Performative Lecture
Wed., March 11, 5:00pm (Doors at 4:30pm for general admission seating; no late seating.)
Thurs., March 12, 7:00pm (Doors at 6:30pm for general admission seating; no late seating), followed by a panel discussion at 8:30pm with Professors Preeti Chopra (Visual Studies, South Asian Art & Architecture), Derek Johnson (Media & Cultural Studies, Film), & Nam Kim (Anthropology), moderated by Helen Lee (Glass Lab, Art Department)
Play Circle Theater
Memorial Union, UW-Madison
800 Langdon St. Madison, WI 53706
Mask-wearing requested by artists. Masks will be available to all guests.
Tickets required for this free and public event.
What does it mean when so many white filmmakers envision futures inflected by Asian culture, but devoid of actual Asian people? This is the animating question of “Asian futures, without Asians,” a multimedia performative lecture by artist Astria Suparak.
Surveying 60 years of mainstream science-fiction cinema, this incisive and poetic work oscillates between humor and gravity. Suparak begins by breaking down the unstable category of “Asian” through a series of maps, regulations, and geopolitical trends — inclusive of East, Southeast, South, West, and Central Asia, as well as North Africa and the Pacific Islands. She draws connections between discriminatory rhetoric and historical legislation with present day anti-Asian and anti-Arab racism, detailing how they intersect with gender, class, and sexuality. In doing so, she reveals deeply embedded prejudices that have become normalized in contemporary visual culture.
This live cinema work, presented as a taxonomy of tropes, is illustrated with over 300 images and clips from futuristic movies and television shows. Accompanied by a live musical soundtrack by Tammy Lakkis, Suparak delivers anecdotes, trivia, and documents from the histories of art, architecture, design, fashion, film, food, religion, and weaponry. The implications of appropriating, decontextualizing, and misrepresenting Asian cultures while excluding Asian contributors are laid bare.
Glass + Neon Fabrication Demo
Fri., March 13, 2026, 2:00-5:00pm
UW Glass Lab
Art Lofts, UW-Madison
111 N. Frances St., Madison, WI 53703
No tickets required for this free and public event.
Mask-wearing requested by artists. Masks will be available to all guests.
Join us for live glass and neon demonstrations in the UW Glass Lab, where we will explore how the materials of glass and neon contribute to the visual language of futurity. Daniella Thach (MFA candidate, 2027) will work with Astria Suparak in the Neon Lab to fabricate an animated neon snake. UW Glass Lab staff and students will work with Tammy Lakkis in the Glass Lab to explore the intersection of glass instruments and experimental electronic music.
Astria Suparak: Asian futures, without Asians is sponsored by: Brittingham Wisconsin Trust, Anonymous Fund, Division of the Arts, University Lectures, Art Department, Center for Visual Culture and Performance Studies, Theatre and Drama, UW Glass Lab, Asian American Studies, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Communication Arts, Center for Design and Material Culture, Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies, Art History
