COMPLETE BREAKOUT SESSION INFORMATION WITH BIOGRAPHIES AND ABSTRACTS

SESSION 1 – (DE)COLONIZING THE BUDDHA FIELD: WHITE SUPREMACY, ASIAN & BIPOC DIASPORA, AND BUDDHISM 

Saturday 15 March, 1 – 2:30 PM 

Talks 

“Transcending Crosswise: The Asian American Movement, Diasporic Buddhism, and the Question of Liberation” 

Todd Honma  

Abstract 

This paper examines the relationship between diasporic Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism and the Third World Marxist politics of the 1960s Asian American Movement at UC Berkeley. This study will focus specifically on the Shin Buddhist concept of “crosswise transcendence” to address the question: how can this teaching serve as a doctrinal foundation for radical anti-imperialist politics? Shinran Shonin (1173-1263), the founder of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Japanese Buddhism, uses the term “crosswise transcendence” to refer to the sudden attainment of enlightenment (through the nembutsu, or the Buddha’s Primal Vow) that is distinct from more gradual approaches to awakening embraced by other schools of Buddhism. In 1969, then-Berkeley student Ronald Miyamura, one of the members of the anti-imperialist student organization Asian American Political Alliance, found revolutionary meaning in Shinran’s teaching of “crosswise transcendence” and its applicability to radical movements for social change (e.g., Anti-Vietnam War, Yellow Power, Third World Liberation). Methodologically, this paper draws upon archival sources, oral history, and recent scholarship in the areas of Japanese diasporic Buddhism, anticolonial social movements, and Buddhist historical materialism. In pursuing this line of inquiry, this paper explores the points of tension and productivity between material and soteriological understandings of “liberation” and how Buddhist concepts and frameworks enable a reorienting of the meaning and practice of liberatory politics. 

Biography 

Todd Honma is a professor of Asian American Studies at Pitzer College and core faculty in the Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies and the Intercollegiate Program in American Studies at the Claremont Colleges. Todd’s research focuses on transnational diasporic aesthetics, visual/expressive cultures, and social movements. Todd’s work has been published in journals such as Amerasia Journal, AAPI Nexus, Radical Teacher, InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies, Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies, and American Indian Quarterly. 

Liberating Buddhas in the Museum and Ourselves 

Tara Tamaribuchi 

Abstract  

In my lifetime, I have encountered Buddhist sculptures or remnants of them in aestheticized display as artworks and/or through the lens of anthropology, and thus separated them from the living Dharma. Within the vastness of the historical looting and collecting of non- Western material culture, I find some motives for this practice in British empire building that produced a physical encyclopedia of a growing empire, and to boast imperial might. Only in the last several years have museums begun to reflect on the injustice of these collections and worked to repatriate inalienable objects. As a diasporic Buddhist raised in the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Churches of America, I record my shifting diasporic psychology in these spaces, from self- othered acceptance of colonial norms to a realization of subjection, leading to my self- determined intervention in a museum space. This experience changed my perspective on these galleries as spaces of harm and erasure to liminal spaces where we can bring our lineage of the Dharma back to these forms and reveal their true meaning with the public.  

Biography 

Tara Tamaribuchi is an artist and lay Jodo Shinshu Buddhist who lives and works in Seattle, WA. Her paternal great-grandparents immigrated from the Nishi Hongwanji strongholds of Kumamoto Prefecture and Hiroshima City, and settled into the Nihonmachi around Placer Buddhist Church in Penryn, CA. Tara grew up attending Orange County Buddhist Church in Anaheim, CA. Today she teaches Dharma School to grades 6 through 8 and is a board member at Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple. She approaches her art practice through the lens of Buddhism and diasporic psychology and works across mediums from installation to community activism. 3 She holds a BA in Journalism from George Washington University, a BFA from Pacific Northwest College of Art, and MFA from Lesley Art and Design. 

