Story-keeping—the UN-[TITLED] Oral History series

Artist of the Week Podcast

“Story-keeping—the UN-[TITLED] Oral History series” is a soundscape of music and oral histories heard during performances of the UN-[TITLED] Project. As a series of offerings and invitations created in collaboration with theater and community artists and architects, UN-[TITLED] is an immersive, multisite-specific project that centers on the ways in which communities are displaced by gentrification. Guests are guided through a series of engagements and reckonings with community meaning, cultural memory, and healing in the Central and Chinatown International Districts of Seattle.

About the UN-[TITLED] Oral Histories: “This is an Oral History series of Seattle residents as part of the UN-[TITLED] project–a space of reflection on where we all fit on the spectrum of gentrification, and the shifting story of home in Seattle. Over the last 25 years, the historically redlined areas of Central and Chinatown International Districts have weathered widespread rapid development that has economically displaced and culturally dispersed the communities that once occupied these spaces. An intergenerational group of community residents who claim deep roots in these districts were invited to participate in this series—to share their experiences and memories of growing up, living, or working in these neighborhoods. It is a chorus of unique voices who claim multiple cultures and heritages, with varying economic backgrounds, jobs, professions, and identities. They each offer charged and moving contributions as story-keepers for their beloved neighborhoods.This series holds space for listening and reflection on where we fit on the spectrum of gentrification, and into the shifting story of home in this city. We are thankful and honor the generosity of every participant who shared what needs to be said and heard about how gentrification has directly impacted them, their street blocks, their families, their friends, their memories, and their sense of place. Together they offer to us a sacred vessel of legacy-keeping and memory-making for displaced and surviving communities.”

Visit the project website to hear, see, and read more about UN-[TITLED].

Oral History Participants, in order of appearance: JM Wong, Karen Akada Sakata, Brandi Li, JM Wong, Gloria Jackson-Neffertiti, Maisha Barnett, Ruby Holland, C. Davida Ingram, Maria Kang
Audio editing: Berette S Macaulay
Music: Seattle Soundscape Symphony by Benjamin Hunter
Photos: Berette S Macaulay

UN-[TITLED] is a multisite socially engaged project conceived and organized by commissioning curator Berette S Macaulay. UN-[TITLED] is a National Performance Network(NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by On the Boards (Seattle) in partnership with BRIC (New York). The Creation & Development Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Audio recordings and production made possible through the Artist Residency Programs at Jack Straw Cultural Center.

UN-[TITLED] is also supported by fiscal sponsorship with Northwest Film Forum, and administratively by i•ma•gine | e•volve & Third Rail Projects.

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