Migration to the United States from South Korea and the region encompassing Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos significantly expanded in the aftermath of the Korean War and the Vietnam War, respectively, due to the Nationality Act of 1965, Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975, and the Refugee Act of 1980. Within Korean American and Lao American communities—distinct yet connected by US foreign relations/policy and its perception of Asian Americans—stories of the aging first generation are often untold due to the trauma and loss that are intertwined with the challenges of political unrest and war, migration, and acculturation.

For the younger generations in the Lao and Korean diasporic communities, the result has been an incomplete understanding of their heritage and a fractured connection to family histories. Additionally, these significant American stories are little known by the broader population. The project is a highly personal one: Dr Joyce Yip Green was two years old when her family left Laos as refugees in 1975 while I was seven when my family immigrated from South Korea in 1981. Both families settled in Los Angeles.

Using arts-based research approaches to facilitate expression and understanding, (re)Location explores the processes of acculturation, amplifies the experiences of the immigrant elder population—including refugees impacted by war—and examines the mechanisms of silence within the acculturation process.

The research recruited 10 Lao and 10 Korean elders who immigrated to the US between 1970 and 1989 as adults, settling in Fresno and Los Angeles. Participants shared their experiences through interviews, personal artifacts, and art responses. The data is currently undergoing thematic analysis and will be presented to the public through an exhibition (both virtual and physical) and events.