Shifting Subjects Stories from Asian Australian life

Organised and curated by arts producer Lana Nguyễn and artist Hoang Tran Nguyễn, Hát Xe Buýt is part bus ride and part performance event. It was made to commemorate the loss of Footscray Primary School’s Vietnamese Bilingual Program which occurred in 2020; as well as remind the audience of the power language has in connecting us with community and place. Plus, it's a convenient way to transport people between two art exhibitions that speak to themes of language and place: one in Footscray, the other in Collingwood.
Download a copy of the transcript here:

Credits:
Written, cut and hosted by Lisa DivissiSupervising production, sound design and mixing by Jon TjhiaFact checking by Mell ChunTheme music by Marcus WhaleAdditional music, including original compositions by AnSoPublished by Leah Jing McIntoshExecutive production by Lisa DivissiSpecial thanks to Lana Nguyễn and Hoang Tran Nguyễn, thanks for having me on board!
Shifting Subjects is a Liminal podcast and a proud member of the Broadwave podcast network. It is supported by City of Melbourne Arts Grants and Creative Victoria.
Links and further reading, listening, watching:
Podcasts:
* Underfoot by Jinghua Qian and Liz Crash has to be one of the most underrated podcasts out there. Listening to it for the first time, I thought to myself, why isn’t anyone making a bigger deal out of this?! I’m still thinking it, to be honest. Underfoot is a series of audio tours through the secret history of Footscray. Along the way you’ll meet the suburb’s historic queers, migrants, radicals and artists. It’s thoroughly researched and told with humour and warmth.
* Produced by Hoang Tran Nguyễn and VietSpeak, Growing Up Bilingual in Australia is a podcast that speaks with bilingual parents and children about what it’s like to live in and maintain a bilingual household. The parents are generous with their insights and efforts and the kids are really cute! So far the families have all been Vietnamese, but I hear they’re looking to expand the show’s remit to include all community-relevant languages. If you are a member of a bilingual family or know a bilingual family who are open to being featured, they would love to hear from you!
* Tongue tied and Fluent is a documentary series made for RN’s Earshot by Shiela Ngọc Phạm and Masako Fukui that explores Australia’s relationship with multilingualism. How can we be considered ‘the most successful multicultural society in the world’, whilst also being known as ‘a graveyard for languages’?
Film:
* Takeout Kids is a short documentary series directed by Julie Zhu. Each one follows a young New Zealander growing up in their parent’s restaurant. The moment when Moon got up to sing on the Hát Xe Buýt had me thinking about these films. There’s also a bit of nostalgia there for me; my parents ran a post office, not a restaurant, but spending my days playing in a shopfront and talking to customers was a very familiar sight to see! Plus those years were when I was at my most fluent in Vietnamese, so perhaps that’s also why it came to mind. I could watch them a hundred times over.
Read:
* 5 Questions with Hoang Tran Nguyen on Liminal. I loved this interview and will be following Hoang’s work in perpetuity.

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shiftingsubjects.substack.com

When Alan Weedon met multidisciplinary artist Angie Pai, they were uni students taking their first steps in the adult world. He was struck by Angie’s ability to have fun, youth-fuelled, messy adventures whilst retaining a closeness to her family and traditional values. It’s a dynamic that Angie explores in her practice to this day, often with the involvement and input of her mother, Shu-Ling Huang. In this episode, Angie recounts the events which inspired her short film Listen to Mama (2019) while Alan describes the experience of viewing it and the resonance it’s had in his own life.
Angie’s current exhibition is called Why You Like This? It runs until 21 May, 2023. Details can be found here.
Download a copy of the transcript here:
Credits
Written, cut and hosted by Lisa DivissiSupervising production, sound design and mixing by Jon TjhiaFact checking by Mell ChunTheme music by Marcus WhaleAdditional music, including original compositions by AnSo and Marcus WhalePublished by Leah Jing McIntoshExecutive production by Lisa DivissiSpecial thanks this episode to Angie Pai, Shu-Ling Huang, Alan Weedon, Leah Jing McIntosh and Panda Wong.
Shifting Subjects is a Liminal podcast and a proud member of the Broadwave podcast network. It is supported by City of Melbourne Arts Grants and Creative Victoria.
Links and further reading, listening, watching:
Podcasts:
* Lulu Wang’s film The Farewell (2009) got a mention when interviewing Angie. Wang originally told this story on radio as part of an episode of This American Life, titled What You Don’t Know. Both versions are great.
Art:
* Last year I was lucky to catch Allison Chhorn’s installation Skin Shade Night Day at ACE Gallery in Adelaide. It shares a sense of nostalgia and longing with Listen to Mama (2019). It’s an immersive piece documenting the daily routines and rituals of her family, such as gardening and cooking, created with projected film and soundscape. Even simply closing your eyes and listening to the audio will transport you. You can also read an interview with Allison in Liminal Mag here.
Film and TV:
* I watched Kāinga (2022) at the closing night of the Melbourne Women in Film Festival earlier this year. Made by Asian filmmakers, it’s a portmanteau film depicting the experiences of Asians making homes in Aotearoa New Zealand. There were a couple of moments, relationships and characters I kept thinking about whilst working on Angie’s story. Kāinga is the third film in a trilogy produced by Kerry Warkia and Kiel McNaughton. If the chance comes up to see it, you must.
* Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) I know, I know, you’ve seen it already …rewatch?
Read:
* An interview with Angie Pai by James Robinson in Liminal (2018)
* Why You Like This, co-produced by Eliza Jung, guest edited by Panda Wong. I was fortunate to read some of the writing in this collection ahead of its release. This is a perfect place to learn more about Angie’s art.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shiftingsubjects.substack.com

