We Are Chinatown: A Portrait of Our Community Rising Through Labor and Love

By Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya

This exhibition is a poignant exploration into the resilience, transformation, and enduring spirit of the Chinatown community. Created by the artist during her civic practice residency with Poster House, in partnership with Welcome to Chinatown, and presented by Pearl River Mart, this intimate offering presents a rich and multifaceted portrait of a neighborhood continuously evolving while deeply rooted in its history and cultural heritage.

At the heart of the show is a large, dynamic tapestry — a cascading collage of images, memories, poetry, and threads that stretch across the gallery space, symbolizing the interconnectedness of Chinatown’s past, present, and future. Complementing this work are sculptures, each a reflection of the neighborhood’s textures, objects, and symbols. Reminders of the everyday resilience that sustains Chinatown.

This body of work also features a public art campaign of intergenerational portraits, capturing the diverse faces of the community that will appear around the neighborhood. These portraits were created through intimate conversations with residents in their homes, restaurants, and shops, preserving their personal histories and offering a window into the neighborhood’s enduring vitality. The portraits transcend individual likenesses, instead capturing the shared experiences, aspirations, and challenges that define Chinatown as a living, breathing space.

Inspired by the Year of the Snake (a creature known for its cyclical shedding of skin to make room for renewal), We Are Chinatown reflects the ongoing transformation of the neighborhood. Like the snake, Chinatown continues to reinvents itself while preserving its essence. This installation serves as an homage to the community’s history and a celebration of its future, exploring how stories are passed down, communities rise through adversity, and resilience is interwoven with the fabric of place.

In every thread, image, object, We Are Chinatown depicts a neighborhood strengthening and renewing its cultural heartbeat. Through this work, Phingbodhipakkiya has penned a love letter of the collective strength and spirit of all who call Chinatown home.

Presented in collaboration with Welcome to Chinatown and Poster House.

WE ARE CHINATOWN opens Jan. 21 and is on view through April 20. Join us for the opening reception on Jan. 21 from 6 to 8 PM in the Soho gallery at 452 Broadway. The event is free but registration is appreciated.

About the artist

Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya is a Brooklyn-based transdisciplinary artist whose work spans sculpture, painting, public art, fiber, and ritual. The daughter of Thai and Indo-Chinese immigrants, her practice focuses on creating liminal spaces that facilitate healing and transformation. Through her art, Phingbodhipakkiya channels loss and disconnection into portals of renewal, amplifying marginalized voices and weaving together cultural identities, colonial legacies, and personal histories.

Her installations often invite audience participation, turning viewers into collaborators in the creation of living monuments. These spaces of softness and wonder serve as sites for collective repair, allowing new narratives to emerge. Recent works include Time Owes Us Remembrance at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center, reclaiming three stories of the atrium, and Of Soil and Sky, a living monument composed of woven tapestry, tasselage, and loaned vessels from community members at the Brooklyn Museum. Her work is held in permanent collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Phingbodhipakkiya is a 2023-2025 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, a 2024 NYC Artadia Awardee, and was public artist-in-residence with the NYC Commission on Human Rights. During her tenure, Amanda’s art series celebrating the resilience of the AAPI community, I Still Believe in Our City, reached millions in New York City and worldwide through reclaiming billboards, bus shelters, subway tunnels, buildings, and the cover of TIME Magazine. Her practice centers the precariousness of humanity, using mundane objects and materials to create powerful narratives that reflect lived experiences. Through defiant storytelling, her work invites audiences into acts of remembrance and restoration, shaping new pathways for cultural and emotional renewal.