Yellow Pearl and the Basement Workshop
Date
Credits
- The Basement Workshop Studio
- Tomie Arai Illustrator
- Lois Chin Poet
- Arlan Huang Photographer
- Danny Yung Founder
Format
- Publication 165
- Photograph 178
Locations Made
- United States 895
- New York City 31
- New York 397
The Basement Workshop was an Asian-American arts collective, the first of its kind, which was active from the late 1960s to 1986 in New York City. The collective was inspired by major liberation movements of the era and formed due to the lack of Asian-American activist spaces in NYC. The collective encouraged Asian artists, musicians, and designers alike to experiment; Danny Yung, the Workshop's founder, emphasized the importance of allowing new creative projects to develop without limitation.
One such project was the anthology publication Yellow Pearl, which consolidated artistic works by around 30 Basement Workshop members. Yellow Pearl, which was published in the early years of the Workshop's existence, also served as an archive of the organization's development and political purpose. In addition to its revolutionary introduction, the publication included various works of art, illustration, poetry, music, and writing. The title “Yellow Pearl," which came from the name of an Asian folk group, referenced and transmuted the racist, anti-Asian term “yellow peril.” Through the variety of media it contained, the publication represented a newly forming Asian-American identity.
The Basement Workshop went on to create another publication, Bridge, which ran from 1971 to 1985 and reached a wider, national audience. By participating in the creation of publications such as Yellow Pearl and Bridge, members contributed to the Asian-American community through activism and pursued their own internal understanding of Asian identity.
Sources:
https://vaaam.tome.press/chapter/2907/
https://thebasementworkshop.reclaim.hosting
http://artspiral.org/basementworkshop.php
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/bridge-magazine-basement-workshop/-wHJcLubNwNUPQ?hl=en
