Multimedia Art Installation
Retracing the forgotten history of Chinese shrimp fishing
around San Francisco Bay
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SAN FRANCISCO MARITIME NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
Step out of time into an immersive multimedia installation by CW Director Rene Yung at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park visitor center!
Opening November 14, this new installation interprets results from the Chinese Whispers: Bay Chronicles art and research expedition last year, when we sailed on the park’s 43-foot replica SF Bay junk Grace Quan to retrace the forgotten history of Chinese shrimp fishing around San Francisco Bay.
Featuring sound and video captured during the sails, the installation transforms the park’s visitor center theater into an experiential environment that evokes this overlooked story, and comments on its obscuring in public memory.
An ephemeral “sail” erupts from the theater’s heavy blue velvet curtains, and video projection on this “sail” presents imagery that give a sense of being on the wooden junk on the Bay. A soundscape surrounds visitors with ambient sounds including water against boat, and wind in the sails, while a subtle layer of voices speak from historical texts and oral history interviews that are relevant to Chinese shrimping history.
This site-specific installation is part of a series of iterative reflections by Yung on this overlooked chapter of Bay Area history. It is part of Chinese Whispers’ ongoing collaboration with the the SF Maritime NHP to bring to light the maritime heritage of the early Chinese community around San Francisco Bay.
Come visit the free and accessible exhibit, and stay tuned for exciting public programming!
Artistic and Project Director: Rene Yung
Sound: Jeremiah Moore
Video: Chihiro Wimbush
Chinese Whispers: Bay Chronicles is made possible by generous support from the Creative Work Fund, with additional support from the California Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, the Center for Cultural Innovation, sponsors, and individual donors like you. We are a member of the Intersection Incubator, a program of Intersection for the Arts providing fiscal sponsorship, incubation and consulting services to artists.
Photo credit: Keith Baker photography