A Black Feminist Exploring Causes and Conditions 

Bre Byrd 

Abstract 

What does it mean to be accountable to what has come before and what comes after? And then, once we explore that meaning, how do we do it? How do we build this sort of responsibility into our daily lives? When I decided to go on the Farming Zen Retreat, in many ways, these were the questions I was thinking with in a number of places: in my research, in my movement practices, and particularly around my food choices. These may seem to be disparate places, however, my research and creative practices dive into environmental justice, futurity, and sovereignty. My questions seemed to guide me into a place of reckoning with the reality that I needed a different way to approach these questions than I had been deploying. So I farmed, and mediated, and attended Dharma talks, and allowed myself to not know, to be a curious visitor. While I definitely don't have the complete answers to these questions, my time in Gong Shi, Taichung, Taiwan learning with and from Buddhist principles and practitioners, has led me back to what I know to be true, that there is a real need to be in responsible relations with where we are, when we are. I'll be sharing some of my lessons and reflections, and I hope that, as always, we find a way to get a little closer to freedom. 

Biography 

Bre Byrd (they/she) is a queer Black feminist scholar and creative whose work centers U.S. Black southern ecologies and modalities of being.  As a PhD candidate within the Feminist Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, they are particularly interested in working against/outside of the presupposed inevitability of environmental collapse. Bre looks to Afrofuturism as a framework for approaching nature, race, and gender. Their research also highlights the ways faith and praxis merge within political and social movements.  

Workshops 

 Writing as Ancestors, Ancestry as Liberation 

Ryan Lee Wong 

Abstract 

Writing and Buddhism are both often taught in an American context as disembodied, isolated, apolitical practices—a symptom of individualist and disembodied worldviews. Meanwhile, Buddhists have used writing as a liberatory tool, opening dialogues with ancestors and bringing their work alive for each context. And for those of us from diaspora, writing can be a powerful engaged act that names and embodies what was previously unnamed, hidden, and silenced—an act that reminds us of our fundamental interconnection across difference and time. To write with, for, and as ancestors is to actualize the liberatory promise of Buddhadharma. How might we gather in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha to write not from our brains alone but our entire bodies, not as lonely creators but with our ancestors, not as disconnected but fully co-arisen beings? How might the tools of writing connect us to both chosen and blood ancestors through the tools of imagination and research, image and story, sound and form? #is workshop will offer space for generative writing, Buddhist rituals that connect with ancestry, and (optional) sharing our writing in community. We will read and discuss Buddhist writings and sutras, as well as dharmic literature. Participants are encouraged to come with questions about ancestry and an openness to engage and create through writing and ritual.  

Materials needed: pens and paper; help with printing appreciated but not needed  

Target audience: those interested in developing writing and ancestry practices  

Maximum attendees: no limit  

Biography 

Ryan Lee Wong is author of the novel Which Side Are You On, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, the son of a fifth-generation Chinese American father and a Korean immigrant mother. He lived for two years at Ancestral Heart Temple and is the Administrative Director of Brooklyn Zen Center. He has organized several exhibitions and presented many workshops on the 1970s Asian American Movement. 

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SESSION 2 – OFF THE CUSHION: PRAXIS APPROACHES TO BUDDHISM AS SOCIAL-SPIRITUAL LIBERATION 

Sunday 16 March, 12:30 – 2 PM 

Talks 

Karuna USA: A Model of Buddhist Engagement and International Allyship, Inspired by the Work of Dr. Ambedkar 

Dharmachari Ananta (Jarrod Lovett) 

