Exhibition 2.0

Our Home: Chinatown, Philadelphia

The theme for this year’s exhibition series is around highlighting Chinatown, Philadelphia as a home for residents, community, and culture. With historical and continuous threats of erasure, it’s as important as ever to shine a spotlight and emphasize that Chinatown is more than a location. It’s a place where lives are lived and stories are created on the streets and at the dinner tables in the homes that line the streets of this culturally rich neighborhood. In many ways, this is a love letter to Chinatown and a reminder that this is more than a place, it’s home.

Prompt for Exhibition 2.0

How is Chinatown home to you?

Whether you live in Chinatown or visit frequently, each of you bring different perspectives to this question. How would you convey your perspective in a photo/multimedia gallery? What is your message by sharing your perspective? These are just a few questions that are important first steps in applying to be an exhibitor in the exhibition. You don’t need to be a professional photographer, you just need to have a curiosity and passion for capturing the essence of defining how Chinatown is home to you.

Details for Exhibition 2.0: Our Home - Chinatown, Philadelphia

  • Application Process

    • Submit by June 14

    • The selected exhibitors will be notified by June 19

  • What to Expect

    • Cohort and community building through three exhibitor meetings - one group meeting each month from July to September - to receive feedback and support from fellow exhibitors

    • Bring a specific perspective and be prepared to form that into a gallery composed of photos and/or multimedia including video and sound

    • Promote your exhibit and the experience through social media postings and the exhibitor roundtable discussion series

  • Preliminary Schedule

    • Exhibitor meeting 1: July 8 - introductions and discuss gallery ideas

    • Exhibitor meeting 2: August 12 - receive feedback and meal in Chinatown

    • Exhibitor meeting 3: September 9 - final touches discussion and film roundtable discussion

    • Exhibition Premiere - Tentative: October 7

About the Photo Exhibition Series

The Exhibition Series is all about bringing different perspectives together around a specific theme. It’s also about bringing together a cohort of exhibitors to support one another as they work towards the premier of the exhibition. The end result is a community brought together while simultaneously building a community within to share and explore stories and perspectives that you just can’t get by scrolling through photos or short videos on social media.

It Began with Exhibition 1.0: Summer Exhibition 2021

At the height of the covid-19 pandemic, Tobin Stuff organized a group of fellow urban planner alumni from the University of Pennsylvania to create photo exhibits around a theme of how our shared interest in photography informs our professional work as urban planners. The group of four worked over several months to create their galleries with image locations ranging from Bangalore, India to Philadelphia and from photography styles ranging from photo series to double-exposed film to photos layered with sounds from the photo location. The exhibition revealed a wide array of how photography can inform our work as urban planners.

Apply to be an Exhibitor

Applications due by June 14, 2023

Important to know before applying…

  • There is no compensation for being selected as an exhibitor or participating as an exhibitor.

  • Information collected in this application is for exhibitor selection purposes only.

  • Exhibitors will use their own camera equipment to take photos and assemble their photo galleries.

  • Photo galleries should be focused on the Chinatown, Philadelphia area.

  • Photos and multimedia can be based on previous photos you have taken, photos you will take between now and October, or a mix of both. All photos and multimedia must be taken by you unless you have written permission of the owner of other media you wish to incorporate into your gallery.

  • Exhibitors will be selected based on short essay prompts and image samples submitted.

  • A total of 4-6 exhibitors will be selected.

  • If selected, you are expected to attend and participate in the exhibitor meetings.