First-Generation | China Dream and Suburban Chinatown

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Charles Schuler 
Director of Marketing & Communications 
San Francisco International Airport
(650) 821-5031
Charles.Schuler@flysfo.com
SF-21-63

First-Generation | China Dream & Suburban Chinatown
Inaugural exhibition in SFO’s new Ruth S. Kadish Gallery featuring photographs by Jessica Chou and Teresa Eng explores the complex identities and personal narratives belonging to the children of Chinese immigrants.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco International Airport is proud to present First-Generation: China Dream and Suburban Chinatown. The exhibition features works by Taiwanese American photographer Jessica Chou and Chinese Canadian photographer Teresa Eng, whose projects focus both inwards at the countries of their upbringing, and outwards towards the country of their ancestors.

In her series, Suburban Chinatown, Chou, a first-generation Taiwanese American, examines daily life in the Chinese communities that have settled in the San Gabriel Valley—a cluster of ethnically diverse cities and suburbs located just east of Los Angeles. The area is home to Monterey Park, which in 1990, became the first city in the continental U.S. to reach an Asian descent majority population. The region represents a microcosm of changing demographics in the United States—one that highlights Asian American history and considers cultural assimilation as a two-way street.

In China Dream, Teresa Eng explores the country of her ancestors. Her parents, born in Southern China, fled to Hong Kong as children during the Cultural Revolution and later immigrated to Vancouver, Canada. Eng presents a reimagined view of China, drawing on the cultural traditions of her childhood, the stereotypes she encountered, and the reality of the country today in the midst of rapid urbanization. 

First-Generation | China Dream & Suburban Chinatown is located in the secure connector between Terminals 2 and 3, from November 19, 2021, to May 05, 2022. The exhibition is located post-security and is only accessible to passengers ticketed for travel through Terminal 2, Terminal 3, and International Boarding Area G via a post-security connector. There is no charge to view the exhibition.

Visit sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/first-generation for more information.

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About Ruth S. Kadish

Ruth Kadish (1916–2011), who became SFO’s first female Airport Commissioner in 1976, championed public art at the Airport and provided her full support to launch the exhibitions program that became SFO Museum, the first of its kind in the industry. The Airport’s Ruth S. Kadish Gallery, originally dedicated in 2001, has been rebuilt as a space to exhibit photography celebrating the unique cultural, historical, and natural features of California, while connecting it to the larger context of the medium’s history. 

About SFO Museum

Established in 1980 by the Airport Commission, SFO Museum’s mission is to delight, engage, and inspire a global audience with programming on a broad range of subjects; to collect, preserve, interpret, and share the history of commercial aviation; and to enrich the public experience at San Francisco International Airport. The Museum was granted initial accreditation from the American Association of Museums in 1999, reaccredited in 2019, and has the distinction of being the only accredited museum in an airport. Today, SFO Museum features thirty galleries throughout the Airport terminals displaying a rotating schedule of art, history, science, and cultural exhibitions, as well as the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library and Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, a permanent collection dedicated to the history of commercial aviation.  To browse current and past exhibitions, research our collection, or for more information, please visit www.sfomuseum.org. Follow us on www.facebook.com/sfomuseum, www.twitter.com/sfomuseum, or www.instagram.com/sfomuseum.

About San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers non-stop flights to more than 50 international cities on 45 international carriers. The Bay Area's largest airport connects non-stop with 86 cities in the U.S. on 12 domestic airlines.  SFO is proud to offer upgraded free Wi-Fi with no advertising.  For up-to-the-minute departure and arrival information, airport maps and details on shopping, ground transportation and more, visit www.flysfo.com. Follow us on twitter.com/flysfo and facebook.com/flysfo.