We welcomed Christine Vicera and Ericka Regalado to present and discuss their work on the be/longing Project, in Chungking Mansions, on 7 December 2021. Their project, be/longing is an arts-based community project that harnesses the transformative power of storytelling to provoke dialogue, build community, and drive systemic change for ethnically diverse communities in Hong Kong. As Christine and Ericka explain, the stories we tell about ourselves and others around us point to our different ways of being, longing, and belonging. Understanding the ways in which our identities and our everyday lived experiences interweave to form the fabric of Hong Kong provides meaningful ways for communities in our city to reflect on and become more actively engaged in building a more nuanced definition of what it means to be a Hong Konger.

Around 35 people joined us for the event. In addition to Christine and Ericka’s discussion of the project, we heard stories and poems from project participants, and were treated to a South Indian meal with chai, courtesy of Didi’s Dosa Restaurant down on the ground floor of Chungking Mansions.

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Christine VICERA is a Filipino writer, researcher, and filmmaker from Hong Kong. Her research explores her interest in the relationship between memory, diaspora, and post-/anti-/decoloniality in the context of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

Ericka REGALADO has a BA in Comparative Literature from the University of Hong Kong. She works at PathFinders, dedicated to empowering migrant domestic workers to raise awareness of their maternity rights within their own communities.

Photos courtesy of be/longing – click here for the original album

Event Handouts, Materials & Recommended Readings