Abstract 

The intersection of privilege and marginalization is a critical theme in global Buddhist movements. The Triratna Buddhist community, spanning India, the US, the UK, and beyond, presents a compelling case study of cross-cultural engagement shaped by historical inequalities and the transformative spiritual and social legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. In the late 1970s, as white British Buddhists encountered the systemic oppression and chronic poverty of Buddhist-Dalit communities in India, they faced pivotal questions: What role could they play in addressing the vast inequities they saw while staying true to Buddhist principles? How could they work in genuine partnership with people with very different social and cultural conditioning from themselves? With hindsight, did their support veer into a form of white saviorism or develop a model of genuine allyship? Karuna, established first in the UK in 1980 and later in Germany and the US, emerged as vehicles for compassionate engagement based on Buddhist principles. As well as mobilizing resources to support Dalit-led poverty-alleviating social and dharma institutions, a model of sustainable, locally-led development emerged, emphasizing skill-building, cross-cultural friendships, and deeper self-awareness among allies. These efforts align with Dr. Ambedkar’s vision of Buddhism as a challenge to entrenched caste hierarchies, and a force for social liberation. This presentation will examine the complexities of this international allyship, including the ethical tensions between dependence and empowerment, the prioritization of Dalit- led initiatives, and the navigation of legal and cultural barriers. By reflecting on the successes and challenges of Karuna, this paper explores how Buddhist-inspired social engagement can serve as a tool for decolonization, equity, and enduring social change.  

Biography 

Ananta Jarrod Lovett is the CEO and co-Founder of Karuna USA, a Buddhist social nonprofit, is Chair of the Triratna New York-New Jersey Buddhist Community, and a Preceptor responsible for training men+ to enter the Order he is part of. He has been practicing Buddhism since the age of 20, and was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 2007. Professionally, he has built and delivered global strategies for empowering and transforming the lives of marginalized people and has extensive experience working in the United Nations and internationally-focused Nonprofits. 

What Way Liberation - Ambedkar’s Buddha & His Dhamma 

Nikhil Sanjay-Rekha Adsule 

Abstract 

To pave a way for Substantive Democracy, the prerequisites are Social, Philosophical-Spiritual and Religious Democracy. Bodhisattva Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, tried to institute this democracy via taking refuge to the Buddha’s social, moral and religious philosophy. Born as a Dalit (untouchable), he suffered assaults to his body and soul from very early age due to the systemic and institutional caste(s) system. This system fed a spiritual and religious opium to masses, manufacturing a false consciousness and reducing them to animal laboron. So, the majoritarian religious philosophy - centered around dogmatic texts, became an agency of enslavement perpetuating, maintaining, systemic gender-caste(s) system. The Caste(s) system a religious-spiritual system, affecting social, economic, political lives, normalized what Giorgio Agamben calls, State of exception. For Republic of caste(s) i.e India, Philosopher Buddha and Dr. Ambedkar, Carlyalean Great Men paved a way for new synthesis to this prevalent banality of evil. My Paper shall be an attempt to examine Dr. Ambedkar’s attempt to foreground pragamtic Buddha, his Dhamma as a counter to this dogmatic system using the pragmatic energy as force; an antithesis to the gendered caste(s) system, hegemony of the Upper varna-caste(s) and a dent to brahmanical yet patriarchal supremacy of dogmatic hinduism. My research questions shall focus on - of what was the nature of Gendered Caste(s) existed in India, what or how the events unfolded made Dr. Ambedkar’s turn to Buddhism as socio-religious tool to annihilate caste(s) and how Navayana Buddhism posed a challenge to the sisiphyian varna-caste(s) system liberating and imbibing Dignity to the crores of Dalits. I shall be following a qualitative research methodology to dilineate the above questions and focuss on some seminal texts of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar - Annihilation of caste(s), Mukti kon Pathe ? (What way Liberation?), Buddha or Karl Marx and Buddha and his Dhamma. Thus, the above selected texts provide for how Buddhism as pragmatic approach tackled structural and systemic issues of engraved, entrenched, imbibed hieroglyphs of caste(s) in contemporary India by foregrounding a organic socio-spiritual discourse(s) to craft a new synthesis of Substantive Democracy. 

