Chinatown Archives: Relational Reconstructions

Artists Evelyn Hang Yin and Jeffery Yoo Warren are working with the 1882 Foundation to develop community-engaged artworks and “relational reconstructions” of Hanford, CA’s China Alley. The two have been working with histories of Hanford’s China Alley to craft different kinds of reconstructions of this early, rural Chinese American community, including virtual reality works, papercraft and even wooden replicas of artifacts. As a part of this work, they are especially looking to connect with Asian Americans who grew up in, or with family from, rural parts of California, especially in the Central Valley.

“It’s not enough to catalog and record histories: we want to help Asian Americans reconnect in deeper and more experiential ways with our histories. Community memories are a crucial part of this work, and without learning from one anothers’ distinct personal and family histories, this work is impossible.”

The artists’ work in Hanford is a prototype of different models for experiencing and understanding historic Chinatown stories. This will take multiple forms, with events and workshops spanning:

3D modelmaking: audiovisual immersion and virtual reality
Woodworking: tactile, experiential, and archivally/ancestrally inspired
Paper/archiving: participatory, interactive, responsive, and tactile storytelling

Anti-immigrant sentiment, calls for mass deportation, complicity of courts and political leaders…These are a part of this country’s history as much as present-day realities. 150 years ago, a widespread movement of anti-Asian violence emerged, rooted in the xenophobic White labor movement of the time. Then, as now, it is community which people turned to, in early Chinese American and Asian American enclaves across the country.

For the 2025 Lunar New Year, the artists hosted Asian American and BIPOC participants in an online gathering, using handmade tiger head VR masks. These masks, which were mailed to each participant, opened VR portals to a reconstructed version of Hanford in the late 1800s, in addition to virtual reality reconstructions of very early Chinese American and Korean American communities across the nation, including in Truckee, CA, Riverside, CA, Providence, RI, and Portland, OR. As part of their work with the 1882 Foundation, they will be expanding upon these reconstructions, including, for example, the interiors of buildings in China Alley, as well as more interactive and multi-sensory ways of experiencing these Chinatowns.

To learn about these histories raises many questions for Asian Americans – for all Americans today. In what ways did these communities come together back then? What does it mean to come together at this time? What can we learn about ourselves, by better understanding the stories of that era? These questions – without easy answers – have inspired the artists to think about this work in a new light, charged with the resonances of the present.

“As we plan to organize workshops and events this year, we are interested in more than just written records; we’re looking for oral histories, photographs, and objects which connect Asian American folks today to these early historic communities. Please reach out! And stay tuned for upcoming events.”

This work is supported by the @1882foundation, which promotes public awareness of the history and continuing significance of the Chinese Exclusion Laws which began in 1882. It also builds on work we did together with support from the Library of Congress over the past 2 years. The 1882 Foundation is supported in this work by the Mellon Foundation and our work in Hanford is made possible with support from the China Alley Preservation Society.