Intersections
THE SKINNY
anti-Asian racism growing even further across the globe – felt overwhelming. However, it was through my interactions with online activist and community groups that I realised a contributing factor to the media bias against ESEA people was our fundamental lack of representation in the media. I collaborated with Edinburgh-based filmmaker Jinling Wu to create The Proof, a film-poem detailing a small handful of racist micro-aggressions I’ve personally experienced, for BBC The Social. Within a day of its release, The Proof racked up thousands of views and comments from other ESEA people sharing their own stories. And while each story was individual, nuanced and moving, there was also a common through-line that linked them all: a desire to say to the rest of the world, we are here – now listen to us. Through the pandemic, I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to connect and engage with many ESEA creatives living in Scotland, who are similarly interested in making connections and breaking barriers through their work. I asked nine of them about their creative processes, if, and how, their identity influences their creativity, and the challenges affecting Scottish ESEA people today.
Maisie Chan Writer Maisie Chan, a children’s author, has been active both creatively and in terms of communitybuilding. In 2018, she created the Bubble Tea Writers Group, a place for ESEA writers to share opportunities, ask questions and connect with each other. “I didn’t know what to call the group at first,” she tells me. “I obviously didn’t want to use ‘Oriental’ as it has negative connotations. Back then, we hadn’t heard of terms like BESEA (British East and South East Asian), and it felt like writing out East and South East Asian each time would be too much, so I decided on the image of bubble tea instead!” The Bubble Tea Writers Group shares opportunities beyond genre, but Chan herself specialises in early readers and children’s literature. When asked about ESEA representation in UK publishing, Chan explains some of the challenges she has faced. “In the late 1990s, I studied for a year at UC Berkeley and learnt about AsianAmerican history, Asian-American novels and more. When I got back to the UK, there was nothing like that and there still is a gaping wide hole in terms of critical race theory. We need more BESEA writers creating content for the screen and in publishing.” At the same time, Chan remains hopeful for the future. “I think publishers in Scotland want to increase the diversity in their books and I’m sure that with time there will be more ESEA representation in Scottish literature. I also think that my appointment as the Dr Gavin Wallace Fellow has helped to highlight that there are children’s writers here who aren’t white. I hope that my novel also helps to dispel myths about what a children’s author should look like.”
May 2021 – Feature
Karlie Wu 胡嘉瑤 Visual artist Karlie Wu is one of the founders of besea.n, working alongside Mai-Anh Peterson, Charley Wong, Amy Phung, Isabelle Pan and Viv Yau to help platform and champion ESEA issues throughout the UK. “It began as a shared frustration towards the sudden saturation of ESEA faces in the media in relation to coronavirus,” she explains. “This subconscious bias in the media’s choice of imagery led us to complain directly to major news sources.” Since then, besea.n has grown, not only as a force against anti-ESEA media bias, but also as a place for celebration. “In addition to being involved in data research surrounding disparities and inequalities that ESEA people face, it’s also felt really joyful to connect with others through a number of discussions and events we’ve set up,” Wu says. In terms of her own artistic practice, Wu has been keeping busy with commissions and other projects, including her Hakka Granny
video series. Hakka culture is a distinct subgroup within wider Chinese culture and in these videos, Wu takes on the persona of a Hakka grandmother in order to explain various linguistic and cultural aspects of Hakka life. “The videos started off as some fun, and I’m really surprised, honoured and touched that they have allowed others to connect with their own Hakka background, or that they remind people of their own relatives – I’m truly thankful that my nonsense can do that!”
Sarah Kwan, Teacake Dim Sum
Sean Shibe Musician Classical guitarist Sean Shibe shares Chan’s hope for better ESEA representation. “The solutions have to be from the bottom up, and without urgent structural change, things may still not become accessible, but I do have optimism for the future,” he says. Raised in Edinburgh, Shibe believes that his identity may have influenced his attraction to creativity. “If I was just another white kid then maybe I
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“As East and South East Asians, we must be given greater representation and empowered to tell our own stories directly” Paul Sng wouldn’t have been so determined. Instead, I already felt like an outsider, so perhaps that freed me to go in my own direction creatively.” Shibe has gone on to become the first guitarist to receive the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Young Artists, alongside other achievements. Even so, racialised comments are still an unfortunate feature of his life. “I’ve been told that my English is very good, and while it was a lot more oppressive when I was growing up, I think the fact that Asian men have been emasculated by Western media for hundreds of years still plays a role in how certain sections of society treat us.” Natasha Sotsai Falconer Illustrator Illustrator Natasha Sotsai Falconer has used lockdown as an opportunity to explore her creativity. “The increase in anti-Asian racism in the media, together with the impact that the Black Lives Matter movement has had in the world, really made me think about my own experiences of racism, and I wanted to illustrate more of that,” she explains. Falconer’s work is often inspired and influenced by her experiences growing up Scottish and Thai. “I was very inspired by Japanese art and pop culture as a kid. Looking for representation when growing up, you are often reminded by other children that you are different.” There is also often a linguistic element to her work, inspired by comics. “I moved to Scotland when I was around three and, after that, my mum was scared I wouldn’t learn English if we kept speaking Thai. It always upset me that my Thai was so basic, so I decided as an adult to learn to read and write Thai. I include it [in my work] to practise, and also because it’s a beautiful script.” Anna Cheung Poet Being able to tap into and utilise different experiences of cultural identity is an important part of gothic horror poet Anna Cheung’s work. “Growing up, my mum used to tell me Chinese ghost stories and when we watched period drama together, we would talk about folklore such as Huli Jing (fox spirits), the Monkey King, Jiangshi (hopping vampires) and Chang’e (the moon goddess).” Cheung’s debut poetry collection, Where Decay Sleeps, was supposed to be released by the Fife-based Haunt Publishing in October 2020. The decision to postpone until 2021 instead came as a relief to her. “I had been worried about how COVID would impact the book, so making that decision meant that we could take our time to give it the best possible chance to flourish,” she says. At the same time, the pandemic negatively impacted her