Biography 

Nikhil Sanjay-Rekha Adsule currently is pursuing his Doctorate from Department of Humanities at IIT-DELHI. He is a Senior Research Fellow, UGC. He is also Dr. Ambedkar International Fellow at Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. He has been recently selected as SIU Dewey Center Emerging Scholar Award for his contribution to John Dewey and His Legacy for Education at SIU, Carbondale. He completed his Masters of Law from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai where he was awarded Best Candidate for Field work with Institute Medal and Shield. He has earlier completed his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and also a Bachelors in Law. Later he got Masters in History, Women and Gender Studies. Currently, he is alsipursuing his Masters in Economics. He is the vice president of P.S.N.B.S, an organization working in interior parts of Maharashtra to imbibe the spirit of Constitutional Morality among the people and enhance their legal literacy. He is a visiting faculty - SAFI (Kerala), Center for Social Justice and Abhivyakti. He is also a regular contributor to established magazines, print and digital like Indian express, Outlook, Firstpost, Scroll, Live Law, Bar & Bench, Forward Press, Roundtable India, Countercurrents, etc...Currently, he is writing a fortnightly column in Sakal newspaper titled, Vachanvishwa bringing pan indian literature for Marathi public. He has presented his research papers at Chicago University (U.S.A), SIU - Illinois (U.S.A), London School of Economics, University of London, King's College -London and gave a talk at University of Texas (U.S.A) and shall soon be working with Prof. Phillip Dann on Constitutional Law at Queen’s Mary, London. Currently, he is working on a book on Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe in English to be out soon, a book on Ambedkar’s Economic ideas and a book on Ambedkar’s Constitutionalism. 

Workshops 

The Aesthetic of Liberation: Dressing Into Diasporic Power 

Auds Hope Jenkins 

Abstract 

This workshop is conceived as a material love letter to the Asian American Buddhist diaspora and a critical inquiry into modern Buddhist conceptions of the body and the aesthetics of liberatory practice. A handmade lay practice robe composed of knit, crocheted, sewn, and embroidered elements will serve as the centerpiece for our exploration. This workshop will be tactile and participatory, and will consist of both a brief artist’s talk and a facilitated discussion about the body, appropriation + yellowface, and an emergent aesthetic of spiritual liberation in our time. 
 
Biography 

Auds (she/her): is a Korean American woman from Daegu and rural Iowa, a transracial adoptee, a student of religion, and an artist. She primarily works in fiber, ceramics, and song. 

Shé (蛇) who hears the sounds of the world: sutra calligraphy performance and workshop 

Grace Jin 

Abstract 

Shé (蛇) who hears the sounds of the world is a sutra calligraphy performance and workshop in the Year of the Wood Snake. In honor of Guanyin, the transgender Chinese bodhisattva of compassion, Grace will be writing Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra using Nüshu (女書 or “women’s script”), a secret matrilineal language developed by women in Jiangyong, Hunan. The sutra invokes the powers of Guanyin, whose name translates to “she who hears the sounds of the world,” to free all sentient beings from su ering. Participants are invited to join the artist in a collective meditation and prayer for renewal, from cease re to liberation. Following the performance, the artist will o er a sutra writing workshop including an introduction to the history, materials, and basic techniques of Chinese calligraphy. This ancient art of writing, which originated from Shang dynasty oracle bone inscriptions, is historically used in sutra translation and copying as a devotional practice for meditation, mindfulness, merit-making, and scriptural study to deepen understanding of the Dharma. 

Biography 

Grace Jin was born in Ohio and raised by her grandparents in southeastern China, between the Yandang mountains and Paci c Ocean. She comes from four generations of village healers, a lineage she carries as an artist and medical student living on unceded Ohlone land. Grace rst learned calligraphy as a child watching her grandmother copy sutras, and has since studied with ink artists including Yu Chun-Hui, Sungsook Setton, Victor Chen and Hsieh Chia-Ming in Taiwan, Luciana Rago and Elena Hikari in Madrid. She works primarily in oil and ink painting, and practices calligraphy as a ritual for ancestral healing and diasporic reclamation. 

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SESSION 3 – FROM MARGINS TO CENTERS: NEW APPROACHES TO BUDDHIST CARE AND COMMUNITY 

Sunday 16 March, 2:30 – 4 PM 

Talks 

 Based on Buddhism, Exploring the Importance of Spiritual Care, Using Organ 

Transplantation as a Venue. 

