Seeing Lost Enclaves (https://unterbahn.com/chinatown) is an ongoing project using archival photographs and records to reconstruct an immersive 3D model of historic downtown Providence Chinatown and (soon) other erased neighborhoods of color. In Providence, the process of reconstructing this neighborhood’s buildings & streets weaves together and interlinks the few images remaining of this once-vibrant enclave, of which almost no trace remains today. Beyond spatial reconstruction, the project serves to honor and support deeper understanding of the community which once made its home on Empire Street, and what their story means for us today, especially as Asian Americans.

Archival media offers a selective and partial view into the lives of marginalized communities, and those few accounts which exist of nonwhite communities are often distorted by contemporary racist views. My hope has been to use the process of virtual reconstruction to enable the public to see and experience this unique neighborhood as a vibrant and vital part of our history, and to enable a re-connection with a space that was erased from a very familiar part of today’s Providence.

There's pain in looking through these materials. Just trying to see people through the records left by racist newspapers, the violence itself, of course – but also the sense of mapping out a negative space in the archive: the space of silence. How many shelves, binders, directories, photographs said nothing at all. There are also moments of brightness; hand-scribbled notes in a yearbook, self-portraits, moments of quiet and joy and recognition. 

I’ve come to feel that it's a meditation, the searching. Handling these artifacts with tenderness. Not picking them apart like meat from a bone or gems from a mine. Gathering them together with gentle hands. Healing yourself as you glimpse them. Giving them recognition, and rest. 

I’m beginning to reach out to folks about – slowly – beginning a reconstruction project in another place. Last week I spent time looking for records in Truckee, CA, New Orleans, Deadwood, SD, and other places. 

I’m interested in connecting with descendants of these communities, as well as with Asian American artists, historians, and community members interested in remembrance related to these places.

Please use the form below to let me know you’d like to connect, or just DM!