The aim of the 2023 AAPI Month Memphis exhibition was to bring more exposure to the work of AAPI artists in Memphis and the larger region.

The 2024 AAPI Month Memphis exhibition is expanded in both duration and its mission.

Featuring 12 Asian American and Pacific Islander artists from Memphis and the region, “Between Heaven and Earth, We Build Our Home” has themes of ancestry, immigration and homemaking. The show will be on view Saturday, May 25, through Thursday, June 20, at the UrbanArt Commission.

AAPI Heritage Month Memphis returns with food tour, art exhibitions

“It’s a play on the idea of, in Chinese mythology, you refer to the world as ‘tian di,' which means heaven-earth,” said exhibition curator Neena Wang. “The gods live in heaven, and the people live on earth.”

The exhibition title refers to building a home — both literally and figuratively.

“I hope (attendees) take away the sense of the story of how these artists got here,” Wang said. “There are all of these really talented Asian American artists in Memphis and the South — they are making great work. But they just didn’t come here out of nowhere, randomly. … Their families had to emigrate here. Previous generations before that had to go through various struggles and various wars and all kinds of things to get here. So that we could be artists and express ourselves through art.”

“Between Heaven and Earth” includes metal, glass, wood, painting, sculpture, textile, photography and video and.

One of Wang’s works in the show is a steel sculpture of a tree with aluminum wire holding glass pieces, representing a family tree.

Brooks taps Kong Wee Pang for first Summer Art Garden

The title is “We are the fruit of our ancestors’ wildest dreams.”

The show features work from the Memphis-native, Los Angeles-based artist, as well as the work of Thandi Cai, Sai Clayton, Sharon Havelka, Vivian Havelka, John Lee, Christine Yerie Lee, Huifu Ma, Susan Mah, LiLi Nacht, Yangbin Park and Yidan Zeng. 

Zeng’s piece is made with her late grandmother in mind.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about the people who came before us, what their legacies are in us and how we carry on the legacies of those who have come before us whether we know them intimately or not,” she said. “...I’ve been thinking a lot through the past few years, what does it mean to think about your connection to people that you didn’t really share moments with, but you are the embodied, living representation of them.

Zeng’s work is made with fabric and cyanotypes of family photos.

The “Between Heaven and Earth” opening reception — 4 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 25 — features a MengCheng Collective performance at 7 p.m. Wang, Nacht, Zeng and Cai are members.

These artists are centering stories of Memphis’ Chinese community

The members were mostly mum on what will be included in the performance piece besides its name, “Ritual for Recollection.” 

They did reveal that it will be related to themes of the exhibition, namely connection, passing along wisdom and paying homage to ancestors.

The opening weekend also features a free workshop — “Raise Your Flag” — from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 26.

Nacht and Zeng will lead participants through basic cyanotype printmaking techniques and making flags based on their community’s dreams and values.

Popular Asian Night Market coming back — but bigger

They’ll start with guided prompts, split the group into smaller groups, and then go more in depth with discussions.

“And after they have a conversation, this exercise will guide everyone on how to translate the thoughts and conversations they’ve had into an image, and those images will then be combined together on the cyanotype,” Nacht said.

“We’re trying to create community flags for each of our shared community values,” Zeng said.

UrbanArt Commission is located at 422 N. Cleveland St. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m Tuesday through Thursday. Admission is free.

The Sunday workshop is free and open to those with no art experience, but advance registration is required.