Andrew Her  

Abstract 

Organ transplantation is a complex medical and ethical process that extends beyond physical healing, often raising profound existential and spiritual questions for donors, recipients, and their families. While the biomedical aspects of transplantation are well-documented, the role of spiritual care remains insufficiently explored. For donors and their families, organ donation necessitates confronting mortality and the ethical implications of sacrifice, as transplantation is only possible after a patient has been declared brain dead. The grieving process and the voluntary decision to donate an organ carry deep spiritual significance, involving themes of loss, altruism, and the meaning of life and death. For recipients, the experience of receiving an organ is equally complex, encompassing the joy of renewed life and the awareness that their survival depends on another’s death. The recovery process presents additional emotional and existential challenges, as recipients face the ongoing risks of immune rejection, vulnerability to infections, and the psychological burden of living with a transplanted organ. Within this intricate dynamic, donors, recipients, and their families navigate a spectrum of emotions, including grief, gratitude, fear, and hope. Spirituality plays a crucial role in providing comfort, fostering resilience, and helping individuals find meaning throughout this process. This study explores how organ transplantation serves as a venue for spiritual care, examining its impact on emotional well-being, ethical decision-making, and holistic healing. 

Biography 

Andrew Her exemplifies the intersection of spiritual devotion and humanitarian service. Currently pursuing graduate studies in Buddhist Interreligious Engagement and Chaplaincy at New York Union Theological Seminary, his academic journey aligns with his role as a coordinator for the Wellness Care Program in the Tzu Chi Northeast Region. Andrew also received an offer letter from NYP Weil Cornell Medical Center as a Chaplain Resident. Formerly a frontline reporter at DAAI TV Station, Andrew brings sensitivity to catastrophic events, emphasizing stories of resilience and hope. His diverse background includes coordinating charitable efforts at the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation and co-authoring a book on charity volunteers. Andrew Her’s commitment to spiritual growth and service is evident in his multifaceted career, bridging Buddhism, charity, wellness, and communication to foster inter-religious dialogue and provide compassionate care. 

Low Hundreds: Exploring Buddhism in Uzbekistan in Post-Soviet Space  

Mansi Bhagat  

Abstract 

The Republic of Uzbekistan is a multi-ethnic country. After the disintegration of the U.S.S.R, the mobilization of masses occurred and people belonging to the religious group Buddhism were one of them known as Koryo-saram race (a Buddhist diaspora in Uzbekistan - settlers from Korea). Some scholars claim that Buddhism disappeared after Islamic conquests in Uzbekistan. However, Solod (2019) argued that Buddhism was the fourth largest religious group in Uzbekistan, and the population that follows Buddhism was approximately one hundred and fifty. Still, the young country Uzbekistan lacks country-based data which provides us a complete image of their Buddhist diaspora. Even the Buddhist diaspora as a minority group was not included in the ethnic analysis because of the absence of data that would otherwise have reflected the full picture. Thus, this study attempts to investigate the following research questions: a) What is the current status of the Buddhist diaspora in Uzbekistan? b) If the Buddhist diaspora disappeared then what happened to Koryo-Saram race? c) How Buddhist philosophy has been contributing to the young lives of Uzbekistan influencing youth transition in post-soviet space? and d) To what extent Buddha Maitreya has reached the territory of modern Uzbekistan? After the initial pilot study, it was observed that the participated subjects had their decision-making based on Buddhist ethics of avoiding harm, as well as embracing diversity. Buddhism promotes mindfulness and compassion, which potentially inspires the young people of Uzbekistan to lead balanced, ethical lives. This reflexivity had a positive impact at the individual level. Yet, the study analyzes through the socio-anthropological lens how Buddhism sustains in the society of Uzbekistan and how it is transforming the life of youth. The research paper extends its discussion in two phases: one section deals with the population that are non-Buddhist and the other section deals with the population who follow Buddhism. The developed arguments will be supported by a comprehensive mixed-method study that will include surveys, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and visual archives. The core attempt of the paper is to explore Buddhism and its Buddhist diaspora living in the Republic of Uzbekistan in post-soviet space.  

