We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ching-i Chang a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ching-I thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

In 2021, I received my naturalization after almost 20 years of immigration process with the USCIS. On the day of naturalization, due to COVID, no friends or family were allowed to be at the court with me. (All my family are in Taiwan anyways).

A memory of note : When they gave me the certification that proves my naturalization, the officer who gave me the certification almost forgot to give me the small American flag that was a part of the ceremony. I went back to her and told her, please could I have the flag? I worked too hard for this flag and I need this flag to wipe away my tears. She laughed out loud.

With a sea of new naturalized friends, The judge zoomed in to guide us with the oath. Tearing up, He shared his parents’ journey of immigration from Korea. The whole ceremony was like this, an enlightenment filled with joy and tears. From that date, I am committed to help the people who have to go through this process, because I understand.

In 2024, after years of meditating on it, I told my friend Penelope J. Armstead about this dream. Penelope guided me along the way to make the process possible.

We started our Inter-grant Festival in 2024. Inter-grant Festival is an annual platform at Arts On Site celebrating the voices of international artists who have successfully navigated the US immigration process.

Inter-grant Fest is a platform where international freelance artists are supported to create and share their works without hazardous application processes.

Inter-grant Festival comes from the words “international” and “immigrant”, combined to play words that are juxtaposed to the United States in various landscapes. Dancemaker, Ching-I Chang, originally from Taiwan, created the festival after navigating 7 different visa applications and 20 years of dance-art making in the United States. Along with the help of Penelope J. Armstead, an American citizen, Norwegian and Black freedwoman origin, Penelope is the creator of Peachkrayz Presents, an education platform to nurture authentic performances. Together we launched our first Inter-grant Festival at Arts On Site.

Inter-grant fest is multi-fold in mission. Some goals for the longterm (5-6 years) are to raise awareness within the art community that we share a strong capacity for support. The work is not monetarily initiated, but through study and action. It is an act of healing by investing in relationships with artists from the international immigrant community. Most importantly, the goal is to reserve a sacred space to CELEBRATE the unique artists which navigate between the membranes of the U.S. socio-political-economic climate, enriching the conversation and above all, the creative process.

We would like artmakers from the diverse communities to make art for the inter-grant Festival in the years to come. We curate works by prioritizing international artists from Caribbean, Middle East, Latinx-America, indigenous communities and Asia. The unique multi-dimensional lens that our artists display for each festival will give the audience a chance to witness artmaking from different cultures, appreciate the wisdom of shared history, and consider the lessons that come from further meditation thereon. When the festival is funded by proper grant support, the inter-grant community will be better appreciated. We want this festival as a space for their art to grow, bathe, and breathe in care.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My work as a conceptual-dance landscaper, performer, curator, and human being is practiced through kinesthetic empathy, embodiment of harmony and care, and supporting the inter-grants (international and immigrant artists) and unsung people. My work shares the postcolonial stories of Japanese Occupation in Taiwan and investigates through the nostalgia of home’s natural landscape and one’s “natural” embodiment in the city-scape and foreign landscape.

As the body of the colonized, foreignized, and immigrated, I am molded into ambiguities of otherness. When my natural home body is asked to be assimilated and integrated into contrariety, my essence of being becomes invisible, masked under foreignness. Through the process of understanding my ancestral roots, I, the peripheral/subaltern often create works outside of the mainstream.

Understanding the world through the lens of otherness, I seek to facilitate the process of listening through the sense of responsibility for the environment and the physical presence that embraces all bodies and spirits – the life harmony. My hope is through creating and sharing stories of conceptual landscapes and dances and curating, we can become human together.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My dear friend and Inter-grant Festival partner, Penelope J. Armstead, is a living poet in every action she takes. She is an American citizen, Norwegian and Black freedwoman origin. She is the creator of Peachkrayz Presents, an education platform to nurture authentic performances. She came to the Inter-grant Project to help interpret, hear about obstacles and have connections with the artists. We met when I was dancing as a nurse in Sleep No More NYC, Punchdrunk’s theatrical immersive play on MacBeth. I whisked her away to a curtained room, she later told me.

We officially introduced to each other when we worked together for LOCO 7, a dance puppet theater company based at La MaMa in New York City. We treated each other with laughter and chocolate, danced with crafted masks and life size puppets, and sang with sounds from the homeland. To this day, the memory of a red and metal talisman serves as an icon for the friendship: Remember the process of blood and sweat, of urine, menses, and feces in recycling movement; we are all bound by the necessities of our flesh, to drive forgiveness and progress. We are so proud that inter-grant Fest is becoming a community celebration. 

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

“This is not a place for uniformity; here you find unity in diversity.” – Attar

Attar’s writings continue reminding me why I am an artist. I invite love and curiosity to deepen my creativity by working with people who are very different from me. I learn to understand others tacitly by working through our differences and listening to others earnestly and patiently. The reward is deep in the mud and dirt; the joy sprouts.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chingichang.com/inter-grant-festival
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tax1050/

Image Credits

Photo Credits:
Travis Magee, Chang Family, Macis Mariah, and Yuz Museum.