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initial research

@initialresearch

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nonprofit supporting early-stage artistic inquiry through collective thinking, risk-taking experiments, and a deep love for the world.

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initial research is a nonprofit arts organization located in SoHo, New York. We foster an environment where artistic inquiry becomes a space for connection. Our programs support artists and cultural workers in taking risks, experimenting, and collaborating across disciplines and cultures.

Visit the link in bio to learn more about our mission.

#initialresearch by @initialresearch

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a year ago

Medicine for our Martyrs: Philippine Herbal Practices for Collective Grief

A Memorial for the Victims of the Negros 19 and Fundraiser for the Defend Negros Campaign

During this 2 hour workshop, Kai Delgado Pfeifer (they / them) will guide us in making herbal medicinal syrup as a balm for collective grief. We will be crafting this syrup using Gumamela (hibiscus), Bayabas (guava), and Tubo (sugarcane)— three sacred plants of the Philippines which are connected to the cycles of creation and birth. As we craft our medicine, we will ground into meditation with each of these plants, allowing their medicines to move through our bodies and bring light to the grief we each carry. Following our meditation and crafting, we will collectively make a ritual offering of these medicines to the Earth as a way to transmute our struggles into unity.

This practice of medicine making and ritual is situated in the context of Negros 19, which happened 6 months ago on April 19, when a group of activists who were visiting a rural farming community in Toboso, Negros Occidental, was brutally attacked and slain by the Philippine military, resulting in 19 deaths. This attack, which the Armed Forces of the Philippines has claimed as an encounter, is in clear violation of International Humanitarian Law and War Crimes, as the civilian journalists, artists, organizers, and children killed were all non-combatant victims. As we offer to remembrance to our Martyrs, we will also learn about their struggle to support genuine agrarian reform in the Philippines.

The massacre took place on the island of Negros, which is home to the largest plantations of sugarcane in the Philippines. This sacred plant is native to the Philippines and carries potent medicinal properties if used correctly. However, sugar also carries a bloody legacy of exploitation that we seek to transform. By blending Sugarcane with two plants connecting to our origin myths & practices around birth, we will have an opportunity to begin healing the legacy of this plant.

Learn more and sign up at this link:
https://tinyurl.com/medicine4martyrs by @initialresearch

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7 days ago

Join us for a film screening and discussion of Langit Lupa (Heaven Earth), featuring our current fellow and co-filmmaker Ami Lien, in remembrance of the 6-month anniversary of the Negros 19 Massacre.

On September 20, 1985 in the town of Escalante on Negros island in the Philippines, a peaceful protest led by sugar plantation workers ended in a tragic massacre when paramilitary troops fired machine guns on the crowd. At least 20 protesters were killed, and many more injured and traumatized. This was one of the galvanizing events in the Filipino people’s struggle to topple the Marcos dictatorship, and its social memory remains a cornerstone to the ongoing farmers‘ struggle for self-determination over their land and resources.

The hour-long experimental documentary, Langit Lupa (Heaven Earth), weaves personal testimonials from survivors of the violent massacre in the town of Escalante in 1985 with sweeping landscape shots of Negros in the present and sequences of luminous flickering plant-like forms, produced with a process of phytography, where plant cuttings are treated with a solution and placed directly onto 16mm film strips, leaving chemical traces on the film emulsion. Paired with testimonies of the horror and loss experienced in 1985 in Escalante, these indexical markings of botanical life suggest the entanglement between the residues of environmental and state-sanctioned violence.

Against the backdrop of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s current regime and its attempts to suppress those testifying to structural violence in the Philippines, Langit Lupa explores how the Escalante Massacre endures as both a rupture and inflection point in Negros‘ collective memory, while also portraying the revolutionary culture that subsists among the people.

This anniversary screening is dedicated to community journalist and poet RJ Ledesma, who supported the production and organized many community screenings of this film on Negros Island. RJ was martyred in the Negros 19 Massacre, an attack on peasant advocates committed this year by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

🗓️ Sunday, October 18, 3:30—5:30 PM
📍 41 Wooster Street, Floor 2, New York, NY 10013
✅ RSVP in bio by @initialresearch

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10 days ago

Join us for an evening of performance organized by our current fellow Amiko Li (@amikoli ), in collaboration with Tianran Qian (@_tianran_ ), featuring artists Jiaoyang Li (@jylllllll___ ), Sixing Xu (@xu6ing ), and Rujuta Rao (@rujutarao ).

