ESEA Heritage Month Special: ‘With love’ – Artist Talk and Screening

On the occasion of the national East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) Heritage Month, esea contemporary is pleased to present a special afternoon with artist Yan Wang Preston, centring on her new book With Love. From an Invader. — Rhododendons, Empire, China and Me. Through spoken words, film, and participatory reflection, the event offers an intimate exploration of migrant identity, memory, and love across distance and discipline.

The programme opens with an artist talk, sharing personal experiences of working as a multicultural artist from a migrant background, followed by a reading from her latest publication. Building on Yan’s two art series With Love. From an Invader. and Autumn Winter Spring Summer, the book uses the notorious non-native species, rhododendron ponticum, as an embodiment for colonial transplantation and a metaphor for human migrants. Masterfully connecting 400 photographs from Yan’s work, 10 interdisciplinary essays and two archive images collections from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the book encourages a deeply personal and multi-layered exploration towards what it means to live, move, and belong in a world that often marks the migrant as ‘the other.’

After the reading, participants are treated with an exclusive screening of With Love. From an Invader, the filmic foundation of the book. To make the piece, Yan walked to and photographed one love-heart-shaped rhododendron ponticum bush every other day for an entire year. Immersed within the visual and sonic world of the rhododendrons, you will be invited to write a postcard — to a loved one, or perhaps an imaginary friend — transforming deep listening into a poetic act of connection and self-expression.

Together, the programme foregrounds tenderness, resistance, and re-imagination in shared experiences, asking how we speak across borders — and how we carry home within us. Spaces are limited, so booking is essential.

About esea contemporary

esea contemporary is the UK’s only non-profit art centre specialising in presenting and platforming artists and art practices that identify with and are informed by East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) cultural backgrounds.

esea contemporary is situated in an award-winning building in the heart of Manchester, home to one of the largest East Asian populations in the UK. Since its inauguration as a community-oriented visual arts festival in 1986, esea contemporary – previously named Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art – has continuously evolved to establish itself as a dynamic and engaging space for cross-cultural exchanges in the British art scene, as well as in a global context.

esea contemporary aims to increase the visibility of contemporary art practices from the East and Southeast Asian communities and their diasporas. It is a site for forward-thinking art programmes that beyond exhibitions also include commissions, research, residencies, publishing, and a wide range of vibrant public events. esea contemporary values creativity, compassion, interconnectedness, and collectivity in implementing its mission.

Photo by Joe Smith.