With high intentions to go fishing, Pok Chi Lau has traveled to 36 countries, and he has ended up with more photographs than fish at the end of his fishing poles. Through the years, he has come to the realization that in the history of China, stretching from around 1700 to 1950, her poor coastal fishing villagers experienced some of the first Diasporas to different parts of the world, especially Southeast Asia.
He was born in British Hong Kong in 1950. Since 1967, Pok Chi Lau 劉博智, has been a documentary photographer. His work on migration focuses on the Chinese Diaspora in the Americas, Cuba, and Malaysia and now Myanmar. For a decade, he also documented the Diaspora within China, where rural peasants/migrants from all over China moved to seek factory work in coastal Made-in-China regions.
Pok Chi Lau is Professor Emeritus of PhotoMedia in the Department of Design at the University of Kansas, which has provided him with numerous international research opportunities, and through which his work has been exhibited and published broadly. Besides his work as a documentary photographer, Lau’s work as a poet and essayist has led him to collaborate with professionals in East Asian studies, journalism, ethnic studies, anthropology and social science.
Frances Grace Mortel (she/her) is a photographer and filmmaker, born and raised in Manila, Philippines. She studied in University of the Philippines Film Institute (UPFI) and worked as art director/production designer for several film and television projects. She moved to Spokane, Washington in 2016 and completed the Digital Media Production program at Spokane Falls Community College (SFCC) in 2019. She graduated with a BA Film degree at Eastern Washington University (EWU) in 2021, receiving the Dean’s Student Excellence Award, Social Justice Advocate of the Year Award, and Achievements in Screenwriting and Criticism.
A member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia, Filipino American Artist Directory, and Spokane Film Project — she has exhibited in Terrain, FemFest Art Festival, Spokane Arts’ Saturate, Pagdiriwang’s Larawan in Seattle Center, and other group shows with local collectives such as LFrances currently works as Communications Specialist for APIC Spokane and serves as board member for Spokane Film Project. A member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia and Filipino American Artist Directory — she has exhibited in Terrain, FemFest Art Festival, Spokane Arts’ Saturate, Pagdiriwang’s Larawan in Seattle Center, and other group shows with local collectives such as La Resistance and Shades of Me. She participated in Santa Barbara International Film Festival – Film Studies Program (2020), Telluride Film Festival – Student Symposium (2021), and is part of the pilot batch of WA Filmworks Media Mentorship Program (2021). She recently won the Most Promising Filmmaker Jury Award at the Spokane International Film Festival 2022 for her short film, Dear Nanay, which also took the Honorable Mention Jury Award at the Local Sightings Film Festival 2021 and Cinemetropolis Award for Best Local Short at Seattle Asian American Film Festival 2022. You may find her upcoming exhibits and screenings here: mortelmedia.com/calendar
About her work
The challenges of being a mother, immigrant, and queer artist of color fuel her desire to tell empowering visual stories that expose human truths and stand for social justice. Frances is currently capturing conceptual portraits with focus on women and QTBIPOCs (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color), exploring street reportages highlighting the working class, writing and producing fiction & non-fiction films about the plight of immigrants, and experimenting on other alternative and accessible ways to create intersectional and intergenerational media.
The deadline for registration has been extended to Tuesday, October 8th for the 2nd Washington State People of Color Legislative Summit (POCLS).
Community leaders of color across Washington are cordially invited to join us on Saturday, October 12th, 10am-4pm at one of nine locations. The purpose of the summit is to hear from and connect POC communities leaders and legislators of color to build solidarity and mobilizing capacity across the state for issues that are of highest priority to our collective communities of color. Further updates:
Spokane location: Spokane Falls Community College Buyilding 30 room 212 3410 W Fort George Wright Dr. Spokane WA 99224
You are welcome to invite POC community leaders you know to register for this event. Snacks and refreshments will be provided at each location. All locations have parking and are ADA accessible. This statewide summit will have separate meeting rooms sited at college campuses around the state, virtually joined together using “Zoom” video conferencing. Each site will have a lead facilitator and staff to provide support and ensure a productive conference. If you have any questions or comments, please contact the project manager at jenny.chang@leg.wa.gov.
Below are photos from the People of Color Coalition Candidates Forum Sept 28 at East Central Community Center.Photographs By Robert Lloyd
Here Is something you and others can do. Ask your friends to copy, fill out and send the form below to Spokane County Commissioners: 500 N Cedar St Spokane WA 99201
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Make a huge statement by clicking Contact Us in the menu under the banner above and typing “Yes I care” in the Subject line of the Contact Us box that appears, also sharing your name and email address. Part of our mandate, that we take very seriously, is to never abuse your trust, share your information or misuse your very very valuable time.
The exhibition is a subtle reminder of where bigotry begins. I am placing myself outside my comfort zone in order to build my path to tolerance as an artist and a human being. I’ve often heard it said that we are all in this together. Now I am seeking a consensus on where we can build common ground, around issues that we can support together. If you would like to help build a grassroots movement click on the image below and print it. Gather signatures and email addresses and mail them to: Robert Lloyd 3314 S. Grand Blvd. Spokane WA 99203.
Those of you in the Spokane area who have seen the show and would like to receive a print collect at least 25 signatures and email addresses and bring the list to the reception on Oct 4 4:30 – 6 pm at the JFK Library at Eastern Washington University. You will receive an unframed 11×14 matted print at the end of the show.