In New York, time and space are often closely tied to currency and productivity. This performance program brings together three artists whose practices challenge conventional forms of artmaking through subtitles and translation, wearable poetry, and performative investigation.

Moving beyond the production of material objects, their works consider bodies, language, and lived experiences as sites of exploration, imagining new ways of thinking about time, labor, and value.

During the evening, Amiko will introduce 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘀 (@artist.visits ), a new platform connecting artists, patrons, and curious art viewers through studio visits and encounters in New York and Shanghai.

🗓️ Saturday, September 26, 6:00—8:00 PM
📍 41 Wooster Street, Floor 2, New York, NY 10013
✅ RSVP in bio

_____
Image 2: Courtesy of the artist.
Image 3: Courtesy of the artist.
Image 4: Minibar. Photo by Keith Fernandes.
Image 5: Portrait by Kai Wai Wong.
Image 6: Rui Wang in her studio. Amiko Li for Artist Visits, 2026.
Image 7: Xiaofu Wang in her studio. Amiko Li for Artist Visits, 2026. by @initialresearch

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a month ago

Join us for the launch of 𝗥𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗫𝗶𝗻, a new publication by te editions (@te.editions ) that takes a Flushing mini-mall as a lens for exploring the neighborhood’s layered histories of migration, work, and everyday life.

In 2023, several artists/collectives held an exhibition titled “Home-O-Stasis: Life and Livelihoods in Flushing” inside Rong Xin Plaza. In 2026, amid a tempest of screenings and deportations targeting immigrants, how should we engage in conversations about this complex and volatile community? Rong Xin Plaza is not only a microcosm of this community, but also a tangible thing that people can hold onto amidst the maelstrom that is our reality. 𝗥𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗫𝗶𝗻 invited ten artists and scholars to re-create works spanning short stories, games, self-narratives, interviews, and photography, to foster a deeper understanding of this community through artistic lenses.

Organized by the publisher te editions and hosted by initial research, the evening begins with a conversation among the publication’s editorial team (Michael Guo @michaelguooo , Kechun Qin @kechuncc , Herb Tam @herbtam , Lu Zhang @wetdreamsneverend ), followed by “Old News Broadcast 旧闻联播,” a new performance by Mamahuhu (Yuki He @artistyukihe + Qianfan Gu @qianfan @mamahuhu_nyc ).

Copies of Rong Xin will be available for purchase at the event.

🗓️ Tuesday, September 22, 6:00—8:00 PM
📍 41 Wooster Street, Floor 2, New York, NY 10013
✅ RSVP in bio

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Image 2: Rong Xin. Courtesy of te editions.
Image 3: Pages of Rong Xin. Courtesy of te editions.
Image 4: “Flushing Polyphonous” game tournament setup at Flushing Public Library, July 2023. Image by Mamahuhu (Yuki He + Qianfan Gu) by @initialresearch

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a month ago

Introducing Initial Research Fellowship 2026/2027 Cohort

The Initial Research Fellowship is a year-long program that offers time, space, and structural support for artists and practitioners to explore emerging questions, with research understood as a practice of attention, relation, and care.

We’re excited to welcome our 2026/2027 cohort:
Ami Lien
Amiko Li @amikoli
Andrew Yong Hoon Lee @holyhum
Doreen Chan @doreen_chanwingyan
Grace Villami @viagracia
Konantü (Courtney Smith & Iván Navarro) @konantuwork
Rujuta Rao @rujutarao
wei @_.wei

_____
Image 2: Image courtesy of CFGNY and Amant, Brooklyn, NY. Photo: David Brandon Geeting
Image 3: Portrait by Kai Wai Wong
Image 4: Portrait by Mackenzie Walker
Image 6: Portrait by mumulak
Image 7: Portrait by Thelma Garcia
Image 8: Minibar, Photo by Keith Fernandes
Image 9: Portrait by Zhidong Zhang by @initialresearch

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2 months ago

initial research is proud to host 母体 Mǔtǐ— a three week on-offline summer school exploring relational technologies from Asia and beyond, as research towards rethinking the nature of technology. Drawing from Takeuchi Yoshimi’s 1960 lecture Asia as Method, 母体 Mǔtǐ approaches Asia not as a fixed geography, but as a methodology for moving beyond the rhetorical and technological paradigms of Western modernity.

