Portraits of New York Chinatown was initiated as an oral history project by artist Tomie Arai and scholar Lena Sze as MOCA prepared to move into its current home in 2009. The project addressed the vital question of MOCA’s own role within the communities of Chinatown, Little Italy, and SoHo through interviews with 27 neighborhood residents and community leaders. Out of this material, Arai explores the ever-present pressing issues of gentrification and displacement and develops interpretive ‘portraits’ for this exhibition.
