Exhibitions
BE.COMING / BE.LONGING: TENNESSEE ASIANX ARTISTS
The Emporium Center / 100 S. Gay St. August 7 - 31st
Nuveen Barwari, Sai Clayton, Sepideh Dashti, Tao Huang, Mable Ni, Sisavanh Phouthavong, Katie Wester and Meng Cheng Collective's Thandi Cai, Lili Nacht, Yidan Zeng
BeComing/BeLonging explores the materiality of the self in the midst of diaspora, displacement, longing and belonging. Artists in the exhibition represent polyphony of visual voices that provide glimpse on the identities tethered to the notion of Asia and Tennessee, both as linchpins, rather than monoliths. The complex dialogue on identity, becoming and belonging is unshrouded, foregrounding each individuals’ whisperings through creative practices.
The women in this exhibition all have Asian lineage within the embrace of American families, either as second or third generation Asian Americans, immigrants or naturalized professionals, or adopted youths, most are liminal citizens of in-between cultures. The Tennessean artists with Asian lineages features Nuveen Barwari, Sai Clayton, Sepideh Dashti, Tao Huang, Mable Ni, Sisavanh Phouthavong, Katie Wester and Meng Cheng Collective's Thandi Cai, Lili Nacht and Yidan Zeng.
The public is invited to meet some of the artists and curator during the opening reception on August 7, First Friday from 5 to 9 p.m., with reading by Meng Cheng Collective from their recent publication Jia Pu: Cooking Our Way Home at 5:30pm.
Karlota I. Contreras-Koterbay is the Director of ETSU's Tipton-Ashe & Slocumb Galleries and curates and juries exhibitions nationwide and abroad. She received her B.A degree in Anthropology and M.A. Art History from University of the Philippines- Diliman. She is member of IKT International Association of Contemporary Art Curators, International Council of Museums, Southeastern College Art Conference. Contreras-Koterbay is a recipient of ETSU's Outstanding Community Service Award (2025) and TAM Award of Excellence. She is also co-Director of Crafting Blackness Initiative, a research, publication and exhibition series advancing visibility of Black Craft artists in Tennessee.
