Yvonne spent this past summer as the Social Practice Lab Artist-in-Resident at Asian Arts Initiative. Working with the North Chinatown community in Philadelphia, she worked on her project, Dish, where participants learn their favorite home made dishes from their elders.

When her grandmother passed away, Yvonne's cousin talked about how whenever he visited grandma, she would always make his favorite dish, zha jiang mien. He claimed that he never tasted a better version, and lamented how he will never be able to taste it again. Yvonne thought to her​self, “how come none of us learned to make this dish from grandma?” Memory is an important part of this project. When her cousin talked about grandma's zha jiang mien, he talked about during his college years when he visited her, she would always make a batch for him to bring back to school so that he can have it for a few more days. Yvonne believed​ that this was one of the reason why this dish was so important to him, how at the time, it was not only his favorite dish by her, but also the love that carried with it.

In Dish, participants interview their elders to learn about the dish, the process of making​ it, the stories behind it, and then video document the learning process. Through out this process, participants have also learned stories of their elders, giving them a deeper understanding of their history, culture, and background.​ Dish not only allows these dishes to be passed down to the participant, ​but also helps strengthen the bond between the generations. Dish is an ongoing project where Yvonne hopes​ to collect as many stories behind these dishes and share the recipes.

To learn more about this project​, please go to https://dishtheartproject.wixsite.com/dish. If you are interested in participating in this project, please contact Yvonne.