Delta Wok: Mississippi Delta Chinese

913 Washington Street,Vicksburg MS 39183

07 May, 2022

Description

On documenting Delta Wok, a collaborative documentary project on Mississippi Delta Chinese Talbot Easton Selby, associate dean in the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts at Coastal Carolina University and professor of photography; Emily Jones, Delta State University archivist; and Gabriella Sang. This event is part of the Food For Thought: Catfish Row Museum Lab and Pop-Up Exhibition. Through grant funding from the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, the museum will present a series of hands-on workshops, curatorial events and programs centered around local foodways. Through public programs and workshops, the museum will develop content and collect artifacts for the Catfish Row Museum. In the museum’s lab space, visitors can scan, copy and donate documents, such as letters, recipes and historic photographs, as well as record oral history interviews. In the exhibition space, community members can observe and provide feedback on how their artifacts and stories will be used in exhibits. This programming will present rich stories of crossing barriers and borders, of lives intertwined with food, as food and place are linked through the diversity of income and ethnicity in the South. About the speakers: Easton Selby is a photographer and educator based in Conway, SC. His work explores the history and culture of the American South. Currently Selby is an associate dean in the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts at Coastal Carolina University and is a professor of photography. His work can be found in publications such as the book Egyptian and Imported Pottery from the Red Sea port of Mersa Gawsis, Delta Magazine, Canadian Art Magazine, Metropolis Magazine, and he is the 2008 recipient of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for Photography. A life-long Mississippi Delta native, Emily Jones has served as the Archivist and Museums Curator at Delta State University for the past 18 years. Jones' love for the Delta has contributed to the establishment of the Amzie Moore House Museum & Interpretive Center, the Emmett Till traveling exhibit, the Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum and the Dave "Boo" Ferriss Museum. The award-winning historian has also lent her talents to numerous publications over the years. Her negotiating skills are unparalleled, as she successfully navigated a life-long merger with Matthew W. Jones in 2010. Gabriella Sang was born and raised in the Mississippi Delta. She is a third generation Mississippi Delta Chinese and a member of the the Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum, Inc. She enjoys spending time with family, friends and her dog, Kona, traveling, and cooking, particularly learning how to prepare Asian dishes that her grandmother and her parents would prepare. She is also an attorney.