Camly started making tofu by hand 30 years ago. Soon after arriving in Australia, she noticed many Asian grocers in her area weren’t offering Vietnamese-style tofu (the kind that gets its uniquely soft texture from being hand-pressed). In this episode we spend a day at the tofu factory she has built and learn the processes involved in making tofu, all of which is still made by hand.
Download a copy of the transcript here:
Credits
Written, cut and hosted by Lisa DivissiSupervising production and mixing by Jon TjhiaFact checking by Mell ChunTheme music by Marcus WhaleAdditional music, including original compositions by AnSoPublished by Leah Jing McIntoshExecutive production by Lisa Divissi
Special thanks this episode to Aivy and Vyan Ostojic, Camly Le and everyone at Duc Nga Tofu.
Shifting Subjects is a LIMINAL podcast and a proud member of the Broadwave podcast network. It is supported by City of Melbourne Arts Grants and Creative Victoria.
Links and further reading, listening and watching…
Podcasts:
* Bad Taste hosted by Jess Ho traces the evolution of the Australian palate and asks, ‘Who gets to decide what good food is?’. I particularly enjoyed the episode on East African Lasagne led by Beź Zewdie and the one immediately after on how much bánh mì should cost
* The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry hosted by Lee Tran Lam features interviews with various chefs, critics, bar staff and other people from the food world about their dining habits, war stories and favourite places to eat and drink in Sydney
* Lee Tran also hosts the Culinary Archive Podcast and episode six is on SOYBEANS! Keep that tofu train going!!
Film and TV:
* You may be interested to know that a Sesame Street video inspired the concept for this episode
Reading:
* Another recommendation for food writer Jess Ho. I devoured their memoir Raised By Wolves in like 3 days (that’s fast for me). I recommend this if you ever had a particular fascination with Melbourne’s late 2000s restaurant boom and hospo industry. It’s such a good peek behind the curtain, told with sincerity, clarity and wit.
* Vale Ryuichi Sakamoto. Here’s an interview I’m including for the following quote:‘[Haruomi Hosono’s] expression about this old musician was, “This old guy plays the bass like cutting tofu.” You must be very gentle cutting tofu, otherwise you can damage it, break it. I love that expression, and I want to be like that. I should be like that at 80.’ Same.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shiftingsubjects.substack.com

In episode one of Shifting Subjects, Lisa explores her love/hate fascination with Australian Rules Football by speaking with three Asian Australians who live and breathe it.
What drew them in? What keeps them coming back? As racialised people, how do they find space within sporting cultures that have a well-documented history of racism?
In this episode you’ll meet Geelong Cats superfan Shamsiya Hussainpoor; Collingwood AFLW midfielder Joanna Lin; and player manager Jamie Pi, who once personally commentated a game for Xi Jinping.
Download a copy of the transcript here:
Credits
Written, cut and hosted by Lisa DivissiSupervising production and mixing by Jon TjhiaFact checking by Mell ChunTheme music by Marcus WhaleAdditional music, including original compositions by AnSoPublished by Leah Jing McIntoshExecutive production by Lisa DivissiSpecial thanks this episode to Joe Sullivan and Timothy Miller
Shifting Subjects is a LIMINAL podcast and a proud member of the Broadwave podcast network. It is supported by City of Melbourne Arts Grants and Creative Victoria.
Links and further reading, listening and watching…
Podcasts
* The Outer Sanctum has sadly hung up its boots, but it doesn’t take away from the amazing achievement of its contributors in delivering warm, thoughtful, smart and passionate analysis of footy, both on an industry and spectator level. The back issues are worth combing through
* To continue your sports + audio journey, Pink Card is part memoir, sports drama, social history and caper tracing the role of women and soccer in Iranian history; told by Shima Oliaee (Dolly Parton’s America, RadioLab) I’m on episode three so far and it’s sooo good
Film and TV
* The Australian Dream (2019) tells the story of Indigenous AFL legend Adam Goodes. This is a great place to start when learning about race relations in Australia’s history and sporting cultures
Reading
* Lin Jong speaks with Robert Wood for an interview in Liminal magazine (2021)
* Rana Hussain on her role as a diversity consultant for the AFL by Marnie Vinall in the Saturday Paper (2021)




This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shiftingsubjects.substack.com

Growing up, Lisa Divissi absorbed all sorts of messages about what being ‘Asian’ in Australia might entail from news media, popular culture and the larger zeitgeist. But in her new series, Shifting Subjects, she’s more interested in seeing things for herself. By documenting the Asian Australian stories around her, Lisa sets out to complicate our ideas of who we are, while carefully expanding on a clearer picture of us together.
Shifting Subjects is a Liminal podcast and a proud member of the Broadwave podcast network. It is supported by City of Melbourne Arts Grants.
P.S. If you’re in Melbourne, come to the launch of our series! Details can be found here.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit shiftingsubjects.substack.com