In June I spent one week in the Netherlands visiting my cousin and some friends. We ate Taiwanese food—amongst other cuisines—and spent some time at a bookstore called Nowhere Bookstore.

Originally from Taiwan, Nowhere is now located in The Hague. They focus on "Pan-Asian histories, societies and cultures, featuring English works and translations by classic authors, as well as original English writings by Asian diasporic authors."

I picked up two books: Ghost Town by Kevin Chen and the highly-acclaimed Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi. In addition to watching documentaries, I would like to learn more about the Asian diasporic community, and books are a good source.

I started reading Queering the Asian Diaspora by Hongwei Bao. I've only read one chapter so far, but realized that learning how other artists have manifested their work can inspire me to think beyond documentaries, which could be useful if I were to apply for an artist residency. (Hm, this status update has inspired a blog post.)

Current goals

Same as previous month: continue to build the site pages, lock in on a domain, and hopefully receive the photo album in July or August. And keep learning!

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It's been a month since I've worked on the website. My sister still hasn't sent over the photo album but it's on her radar. Finding a job is my current priority, so I've put the grant search on hold.

The sense of urgency has worn off, which I think is a good thing. While I still worry about distant relatives growing older and not being around anymore, being financially stable is more urgent. Plus, I want to do this project with my sister, and now is not the time. In the meantime, I'll continue to build this website and write.

Current goals

Continue to build the site pages, lock in on a domain, and hopefully receive the photo album in July or August.

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I'm not a trained researcher and am doing things on a whim, which means that this page might change dramatically as I figure out this puzzle.

As of now, the only clues I have are the photos I've scanned and saved when I was still in college around 20 years ago. We inherited one photo album from my grandmother, containing photos from around the late 1960s, which I've now learned is around the Minguo year of 55. My sister is in current possession of this photo album, so I hope to have her scan and send me those photos, which I will share here. They are my only insights into the past, but also a record of that time in Taiwan. We were to young to care nor understand the meanings behind these photos, and the only people I could ask are my uncles, whom I no longer have a good relationship with.

However, I am willing to break down both the language and dysfunctional familial barriers for the sake of this research project. My relatives were reluctant to talk about the past, and I'm not sure if they will be happy that I'm doing my investigation. I'll cross that bridge when I get there, and I'm happy that my sister is also interested in this project as she may need to act as our liaison.

Current goals

Since there's not much I can do from my location, I would like to use this time to collect as many photographs as I can and watch some recommended documentaries as both inspiration and research. I've never studied film before and my only experience is creating YouTube videos. During the month of May, I also want to start a blog to write more in depth about my findings and ideas.