Biography 

Mansi Bhagat is a Doctoral Candidate at the Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies (CRCAS), School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi, India. She has completed her Master of Arts in Sociology from Indira Gandhi National Open University. Her research interests encompass youth, young challenges and conflicts, youth policy, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Being a Vipassana practitioner, she is lately engaged in exploring and comprehending the Buddhist epistemology and practice in the context of her working demographic areas like Uzbekistan. 

Beyond the Convert/Heritage Dualism: Ancestral Heritage at Brooklyn Zen Center 

Ryan Lee Wong, Weishin Huang, Rev. Victory Kaishin Matsui 

Abstract 

Brooklyn Zen Center, like many American dharma centers, is majority white-identified. Several years ago, a group of senior students and priests of different Asian ancestries formed the Ancestral Heritage Council—a body to advise the Teachers Council on skillfully adapting Buddhist lineage and cultures to our current context, to form deeper connections with Asian American temples, and to break the so-called "two American Buddhisms" of 'convert' and 'heritage.' 

We will present our work to date, and also invite an open discussion on how other communities navigate these questions. How are Asian American dharma leaders navigating the 'convert' vs. 'heritage' question? How do we build multiracial and multicultural sanghas while respecting the Asian cultures that stewarded the dharma for thousands of years? Is there something emerging that we might call an "Asian American Buddhism"? How do these topics relate to the conference theme of "Diaspora Buddhism"? 

Biography 

Ryan Lee Wong is author of the novel Which Side Are You On, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, the son of a fifth-generation Chinese American father and a Korean immigrant mother. He lived for two years at Ancestral Heart Temple and is the Administrative Director of Brooklyn Zen Center. He has organized several exhibitions and presented many workshops on the 1970s Asian American Movement. 

Weishin Huang is a first-generation Chinese American and a socially engaged Buddhist. He is a member of Brooklyn Zen Center and lay ordained in 2023. They have over a decade of experience in non-profit administration. Weishin completed a dual degree in Buddhism and social work at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University in 2022. Currently, he is a resident at Ancestral Heart Temple in Millerton, NY. 

Rev. Victory Kaishin Matsui (she/they) is a gay, mixed-race, fourth-generation Japanese American ordained priest in the Soto Zen Buddhist tradition, serving the Brooklyn Zen Center sangha. She lived at Ancestral Heart Temple for five years before moving nearby in Millerton, NY, where she lives with her partner. She is co-Chair of BZC's BIPOC Council and a member of the Ancestral Heritage Council. Alongside Chenxing Han and Ryan Lee Wong, she co-organizes Roots and Refuge, an annual retreat for Asian American Buddhist writers. She writes about Zen practice and daily life in her newsletter, Letters from Kaishin. 

 Workshops 

Stepping into Another’s Shoes: Buddhism, Storytelling, and the Practice of Embodied Compassion  

Denmo Ibrahim 

Abstract 

How do storytelling and Buddhist practice intersect to cultivate deeper compassion and understanding across cultural and political divides? As a lay Buddhist raised in a Muslim family, and an actor and playwright, I have spent my career exploring how stepping into another’s story—both as an artist and as a spiritual practitioner—expands our capacity for connection, justice, and healing. This talk examines the intersections of theatre, Buddhist philosophy, and lived experience in understanding identity, resilience, and liberation. Using my theatrical work The All Americans: A Mixtape of Arab Pride based on real testimonials from Arab American communities, as a case study, this session explores the transformative potential of embodied compassion—the practice of fully inhabiting another’s perspective to dissolve the illusion of separation. The methodology draws from firsthand interviews, oral storytelling, and contemplative practice, integrating theatre as a medium for dharmic inquiry. The findings suggest that immersive storytelling fosters a radical empathy that aligns with Buddhist teachings on interdependence (pratītyasamutpāda), non-duality (advaya), and the Middle Path (madhyamaka)—challenging fixed notions of self and other, enemy and ally. Further, this talk reflects on my personal journey—navigating the tensions between capitalism and healing, artistic practice and spiritual surrender—to ask how theatre can serve as both a site of resistance and a field of awakening. Through shared narratives and guided contemplative practice, the session invites participants to engage in a collective inquiry: How can bearing witness to another’s story become an act of liberation—for them and for us? By bringing Buddhist principles into artistic and activist spaces, we open new pathways for justice, healing, and interconnection in an increasingly fragmented world. 