Join us in-person across four lectures and workshops this July:

🗓️ Saturday, July 11, 2 PM EST
The Local Turn — Ou Ning @ouningins

🗓️ Saturday, July 18, 2 PM EST
Traces of Ecstasy: Anarchic Reflections on the Afri-Technological Question — KJ Abudu @kj_abudu

🗓️ Wednesday, July 22, 6 PM EST
Learning from Borderlands: Emergent Technologies in Fugitive Spaces — Michael Joo @michaeljoostudio

🗓️ Saturday, July 25, 2 PM EST
Poetic Web: Processing Towards a Reclaimed Place — Chia Amisola @hotemogf

🗓️ Friday, July 31, 6 PM EST
The Techonology of Chance: A Workshop on I-Ching Divination, Slime Mold, and Urban Debris with X.S. Hou @_vi_xs_
Followed by Last Day of Class Celebration with drinks and music.

📍 41 Wooster Street, Floor 2, New York, NY 10013

母体 Mǔtǐ is co-organized by @westofhere.studio and @ceremoniesforthefuture

Sign up with link in bio. by @initialresearch

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3 months ago

initial research invites you to the choreographic performance by our fellow artist NiNi Dongnier @dongnier_nini :
Sun and Moon Rotate to This Infinite Present Moment, The 99 Verbs and Wishes for You, My Dear, and to Our Nomadic Life (Rite)

🗓️ Thursday, July 16, 8:00 PM—9:00 PM (Doors at 7:50 PM)
🗓️ Saturday, July 18, 8:00 PM—9:00 PM (Doors at 7:50 PM)
📍 41 Wooster Street, Floor 2, New York, NY 10013
✅ RSVP in bio

Choreography: NiNi Dongnier @dongnier_nini
Performance: NiNi Dongnier, Zhengyang Zhang @zhengnes
Garment: NiNi Dongnier, Surgulen Mongolian Attire Atelier
Sound: Yi Xin Tong, Chingeltu @yixintong @anda_union
Lighting: Guy de Lancey @guy.de.lancey
Photo and Video: Shina Peng @shina.peng
Curation: Yuan Fuca @heichiyuanr

This work is made possible, in part, through support from initial research Inaugural Fellowship, with residency support from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and additional support from the Northeast Asia Art Archive. Special thanks to Barnard Movement Lab, David Zhang, and Trajal Harrell.
@initialresearch @skowheganart @_naaa_official @movementlabbarnard @david.zhangs by @initialresearch

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3 months ago

Join us for an intimate conversation between artists Yasmine Anlan Huang (@helloyasmine ) and Dahlia Bloomstone (@the_dancr_next_door ). From the dream of becoming an idol to the realities of affective work, both artists have navigated different social conditions while confronting the desires and expectations attached to youth and femininity: What‘s the difference between being desired and being loved?

Taking Huang’s most recent artist book, Becoming Everyone Everywhere (2026), as a point of departure, the conversation between Huang and Bloomstone draws on co-reading and comparative reflection on their similar yet distinct moving-image practices to investigate questions of ambition, longing, age anxiety, labor, and the ethics of storytelling, while considering how these concerns circulate within broader social and cultural frameworks.

🗓️ Friday, July 10, 6:30—8:00 PM
📍 41 Wooster Street, Floor 2, New York, NY 10013
✅ RSVP in bio

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Image 2: Portrait by Lean Lui. by @initialresearch

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4 months ago

Please join us for an exhibition presented by our 2025/2026 fellow Sowon Kwon’s sculpture class at The Cooper Union:
𝗜 𝗦𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝘆 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀, 𝗧𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗼𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀

A linguistic paradigm in sculptural practice was a point of departure, as was one Duck-Rabbit, and we went from there.

