MISSION
The Where Are You From? Collective (WAYF Collective) is an art-based and activism program for people who identify as Asian (that includes but is not limited to Southeast Asian, South Asian, East Asians, Asian-Pacific Islander).
Our work seeks to address issues of agency that Asians living on Turtle Island experience in defining our identities, visibility, and representation by offering workshops for youth, running arts events, and creating an online platform for self-representation.
We work from an intersectional, anti-oppression framework to empower Asian youth to develop critical art practices and build activist spaces that challenge dominant culture after decades of collective silence. Our mission is to celebrate Asian identities and achievements, build capacity for Asian-identified youth, and connect diasporic Asian communities so that we can create intentional dialogue that disrupts status quo.
Land Acknowledgement
We want to honour and express gratitude to the First Nations, Inuit and Métis people living on Turtle Island whose sacred land we are on right now. This has been the site of human activity for 15000 years. This is the sacred traditional territory of Anishnawbe, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and Mississauga of the New Credit River.
This territory is in the Dish With One Spoon Treaty, this treaty was made between the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee, and all newcomers were invited into this treaty over the years. This is an agreement to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.
The “Dish” or sometimes called the “bowl” represents the Great Lakes. We all eat out of the dish with one spoon. That means we need to share the responsibility of ensuring the dish is never empty. That includes taking care of the land and creatures we share.
Today, the land that we are standing on is still the home to many the First Nations, Inuit and Métis people from across Turtle Island.
We invite others to think about the past and present-day realities of these communities, and to continue to holistically question colonial practices that disrupt connections to families, homes, and the Earth.
It is our collective responsibility to recognize our colonial histories and present-day implications, to honour, protect and sustain this land. We are grateful to have the opportunity to be on this territory.
Our work seeks to address issues of agency that Asians living on Turtle Island experience in defining our identities, visibility, and representation by offering workshops for youth, running arts events, and creating an online platform for self-representation.
We work from an intersectional, anti-oppression framework to empower Asian youth to develop critical art practices and build activist spaces that challenge dominant culture after decades of collective silence. Our mission is to celebrate Asian identities and achievements, build capacity for Asian-identified youth, and connect diasporic Asian communities so that we can create intentional dialogue that disrupts status quo.
Land Acknowledgement
We want to honour and express gratitude to the First Nations, Inuit and Métis people living on Turtle Island whose sacred land we are on right now. This has been the site of human activity for 15000 years. This is the sacred traditional territory of Anishnawbe, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and Mississauga of the New Credit River.
This territory is in the Dish With One Spoon Treaty, this treaty was made between the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee, and all newcomers were invited into this treaty over the years. This is an agreement to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.
The “Dish” or sometimes called the “bowl” represents the Great Lakes. We all eat out of the dish with one spoon. That means we need to share the responsibility of ensuring the dish is never empty. That includes taking care of the land and creatures we share.
Today, the land that we are standing on is still the home to many the First Nations, Inuit and Métis people from across Turtle Island.
We invite others to think about the past and present-day realities of these communities, and to continue to holistically question colonial practices that disrupt connections to families, homes, and the Earth.
It is our collective responsibility to recognize our colonial histories and present-day implications, to honour, protect and sustain this land. We are grateful to have the opportunity to be on this territory.
TEAM
Chu Nap is an artist specializing in comics, pottery, and drawings. She is part of a 2-girl artist initiative called FANGRRLZ, which acclimates towards forced identities through the distribution of print media, ephemera, and projections. She is interested in elevating the hustle of many artists in her community as she shares and emphasizes with their struggles.
Jody Chan is a writer, organizer, facilitator, and aspiring Taiko drummer. Their writing focuses on themes of family, queerness, and mental illness, and has been published in Lunch Ticket, Ricepaper Magazine, and other equally lovely places. As an organizer and facilitator, they believe in a few things: community care, the value of art and storytelling, and the fact that dumplings will be the fuel of the resistance. They can often be found in bookstores, silly dancing, or petting other people's pups.
Sahar-e Golshan is a writer and language learner. Her writing explores mixed race identity, inherited exile, and memory. She lives on Indigenous lands governed by treaty relationships as both a settler and the daughter of refugees from Iran, Vietnam, and China. She is currently developing a collection of creative non-fiction pieces and a podcast on language, identity, and Toronto called Speaking My Language.
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Rain is a writer, performer, artist, facilitator and community activist. Their play The Virus was awarded second place at Pat the Dog Theatre Creation 24-playwriting contest. Rain’s writing has been published in Project as[I]Am, Project 40 Collective, Pink Ink and many others. These days, Rain is enjoying studying Traditional Chinese Medicine, engaging in social justice, community building, writing poetry and science fiction.
Robbie is a multi-disciplinary artist, activist, and professional speaker with Voices for Equity. Growing up in four countries, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and now Canada, he writes and sings about his journey in discovering what home, happiness, and healing means in context of diasporic identity. His work has been featured in Gaylaxy magazine, Elephant journal, These Pills Don’t Come in My Skin Tone, Rest4Resistence, Kros magazine, & the Living Hyphen. His activism work includes running support programs for LGBTQ youth, providing academic support for marginalized students hoping to go back to college, and advocating for culturally appropriate mental health services. His community work includes running support programs and campaigns for racialized youth at Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention and sitting on board of directors for an ethnocultural mental health organization in Toronto, advocating for culturally appropriate LGBTQ mental health services. He is currently a writing fellow for Nuance, an digital publication for 1st and 2nd gen immigrant youth.
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