Essentially it is an American phenomena, because we do talk about this more than anywhere else. To some extent there’s Singapore has a pretty good awareness, but it’s really a Eurasian sort of conversation happening there. It’s mostly Eurasian, they don’t have the sort of Afro-Asian, the Latinos and so forth. And it’s a different kind of agenda. You know, the U.S. talks about race more than other countries do, by far. And even though they are foreigners, I wanted to talk about that.
And I actually was curious if any sort of trans-racial adoptees would participate. One person was thinking about it, but didn’t want her picture taken. [garbled] That’s an interesting way of defining it as well. And some people that weren’t—in my definition—Hapa, participated and I though that’s great, because that’s their self-identification. This woman came in, she’s black-white. She’s like, “I’m Hapa too.” I said, “Okay, let’s take your picture.”
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.
Interviewee Bio
Kip Fulbeck was born in 1965 to a Chinese mother and English/Irish father. At age five, he was told by his full-blooded Chinese cousins that he was Hapa. He never gave much thought to the term as a child. As he grew older, faced with the dearth of knowledge relating to mixed-race identity (or worse, the negative connotations associated with it), he began thinking about ways to promote a more realistic and human portrayal of Hapa identity.
Fulbeck chose to explore this issue by creating the Hapa Project as a forum for Hapa to answer the question “What are you?” in their own words and be photographed in simple head-on portraits. He has now photographed over 1000 people from all ages and walks of life. The project is now a book, Part Asian, 100% Hapa (Chronicle Books, 2006) and an exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum from June 8 through October 29, 2006 titled kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% hapa.
Kip Fulbeck has been making films and art about Hapa identity since 1990. Known as the nation's leading artist on the identity, multiracial/ethnicity, and art and pop culture, he has spoken and exhibited his award-winning films, performance, and photography throughout the world. Fulbeck is currently Professor and Chair of Art at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he is a three-time recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Member Award and also an affiliate faculty member in Asian American Studies and Film Studies. (May 3, 2006)