor blades, and nail polish. By engaging with tactile and sensory dimensions of queer histories, Takemoto conjures up immersive fantasies involving butch surgeons, femme fish fileting, and homoerotic breadmaking. Their films honor queer Asian Americans who lived, loved, and labored together during the prewar era and beyond. Takemoto is dean of Humanities and Sciences at California College of the Arts.
TT Takemoto 是日裔美國酷兒藝術家及學者，主力研究亞裔美國人的歷史、性別和身份認同議題。她們的實驗電影透過亞洲人和亞裔美國人的歷史檔案，深入探究同性親密關係及創傷種種不為人知的面向。Takemoto 以膠帶、刀片和指甲油在16mm/35mm 底片上繪畫、lifting 和擺設等勞動密集的方式，與現成影像片段和檔案資料互動。Takemoto 的作品利用酷兒歷史中的觸感和其他感官知覺，勾起牽涉屠場外科醫生、切魚美人和同性情色麵包烘焙的沉浸式幻想。其電影褒揚戰前至今生活、全心去愛和辛勤勞動的亞裔美國酷兒。Takemoto 現為加州藝術學院（California College of the Arts）人文及科學學院院長。
About Vincent Pan
Vincent Pan is the Co-Executive Director for Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), a community-based social justice organization in San Francisco. CAA advocates for systemic change that protects immigrant rights, promotes language diversity, and advances racial justice. At CAA, Vincent is helping to lead Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality, a new network-based approach for movement building. Prior to CAA, Vincent worked with the Clinton Foundation on treatment programs for children living with HIV/AIDS in China. Before that he co-founded and led Heads Up, which ran after-school and summer programs by enlisting college students as AmeriCorps members. Vincent’s community involvement includes former and current service on the board of the Center for Asian American Media, the steering committee of API Equality – Northern California, the board of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, and as a member of the San Francisco Police Commission. Vincent holds a degree in Economics from Harvard University, and has been a Fellow with the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford University, the Echoing Green Foundation, and the Stride Rite Foundation.
Vincent Pan 潘偉旋是華人權益促進會（Chinese for Affirmative Action，CAA）的聯席行政主任，該機構位於舊金山，以社區為本、追求社會公義。華促會倡議保護移民權利、促進語言多元化和推進種族公義的系統性改變。潘氏現正領導華促會轄下一個全新的倡議組織——亞裔美國人促進公民權利及平等協會（Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality），透過網絡發展，促成社會行動。在此之前，Vincent 曾於克林頓基金會工作，負責中國的人類免疫缺乏病毒／愛滋病兒童治療計劃。他亦有份創辦並領導 Heads Up，招募大學生加入 AmeriCorps 志願隊，提供課後及夏季活動予學童。Vincent 熱心社區參與，先後擔任以下組織成員，包括：亞裔媒體中心（Center for Asian American Media）董事會、亞太平等協會——北加州分會（API Equality – Northern California）指導委員會、CompassPoint 非牟利服務（CompassPoint Nonprofit Services）董事會，以及舊金山警察委員會（San Francisco Police Commission）。潘氏獲哈佛大學經濟系學士學位，亦曾擔任史丹福大學社會創新中心（Center for Social Innovation）、Echoing Green 基金會以及 Stride Rite 基金會的研究員。
About Weston Teruya
Weston Teruya is an artist and cultural producer based in the Bay Area who moves between individual and collective modes of practice to explore the haunting manifestations of racial inequity in the visual landscape. His individual work has been exhibited at Mills College Art Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa; and supported by Artadia, Asian Cultural Council, and Headlands Center for the Arts. His collective practice manifests primarily through Related Tactics, an artistic collaboration between Michele Carlson, Weston Teruya, and Nathan Watson who create projects at the intersection of race and culture. They have produced projects with Montalvo Arts Center, Wexner Center for the Arts, University of San Francisco Thacher Gallery, and Kala Art Institute; and been supported through a 2023 Rainin Fellowship, and grants from the Craft Research Fund and Ruth Foundation for the Arts.
Weston Teruya 是以灣區為基地的藝術家兼文化製作人，遊走個人和集體創作模式之間，關注視覺藝術界揮之不去的的種族不公。其個人作品曾於密爾斯學院藝術館（Mills College Art Museum）、芳草地藝術中心（Yerba Buena Center for the Arts）及夏威夷大學馬諾阿分校展出；並得 Artadia、亞洲文化協會（Asian Cultural Council）以及岬角藝術中心（Headlands Center for the Arts）支持。他的集體創作主要來自藝術組合 Related Tactics，成員包括 Michele Carlson、Weston Teruya 及 Nathan Watson，主力創作種族與文化交匯的項目。他們曾與 Montalvo 藝術中心、衛克斯那藝術中心（Wexner Center for the Arts）、舊金山大學 Thacher 畫廊以及 Kala Art Institut 合作；並獲 2023 Rainin 獎學金，以及工藝研究基金（Craft Research Fund）與 Ruth 藝術基金會慷慨支持。