Collected Item: “Amanda Wong Oral History, 2021/05/12”
Title
Interview with Amanda Wong of cutsleeve
Who conducted the interview? List all names, separated by comma.
Kit Heintzman
Who was interviewed? List all names, separated by commas.
Amanda Wong
Email Address(es) for all interviewers. Separated by comma.
kheintzman@gmail.com
Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your oral history. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?
#altrock, #art, #artist, #AntiAsianHate #Asia, #Asian, #Canada, #EastAsian, #Easternmedicine, #film, #freelancing, #grants, #immigrant, #musician, #Ontario, #partnership, #performingarts, #queer, #rock, #roommates, #selfcare, #SARS, #safety, #Singapore, #testingaccess, #Toronto, #travel
What is the format of your recording?
Video
In what ZIP code is the primary residence of the interviewee? (enter 5-digit ZIP code; for example, 00544 or 94305)? In what city/town/village does the interviewee live? In what country does the interviewee live? All comma-separated.
Toronto, ON, Canada
What is the gender of the interviewee? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their gender in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a gender identity to interviewees.*
Cis woman, genderqueer. she/her & they/them (interchangeably)
What is the age of the interviewee?
25 to 34
How does the interviewee describe their race or ethnicity? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their race/ethnicity in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a racial or ethnic identity to interviewees.*
Southeast Asian/East Asian
Describe the oral history.
“My name is Amanda Wong. I am a member of the band cutsleeve. We are an all queer, East Asian, alt-rock band, based here in Toronto. On the side I am also a filmmaker and a sound artist. I am an immigrant here to Canada; I moved here when I was 12.”
Some of the things we spoke about included:
Funding for the arts during the pandemic
Comparisons and contrasts with the response to SARS in Singapore witnessed as a child and what is being witnessed now with COVID-19.
Difficulties accessing health care outside of the context of COVID-19
The inadequacies of mental health care access in Canada
Freelance work
Recording cutsleeve’s first EP during the pandemic
What it was like to work on a film set in the earliest stages of the pandemic
Anxieties about any cold- or flu-like symptoms
Cancelling birthday celebrations because of the pandemic, just before the shut down. How little anyone knew at the beginning about transmission, and the fear that comes from that.
Cancelled planned travel to Asia to visit family in Feb 2020.
Nesting as a part of spending so much time in the home.
The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups: immigrants and people of colour.
Reduced contact with partner, under the pandemic seeing one another only once a week. The difficulties of them both having roommates and what that meant for risk taking.
How having a car determines testing access.
A friend having gotten COVID.
Contrasts between Western and Eastern ideas and values in medicine.
The Canadian government’s treatment of Black and Indigenous Peoples
Anti-Asian racism terminology
Creating anti-oppressive atmospheres of safety at concert venues
Realizing the harm of some pre-pandemic norms.
Remembering one has a body.
Other cultural references: the board game Pandemic, NyQuil
See also:
https://torontoqueerfilmfest.com/archive/tqff-year-2020/screenings/queer-emergencies-short-film-exhibition/
https://www.cfmdc.org/filmmaker/8294
https://irisprize.org/film/the-way-we-are/
https://www.cutsleeveband.com/bio
Some of the things we spoke about included:
Funding for the arts during the pandemic
Comparisons and contrasts with the response to SARS in Singapore witnessed as a child and what is being witnessed now with COVID-19.
Difficulties accessing health care outside of the context of COVID-19
The inadequacies of mental health care access in Canada
Freelance work
Recording cutsleeve’s first EP during the pandemic
What it was like to work on a film set in the earliest stages of the pandemic
Anxieties about any cold- or flu-like symptoms
Cancelling birthday celebrations because of the pandemic, just before the shut down. How little anyone knew at the beginning about transmission, and the fear that comes from that.
Cancelled planned travel to Asia to visit family in Feb 2020.
Nesting as a part of spending so much time in the home.
The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups: immigrants and people of colour.
Reduced contact with partner, under the pandemic seeing one another only once a week. The difficulties of them both having roommates and what that meant for risk taking.
How having a car determines testing access.
A friend having gotten COVID.
Contrasts between Western and Eastern ideas and values in medicine.
The Canadian government’s treatment of Black and Indigenous Peoples
Anti-Asian racism terminology
Creating anti-oppressive atmospheres of safety at concert venues
Realizing the harm of some pre-pandemic norms.
Remembering one has a body.
Other cultural references: the board game Pandemic, NyQuil
See also:
https://torontoqueerfilmfest.com/archive/tqff-year-2020/screenings/queer-emergencies-short-film-exhibition/
https://www.cfmdc.org/filmmaker/8294
https://irisprize.org/film/the-way-we-are/
https://www.cutsleeveband.com/bio
On what date did you record this oral history?
2021-05-12T13:48