As Asian creatives like BTS, Bong Joon Ho, Priyanka Chopra, Hassan Minhaj and Ali Wong shoot into global popularity, why not get acquainted with some of the crazy talented Asians right on your doorstep?

Here are 5 contemporary Asian Australians creatives breaking down the model minority myth for that sweet, sweet representation.

1.      Joy Li

Joy Li is a Sydney-based graphic designer who uses art the intersectionality between design and gender and cultural studies. Li’s work is a proud embodiment of the uniquely Asian Australian hyphenated identity. Her “Li General Store” project represents “a range of Chinese and immigrant identities…through the ownership, manipulation and display of a distorted Orient,” becoming finalist in the 2018 Adobe Design Achievement Award!

2.      Abdullah M. I. Syed

Abdullah M.I. Syed is a conceptual artist who uses multiple forms of art to explore the intersectionality between identity, international politics, power and gender. Syed holds a PhD in Art, Media and Design and a Master of Fine Arts from UNSW and, in 2018, was part of Eleven, a collective of contemporary Muslim Australian artists, curators and writers. Syed’s artwork “Aura II” features crotched skullcaps joined together in an illuminated dome to create a glowing moon, a prominent symbol of Islamic mysticism and Syed’s own identity!

3.      Kim Ho

Kim Ho is a writer and performer, raised in a cross-cultural family in Wahroonga. At the age of 17, Ho went global with his first screenplay “The Language of Love,” widely commented on from Stephen Fry to Danni Minogue. Inspired by the hidden cultural richness of Australia’s migrant history, Ho created the play “Mirror’s Edge” in which he captured the conflicting emotions of regional Australia towards Chinese tourists and how poorly Australians understand race-based discrimination. Ho’s layered portrait of multicultural Australia won him the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award in 2018!  

4.      Tara Chandra

Tara Chandra uses art, fashion and online activism to celebrate her Chinese-Indonesian culture after experiencing internalised racism that led her to discredit herself and her own culture, a common feeling among Asian-Australians. Chandra’s styling, modelling, photography and videography with Gucci, Converse and so many more reminds us that we can be beautiful without being fetishized or underestimated!

5.      Zoya Patel

Zoya Patel is a writer and editor based in Canberra. Not only is she the founder and editor of Feminartsy, an online feminist arts and literature journal, she also authored the book “No Country Woman” detailing essays on race, identity and diaspora. She was also named ACT Young Women of the Year in 2015 for raising the profile of women’s voice in the media!