East Harlem
Community Partners:
- Participating Harlem Residents and Immigrants of color include: Maura Falfan (Mexico), Maria Lucia Varona (Puerto Rico), Beto Resende (Puerto Rico), Eteri Luna (Cuba), Hana Mire (Somali), Sindhu Thirumalaisamy (India), Julio Jose Austria (Philippines)
Project Topics:
- Immigration
- Memory
- Music
- Resistance
Tunnel Mobile Karaoke celebrates and honors the unseen and unnoticed labor of immigrants of color in The United States through a series of karaoke-style musical events performed in tunnel underpasses in East Harlem. Tunnels are activated as sanctuary-like spaces for immigrants of color by encouraging participants to sing songs in their ‘mother tongue,” or rather a language they feel most comfortable. As lyrics are projected against tunnel walls, song activates the space of the underpass. Both performer and passersby take part in a collective celebration of joy amidst and in spite of the reality of day-to-day hardships and city life struggles. Tunnel Mobile Karaoke becomes a celebration of resistance in that the sharing of song with others is a radical act of love that creates a space of comfort in the interstitial space between public and private.
Watch & Listen: “Tunnel Mobile Karaoke” Playlist curated by Jevijoe Vitug
Project Resources
“I always say [Tunnel Mobile Karaoke] is like comfort food…it’s a space of reminiscing…it’s about finding your comfort song. When you sing, you are connected to a memory.”
Jevijoe Vitug2019 Create Change Artist-in-Residence
