(Masterclass) Personal Archives and the Diasporic Experience

Speaker:Luka Yuanyuan Yang (esea contemporary, United Kingdom)

Moderator: Christine Toelle (Independent Researcher)

Luka Yuanyuan Yang, a UK-based MUSEUM FORWARD collaborator, undertook a residency at Museum Nyah Lasem in November 2025. Her recent project at esea contemporary (UK) focuses on archiving personal histories and navigating cultural translation, themes that strongly align with Nyah Lasem’s archival materials and heritage. Yang’s broader practice explores diasporic experience, memory, and the interplay between fact and fiction, reflected in works such as her acclaimed film "Chinatown Cha-Cha" and her book "Dance in Herland". Through her esea event "Echoes of Elsewhere", she has developed an archival approach that is both intimate and expansive. In this masterclass session, she will share the results of her residency, presenting insights shaped by her deep engagement with the Lasem community and its local context.

About the Moderator

Christine Toelle is an independent researcher whose work explores materiality, memory, and decoloniality through…