Philly artists present a ‘Living Museum’ to imagine a future informed by the past

A museum visit is often a trip into the past — pottery or bones, portraits painted decades or centuries ago, artifacts from epochs gone by.

But what about a museum of the future?

That’s the vision from a coalition of artists from Philly’s diverse pan-Asian community. They present a multi-disciplinary, multi-ethnic imagining of the future – not the past — in “Living Museum: Philly Asian Futures,” running Oct. 22-26.

Over 90 minutes or so, audiences will experience some combination of dance, sci-fi, a tea ceremony, a magic garden, or perhaps a special meal, each presented by a different artist.

Each of the nine artists represents a different Asian background and story with the totality of works taking over the entire third floor of the Asian Arts Initiative building on Vine Street in Chinatown. Audience members move from installation to installation, each person discovering a different set of shows, while seeing most of them.

The artists, members of Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists, “wanted to do something that was connected to the city and also wanted to do something in their own individual art forms,” said Joseph Ahmed, one of three directors, along with Bi Jean Ngo and Caitlin Alvarez. “A living museum lets a number of different artists exist in the same piece and still have a lot of autonomy.

“Story circles formed an anchor point for us,” he said.

Story circle facilitators Izzy Sazak and Mieke D. gathered “elders” from Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Laotian groups, among others.

“We were not only receiving their stories but also are echoing back and being in real conversation about what we’re experiencing as younger people,” said Ahmed, whose father is Bangladeshi.

The artists wanted to learn both about what the elders experienced, but also, and more importantly, their “dreams, hopes and sorrows for the future,” Ahmed said, intermingling the elders’ views with the artists.

“It’s a kaleidoscope,” he explained. “You look into one portal for the future and the light splits and fractures into all these many different groups’ visions for the future. It is communal and also intensely personal. You get a window into this group and you also get to live into each of these small performances and installation of individual worlds.”

A coalition of artists from Philly’s diverse pan-Asian community collaborated to present a multi-disciplinary, multi-ethnic imagining of the future – not the past — in “Living Museum: Philly Asian Futures,” running Oct. 22-26, 2025. (Courtesy Philly Asian Futures)

Lex Thammavong, a Philadelphia actor, attended an Indonesian story circle and watched a video of the Laotian one.

Thammavong’s father was born in Laos. Thammavong’s father’s parents are Laotian and Thai – a Romeo and Juliet romance between two groups then at war. When Thammavong’s father was a child, the family hid in the jungle, escaping from Laos to Thailand, and then ultimately settling in Philadelphia.

“With all the chaos, they made it through,” Thammavong said. Thammavong’s piece is a sci-fi work, “Southeast Asian Time Nomad.”

In the piece, Thammavong portrays Sangha GlorpGlorp84, who has traveled from the future to Philadelphia “to warn the audience of a future AI dystopia where the AI is also being used as a colonization and erasing genetic and academic history – our history as Asian people.”

What Thammavong saw in the Laotian story circle impacted the actor.

“The Laotian group was very significant because most of those people were refugees,” Thammavong said.

“I was stricken by the ways refugees hold trauma and move through it. I think that a lot of Southeast Asian refugees have learned how to compartmentalize their feelings in order to survive, and I think that has given people a false notion that they are unfeeling.

“I think there are different ways of saying ‘I love you’ and of grieving and expressing those feelings. I’ve heard elders describe trauma in a very matter-of-fact way, but when you keep talking, you realize they want someone to listen. A lot of people aren’t given that opportunity to just say what they’ve seen. While trying to escape, so many of them had to split up as a family. They’ve lost family members.”

It leaves the younger generation, including Thammavong, with a dilemma. “We don’t want to pry, and we don’t want to bring up traumas that are not ours, but people opening up has encouraged me to be more curious and be more frank with my questions with my family and other Asian elders.”

Thammavong noted that recent studies have shown that trauma impacts people on a cellular level, which then impacts their offspring.

“We are kind of left with this itch that we don’t know where it came from,” Thammavong said.

“Those survival instincts are with us and make us more likely to develop anxiety and PTSD. Hearing about the trauma, no matter how much it pains me, is illuminating in a way. It makes me feel that I can understand where my parents come from, and where I come from.

“Intergenerational trauma also implies intergenerational joy and resilience,” Thammavong said. “Instead of running from these histories, it’s my duty and my birthright — and my gift and burden in the same vein — to earn these histories and to carry them.”

The Living Museum run culminates with a free dinner and roundtable on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 4:30 p.m., coordinated by Asian Americans United, the group that spearheaded a successful fight against building a basketball arena in Center City near Chinatown. The roundtable, organized by Mel Hsu, will bring together artists, activists, and attendees to network on how activism and art can impact the future of Philadelphia’s Asian communities.

Here’s a synopsis of the rest of the lineup:

“Ancestors in Training Cooking School” by Mieke D, designed for an audience of one, so only a handful of audience members at each performance will be able to experience this performance in a shape-shifting kitchen.
“Amrita and Kalinda’s Most Excellent Adventure” by Sarbani Hazra, with an unstoppable mother-daughter duo exploring past and future.
“Birthright” by Juptej Singh. His family is from Punjab, but being born here, he can only experience it as an outsider, but he also feels outside the American dream, whatever that is.
“Bountiful Garden” by Marcie Mamura, an evolving garden, a place to gather and connect.
“Coming Home” by Geatali Tampy, a dance movement piece envisioning a dream of a future with safety, community, healing, being, and sharing.
“Ninuno” by Josh Marquez, an immersive musical performance involving the sonic tapestry of Philadelphia’s Asian voices. “Ninuno” translates to ancestor in Tagalog, the language used in the Philippines.
“Pearls of Our Dragon” by Alex Shaw draws its inspiration for the interweaving of time, translation, and location from the ancient Chinese tea ceremony.
“Tracer” by Dan Kim. The oldest man in the world tries to record a video of his identity before it is erased.