Racially motivated violence towards the Asian diaspora is nothing new, but such incidents were on the rise in 2020, during the height of the pandemic. As the world grappled with its battle against Covid-19, many felt the heavy weight of anxiety and isolation during these uncertain times, mixed with the growing fears of targeted violence.

There are roughly 20 million Asian Americans and growing, but resources for combating discrimination and promoting visibility remain scarce. The API community found compassion through recognizing our privileges and supporting calls to action for racial and social justice beyond our own. We still faced hesitation because our issues are not a simple binary, justice is nuanced, and fighting alone is frightening.

At the Table is a fundraising project conceived amid rising cases of xenophobia during the pandemic. Featuring the work of thirty Asian/Pacific Islander artists, At the Table is one of the first large-scale exhibitions in New York City to promote the API community's stories to a larger audience. To those in the Asian community, we hope to provide familiarity and empathy. To those outside of our community, we wish to be an entry point into the rich and diverse world of API narratives. Food is a universal necessity deeply intertwined in one's journey in life and working as an archive of memory. Individual's' genealogies become imprinted through cultural cuisines and flavors - having a meal with others at the table serves as an experience that brings people together.

The increased violence witnessed in the last few years has been especially devastating to our Asian senior community. In effort to protect this community, At the Table will donate proceeds from this exhibition to Heart of Dinner, a New York City-based nonprofit that combats food insecurity and isolation within the city's elderly Asian community. Founded by Yin Chang and Moonlynn Tsai, Heart of Dinner delivers care packages of hot meals and fresh produce paired with handwritten and illustrated letters in the recipients' native languages.