Biography 

Denmo Ibrahim (she/her) is an American playwright, actor, screenwriter, children’s book author and educator of Egyptian descent. Her plays include Arab Spring, BABA, The All Americans and ede ’a. Her work has been produced and developed by Round House Theatre, Williamston Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Noor Theatre, The Civilians R&D Series, Amphibian Stage, Alter Theatre, Shotgun Players, Golden Thread and Crowded Fire. Regional acting credits include Berkeley Repertory, The Old Globe, Seattle Repertory, American Conservatory of Theatre and California Shakespeare. Denmo is a two-time winner of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award and Theatre Bay Area Award. Finalist: SPACE at Ryder Farm, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Rainin Fellowship and Sundance Theatre Lab. Her audio-immersive children’s book Zaynab’s Night of Destiny toured 25 public schools in Kentucky and was supported by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Arts. Denmo holds an MFA in Lecoq-based Actor Created Physical Theater (Naropa University) and a BFA in Acting (Boston University). 

Fierce Femme Ancestral Fabulation (an embodied workshop) 

Wenxuan Xue

Abstract  

Fierce Femme Ancestral Fabulation is a two-part performance workshop. The first part includes a personal performance ritual that weaves in family histories, creation myths, folk songs, and Buddhist/Taoist rituals to rekindle ancestral spirits, femme/queer lineages, and ecological entanglements. It offers a retelling of my own ancestral return to rural Shaanxi, mapped onto a coming-of-age tale of place-making. Followed by my own performance ritual is an embodied workshop that guides participants to engage with fabulation of their own ancestral, spiritual, and femme/queer lineages through gestures and stories. I’m indebted to critical ethnic studies and queer/trans studies’ approach to fabulation as a speculative knowledge production. Black feminist scholar Saidiya Hartman (2008) responds to the limit of colonial archives of transatlantic slavery from “critical fabulation,” a writing practice that asks what could have been, what might have happened, akin to what Asian American studies scholar Lisa Lowe’s (2014) “past conditional temporality.” Queer of color writers engage with fabulation as a literary device to merge myths, biographies, fictions, and fantasies together as alternative narratives of the self, from Audre Lorde’s (1982) “biomythography” to Kai Cheng Thom’s (2016) “confabulous memoir.” I depart from these generative theorizations of fabulation as a literary and historical method by articulating “ancestral fabulation” as a performance practice. Responding to the conference’s call for “diaspora Buddhism,” this workshop articulates a practice of embodied mythology of one's diasporic ancestry and lineages interwoven with femme, queer, and Buddhist intimacies. The practice of “ancestral fabulation” situates one’s lineage entangled with legacies of regional and transnational colonial violences and modernities while simultaneously imagining an attunement to land and water otherwise. As the lotus grows only from mud, what else might emerge as we collectively live through and grapple with racial, gendered, and ecological loss?  

Biography 

Wenxuan Xue is a Boston-based interdisciplinary artist, curator, and PhD candidate in Theatre and Performance Studies at Tufts University. They teach and research in Asian American and diasporic performance, race/gender/sexuality, and decolonial ecologies. Their dissertation project Fierce Femme Ancestors: Fabulating Asian/American Spiritual Performance, attends to how femme/queer/trans Asian North American artists return to, mythologize, and imagine their diasporic lineage and ancestral spirits through contemporary performance, ritual, and storytelling practices. Their scholarship has been supported by Tufts University Tisch Library and the Center for Black, Brown, and Queer Studies (BBQ+) academic fellowship.