May 02, 2025
Provided image/Luzi Media
'The Philadelphians' video installation, represented in a mock-up above, will wrap around the LOVE Park visitor center every evening between May 7 and June 8.
LOVE Park visitors can soon catch a free movie in front of the circular welcome center.
A new video project highlighting the stories of immigrants will be projected against the building's full-length windows starting Wednesday, May 7. "The Philadelphians" will screen each evening from 5 p.m. to midnight until Sunday, June 8.
The art installation, created by South Philly couple and creative partners Nadia Hironaka and Matthew Suib, consists of 10 "film portraits." The artists used archival footage of the city's immigrant communities and original clips captured at workshops and during one-on-one interviews with present-day immigrants. Their resulting films delve into cultural identity, family history and heritage.
"The Philadelphians" was born out of the Public Works program, a residency run by Mural Arts and the Forman Arts Initiative that places artists in government agencies or organizations. In this case, Hironaka and Suib worked with the city's Office of Immigrant Affairs to find subjects. The stars of the project include a chef, pastor, public servant, entrepreneur, educator and community leader with Asian Americans United.
“Immigrant stories and family history are a part of all our narratives," Hironaka & Suib, as the duo is known professionally, said in a statement. "More importantly, they reflect who Philadelphians are today, how we continuously work in communities, civic life, and government to make our city better, and how our roots connect us to the rest of the world."
The video artists have previously exhibited locally at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Institute of Contemporary Art in University City. Their work has also appeared at the Museum of Modern Art's PS1 building in Queens and galleries in Rome and Vancouver. They received a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship in 2015.
FAI will host a series of discussions, screenings and workshops related to "The Philadelphians" during the installation's run. A video showcase on May 16, for example, will feature immigrant stories from seven Philly-based filmmakers, including an earlier work from Hironaka & Suib. FAI will also hold a formal launch event for the project in LOVE Park at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
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