Experience Chinatown 2024
The temporary installation, Connected by Fate, answers the thematic question “What collective actions can we take for a healthy Chinatown?”
The Experience Chinatown Festival is an annual two-month-long event that celebrates the rich cultural fabric of the titular Boston neighborhood. Mural installations are a core part of the experience, pairing local artists with local businesses to create artwork that adorns storefront windows. The goals are to bring more liveliness to the community, attract business, and combat anti-Asian discrimination. For 2024’s celebration, I was selected as one of the mural designers and created the work Connected by Fate for WakuWaku Ramen.
-
I have always been fascinated by the Red String of Fate, an East Asian belief that soulmates were connected by an invisible red string that would eventually bring them together. When thinking about my artistic philosophy and 2024’s Experience Chinatown theme, I thought about how this concept of fate could apply on a larger scale, to an entire community. Whether you’re a longtime resident or just passing through, perhaps we're all meant to be in this specific time and place for a reason, in a way that benefits each other. If we look at it this way, we can foster a better sense of community and togetherness. The strings that connect us may twist and tangle, but they will never break.
Client
Pao Arts Center, WakuWaku Ramen Chinatown
Services
Vinyl Mural
In the News
5 things to do this weekend, including a multisensory Mars concert and A.R.T.'s 'Romeo and Juliet' (WBUR)
Experience Chinatown 2024: Collective Actions Lead to a Healthy Chinatown (Pao Arts Center)
“(Balletta’s) work investigates her identity as a transracial adoptee and what it means to be Chinese and American.”
— Maddie Browning, WBUR
Connected by Fate was on exhibition on the window of WakuWaku Ramen in Boston’s Chinatown from September 1–October 27, 2024, organized by Pao Art Center. Learn more here.
Installer
Tuk Tak Studio
Photography
Mel Taing
