︎ A Collaboration with Yuanya Feng and Zoe Yang
Wild Herb Normad
Documentary, research, workshops2024 -
Wild Herb Nomad is an ongoing research project about foraging edible plants and diaspora community in New York City who forages those plants as a way to reconnect with their cultural roots.
The Questions
It was late March 2024, Spring was just quietly making its way to New York. I encountered a couple of Chinese grannies roaming around Sunset Park with bamboo baskets, picking up wild herbs along side walks. They told me they are foraging Chinese plantain, an invasive herbs native to south east asia and used in traditional Chinese medicine -- —a plant familiar to me, yet one I hadn’t seen since moving to the U.S. at 18.
![Plantains – Plantago major – seem to have arrived with the very first white settlers and were such a reliable sign of their presence that the Native Americans referred to them as ‘white men’s footsteps]()
How did those plants get here from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean?
How did the regional practice of herb gathering evolve into a nomadic practice in a post-colonial era?
Why are all the foragers older females and how is this cultural knowledge passed along within their families even after migration?
What motivates them to remain gleaners, for socio-economic reasons or for nostalgia?
How have they adapted their gleaning habits to the new environment?
In an effort to answer these questions, I began studying these “foreign” plants and their gatherers, which led to even more inquiries—about colonial history, land stewardship, migration, globalization, domestic labor, and environmental justice.
SInce then, the research has led to three community workshops across New York, a documentary, and a zine. With the project still envolving, we continue to explore ways to unveil, restore, and co-construct kinship between diaspora culture, community members and urban plants in New York City.
It was late March 2024, Spring was just quietly making its way to New York. I encountered a couple of Chinese grannies roaming around Sunset Park with bamboo baskets, picking up wild herbs along side walks. They told me they are foraging Chinese plantain, an invasive herbs native to south east asia and used in traditional Chinese medicine -- —a plant familiar to me, yet one I hadn’t seen since moving to the U.S. at 18.
How did those plants get here from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean?
How did the regional practice of herb gathering evolve into a nomadic practice in a post-colonial era?
Why are all the foragers older females and how is this cultural knowledge passed along within their families even after migration?
What motivates them to remain gleaners, for socio-economic reasons or for nostalgia?
How have they adapted their gleaning habits to the new environment?
In an effort to answer these questions, I began studying these “foreign” plants and their gatherers, which led to even more inquiries—about colonial history, land stewardship, migration, globalization, domestic labor, and environmental justice.
SInce then, the research has led to three community workshops across New York, a documentary, and a zine. With the project still envolving, we continue to explore ways to unveil, restore, and co-construct kinship between diaspora culture, community members and urban plants in New York City.
Eating Spring, The Documentary
Working with documentarian Yuanya Feng, we created a short documentary about Zoe Yang, a second-generation Chinese america foraging edible herbs in New York City as a way to connect with her heritage. Trespassing, foraging, and eating with Zoe where her family planted roots, this observational documentary offers an intimate portrait of Zoe’s practice of foraging and what the herbs have witnessed.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
You can watch the film for free on Youtube
Working with documentarian Yuanya Feng, we created a short documentary about Zoe Yang, a second-generation Chinese america foraging edible herbs in New York City as a way to connect with her heritage. Trespassing, foraging, and eating with Zoe where her family planted roots, this observational documentary offers an intimate portrait of Zoe’s practice of foraging and what the herbs have witnessed.
You can watch the film for free on Youtube
Community Workshops
With support from the Asian American Arts Alliance’s "What Can We Do" initiative, we organized a series of foraging and food-making workshops. In each session, we explored the ethnobotany of seasonal ingredients and created a space for the diaspora community to connect with both the land they live on and the plants that have traveled from their ancestral homes.
And More...
I am always looking for new ways to learn, share knowledge, and work with community members on this project. If you have ideas for collaboration or simply want to go foraging together, drop me a line!
I am always looking for new ways to learn, share knowledge, and work with community members on this project. If you have ideas for collaboration or simply want to go foraging together, drop me a line!