Celebrate 10 Years of Arts and Activism with the Asian Women Giving Circle on Nov. 10

• ZINE

Zine for RAISE

Created by RAISE

A $13,000 grant to fund the creation of a zine to spark conversation and honest dialogue about and by undocumented Asian women and youth. Each issue will focus on a specific theme and will be available both in hard copy and on a multimedia website. The project will be led by members of RAISE (Revolutionizing Asian American Immigrant Stories on the East Coast), a pan-Asian group, of all undocumented “Dreamers”—young people mobilized by President Obama’s 2012 DACA Act. RAISE is affiliated with AALDEF.
• WORKSHOPS AND READINGS

A Letter Home: Nepali Stories
Created by Meera Nair, Kundiman, and Adhikaar
A $11,000 grant for A Letter Home: Nepali Stories, a multimedia project in partnership with Adhikaar that seeks to excavate the perspectives and voices of immigrant women from Nepal in New York City. Ten women will take part in writing and photography workshops led by award-winning writer Meera Nair. The work will be shared through public readings and displays in community-based venues such as nail salons, temples, and restaurants.​

• WORKSHOPS

Muslim Women’s Story Lab

Created by Kayhan Irani and Women in Islam Inc.
A $11,000 grant for the Muslim Women’s Story Lab, a series of hands-on workshops that seeks to deepen Muslim women’s engagement in three areas: Islamophobia, the inclusion of women in mosques and in community leadership. Ten to fifteen Muslim women will participate in a monthly immersive learning community using oral history, story telling, improvisational theater, and portraiture.​

• MULTIMEDIA ART INSTALLATION

Firewall
Created by Joyce Yu-Jean Lee
A $8,000 grant to support Firewall, an art installation in Manhattan’s Chinatown that will transform a rented storefront into a one-of-a-kind Internet café that explores censorship of gender issues in China. The public will be invited to compare disparities on Google and Baidu by researching terms and images online as part of a broader dialogue about Internet freedom.​

• THEATER

Ms. Oriental
Created by Marisa Marquez
A $8,000 grant for the development of Ms. Oriental, a play that explores the high suicide rate among Asian American women. The play centers on a struggling actress who is visited by a coterie of notorious female figures including China’s Empress Dowager, Lady Murasaki, and warrior-queen Lakshmibai. The artist will partner with New York City schools and colleges as part of her educational outreach strategy.​

• EDUCATION CAMPAIGN

#NailedIt: Vietnamese and the Nail Industry
Created by Adele Pham and Third World Newsreel
A $13,000 grant to support an organizing and education effort among nail salon workers, leveraging Nailed It, the filmmaker’s feature-length documentary about the industry’s origins as pioneered by Vietnamese immigrants. The film and “know your rights” pamphlets about the harmful health effects of working with chemicals commonly used in the industry will be distributed to nail salons workers in every New York City borough.

• WORKSHOP/DOCUMENTARY FILM
Desi Girls Documentary Film Project
Created by South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!)
A $11,000 grant to fund a documentary film and education project that will explore body image, personal relationships, sexual health, gender discrimination, domestic violence and cultural pressures of growing up South Asian and female in the US. Twenty young South Asian women will take part in a series of workshops that will culminate in their working with a filmmaker to produce a documentary for use as a peer-education tool.

• FILM SHORT
The Opposite of a Fairy Tale
Created by Jennifer Betit Yen and the Asian American Film Lab
A $11,000 grant for The Opposite of a Fairy Tale, a short film that will tackle elder abuse in the Asian American community, based on the experiences of the filmmaker’s own grandmother. The film seeks to throw light on this under-reported problem, educate viewers on how to prevent and address elder abuse and offer resources for victims.