Opening Reception
May 15, 2026, 6:30–8 PM

Exhibition Dates
May 16–20, 2026, 1–5 PM (Closed Sunday)

Bereket Adamu
Muneeb Alam
Agatha Carlson
Dessa Ely
Ella Giallanzo
Jasper Krents
Sydnie Marshall
Hannah Muallem
Eric Nguyen
Nona Nishigawara
Mauricio Perdomo-Doncel
Gabo Sambar-Lande

——

A linguistic paradigm in sculptural practice was a point of departure, as was one Duck-Rabbit, and we went from there.

THREE WORDS:
anachronic grids, strata,
asemic, topographic, numinous,
equal-ish subset, misregister,
reiteration, reiteration, camo,
color balance, quartet,
parallax, binocular, afterimage,
formative, evanescent, splice,
polytheistic, placeholder, metronome,
dayglo, vulnerable, bonfire,
bistabile, Saussurean treepaper,
in neutral, comma,
pathos, and, bathos,

AND A QUESTION:
How do you recognize when an additional gesture begins to hover, no longer requiring another?
What do the folds hold?
Is there a relationship between Genzken’s speculative interventions and Michael Asher at the SMMoA (now ICA LA)?
Have you had a chance to look into Maria Eichhorn’s work on value?
John Berger’s Another Way of Telling?
FGT’s ring of dolphins?
Are these viewing apparatuses and if so, what can they help us see that we couldn’t before?
If the canopy allows light in, what can grow?
Have you seen such a beautiful sunset since?
Are the ears-beak really a hinge?
Do owls visit you often?
“Morning, boys, how’s the water?” by @initialresearch

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5 months ago

Join us for 𝗨𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗱.
哎 idles in dollar stores and empty classrooms.
They morph from a stream of soft depression to a string of instant imagination.
Accidentally,
They reclaim AI!

哎在壹圓店和空蕩的教室中游離。
它從一泉柔軟的沮喪變形成一串瞬間的想像。
不經意間，
它重塑了AI！

This work is part of our current fellow BHKM and Yu Ji’s ongoing project Shack. (@bhkmonline @yuuu_jiii )

“When you enter the space of initial research, you will find a box standing against the wall. We call it Shack, a temporary body of sculpture that represents Yu Ji and BHKM: cardboard walls, painted radish red, cement flooring, supported by 3/8x3/8 wooden sticks, all walls open individually suggests alternative dimensions of the space that contains. Our materialistic practice happens inside and performative practice happens both inside and outside. The Shark employs method of ‘____’ and community building in order to circulate the idea of use “of”. Matters and happenings updated coordinately and improvisedly.”
— BHKM and Yu Ji

Performer: 哎（pronounced ai）

Additional-Performer: BHKM

🗓️ Sunday, May 3, 7:00—8:30 PM. Doors open at 7:00 PM. Please note that doors will close at 7:30 PM.
📍 41 Wooster Street, Floor 2, New York, NY 10013
✅ RSVP in bio by @initialresearch

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6 months ago

Join us for 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲. This performance explores light in different ways. The artist,
Joy Li (@joy_li__ ), becomes a non-human creature by wearing wearable sculptures made of glass and light, using them as an extension of the body to interact with the audience. When light is alive, when it approaches, your pupils begin to constrict beyond your control.

This work is part of our current fellow BHKM and Yu Ji’s ongoing project Shack. (@bhkmonline @yuuu_jiii )

“When you enter the space of initial research, you will find a box standing against the wall. We call it Shack, a temporary body of sculpture that represents Yu Ji and BHKM: cardboard walls, painted radish red, cement flooring, supported by 3/8x3/8 wooden sticks, all walls open individually suggests alternative dimensions of the space that contains. Our materialistic practicehappens inside and performative practice happens both inside and outside. The Shark employs method of ‘____’ and community building in order to circulate the idea of use “of”. Matters and happenings updated coordinately and improvisedly.”
— BHKM and Yu Ji

Performer: Joy Li

🗓️ Saturday, May 2, 7:00—8:30 PM. Doors open at 7:00 PM. Please note that doors will close at 7:30 PM.
📍 41 Wooster Street, Floor 2, New York, NY 10013
✅ RSVP in bio

______
Image 3: Portrait of Joy Li by Cameron Patricia Downey by @initialresearch

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6 months ago