My collage is part of the 2024 Global Arts and Humanities Discover Theme showcase at The Ohio State University. I created it from a myriad of archival materials on the so-called “Yellow Slave Trade,” manipulating the photographic images and descriptions. Thus, I attempt to disrupt the imposed visibility of Chinese women and girls as “slave girls,” specifically in Arnold Genthe’s photograph collection San Francisco Chinatown. For instance, I separate Minnie Tong “Tea Rose”, the young girl in the bottom right-hand corner, from Arnold Genthe, putting their respective images in the opposite corner. Doing so allows us to look directly at Arnold Genthe without implicating Minnie Tong into our line of vision. At least momentarily, Minnie Tong is physically removed from Arnold Genthe on this collage. Additionally, I play with this photo description – “Arnold Genthe and Tea Rose (‘Friends’),” by adding a questioning mark to this declaration. Are they indeed friends?

Furthermore, I cut the photograph “A Slave Girl in Holiday Attire” in half to disorient viewers from seeing it as a whole. I want us to see and unsee her at the same time, questioning the representation of this woman as a “slave girl.” Moreover, I block “slave” and “attire” from the description to materially erase the insinuating sexual connotations. In doing so, I recreate another meaning to the photograph – this is a woman on a holiday. Similarly, I change the description of the photo “The Streets of the Slave Girls” to “The Streets of Flower Gardens.” Here, flowers provide a different connotation than a symbol of female sexuality. Rather, they stand for memory and remembrance – remembering these Chinese women and girls beyond their imposed visibility. How do we want to remember them? How do we hold them warmly in our hands as we grapple with the ongoing histories of oppression, violence, and dispossession?