A special event for the month of May
Library of Congress 2023-2024 Innovator in Residence Jeffrey Yoo Warren invites the public to visit a series of virtual installations on the Library's Washington, DC campus and five historic Asian American sites around the country. Accessible by mobile device, the experimental Hidden Portals event provdes an immersive 3D reconstruction of these neighborhoods developed with archival photographs and records from local and Library of Congress collections.
Hidden Portals can be found in designated public spaces in five selected cities where early historic Chinese American and Korean American communites once thrived:
- Providence, Rhode Island on Empire Street between Washington Street & Chapel Street
- Portland, Oregon on SW 18th Avenue between SW Madison Street & SW Salmon Street
- Hanford, California on China Aly between N Green Street & White Street
- Truckee, California at Donner Pass Road & Spring Street
- Riverside, California at Cottage Street & Commerce Street
During Asian Pacific American Heritage Month from May 1 through 31, members of the public can follow maps to experience the five Hidden Portal sites around the U.S. Visitors at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. can also use their smartphones to find each of the 3D reconstructions hidden in locations around the Library’s campus. Through collaborations with local Asian American artists and experts, Yoo Warren has developed a fully mobile experience in which visitors can immerse themselves in the unique sights and sounds of these long-ago neighborhoods.
Families with children ages 6-12 are also invited to visit the Library for a mask-making workshop with Yoo Warren as part of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Family Day on May 11. Attendees will create cardboard virtual reality masks in the shape of a tiger’s head and use them to visit each of the Hidden Portals.
Artist Statement from 2023-2024 Innovator in Residence Jeffrey Yoo Warren
In 2018, I learned that the block where I live in Providence, RI was once the site of a thriving Chinese American community of which there was no trace. As a visual artist, I felt compelled to recreate the stretch of Empire street as a 3D experience, which I slowly pieced together from research in local archives and in speaking with descendants. Over my time as Innovator in Residence I've published a toolkit about my approach, and began collaborative reconstructions of other similarily erased Asian American neighborhoods from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
For the month of May, at the sites of these 5 historical erased Asian American communities, including my current home in Providence, RI, portals have been hidden in plain sight. When you approach, the portals will open, allowing a glimpse into virtually reconstructed, immersive moments from their pasts which I and my collaborators have spent the past two years crafting from archival records and photographs, oral histories and other clues.
This project has been a powerful way for me to connect with and learn about some of the earliest Asian American communities, and I hope it will be especially meaningful for Asian American families this month.