Future Ancestor: Seeded Mythologies from the Adoptee Diaspora is a collaborative storytelling and visual ritual project created by Chinese adoptee artists @evalinfahey and @madeleineconover . This event gathers community around the themes of mythology, food, memory, and belonging—uplifting adoptee voices as part of a living, evolving diasporic landscape.
June 13th, 2026
@paoartscenter , 99 Albany st, Boston, MA, 02111
Schedule:
10:30am-1pm: Chinese adoptees only
1pm-2pm: Community sharing and lunch
2pm-4pm: public programming, talisman making workshop *open to all* with exhibition temple of our ancestral dreams
Registration now open - space is limited (link in b!o for both events), hope to see you there!
Happy Lunar New Year—welcome to the year of the Fire Horse! Enjoy Madeleine Conover’s three-layer yardage depicting a friendly feast among zodiac friends.
“Growing up as a Chinese American adoptee, I always celebrated Lunar New Year with other adoptees, friends, and family. I have a vivid memory of the first time we went to a restaurant with the dim sum carts and I remember wondering why more restaurants didn’t have the special carts. I’m the year of the pig so I personified myself serving all the zodiac animals.”
@madeleineconover is a former FWM Apprentice and artist whose images and sculptures explore her ideas of Asian American diaspora and her adoption due to China’s former one-child policy. Her recent work focuses on the subsequent discovery of her biological family and community building with adoptees.
Shop Conover’s prints in-store at FWM. Plan your visit at the link in bio.
Images: Madeleine Conover, “Chinese New Year!” 2021. Photo credit: Carlos Avendaño (@avendano_photography )
closing reception of scattering/collecting tomorrow + artist talk 12-2 @davinciartalliance , digi reprint of the cookbook available too
film photos by @drew.j !!!!!!
chinese adoptee cookbook forever ❤️🔥
this project started as an idea during lockdown when I found myself wandering the aisles of the asian grocery store in philadelphia. staring at labels i couldn’t read, looking closely at the nutrition facts for any hints of what each bottle may contain. my pantry looked different growing up, but i wanted to learn to cook with new flavors that tasted better than takeout
this past spring, I asked several artists to participate in the first edition of the cookbook project, some of them i’d never met, some of them we went way back. the only guidelines that I gave them was to make a spread or recipe that would be risograph printed and included in a conceptual cookbook about the chinese adoptee experience.
through many rounds of edits, zoom calls, printing mishaps, and hours spent binding, collating, assembling, and shipping - we made a book!
i’m so proud of the final product and honored to share it as my first collaborative publication project for my small press, mad dog studio @maddogdiggittydog .
big thank you and hugs to all of the artists who came together to make my passion project idea into a reality: @allisonncarl , @a.painting.in.the.park , @evalinfahey , @jillianphammer , @miakaplanmakes , @katiemongoven , @unicorncaptain , & @oatsntats 💞
second edition of the cookbook dropping next week at the closing + artist talk @davinciartalliance 11/23, 12-2, see u there!
the most beautiful film photos from the opening by @drew.j
Post-colonial theorist Homi Bhabha argues that, “‘in-between’ spaces provide the terrain for elaborating strategies of selfhood...that initiate new signs of identity...” “𝗦𝗰𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴/𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 ” presents the work of Chinese American adoptees: Allison Carl, Talia Connelly, Madeleine Conover, Eva Lin Fahey, Jillian Hammer, Mia Kaplan, Katie Mongoven, Alison Staffin, and Ari Zuaro. Together, they have come together to create an exhibition that transforms the gallery at Da Vinci Art Alliance into a “third space;” a place to gather, fortify self and forge community. Through ceramic, textile, print, and painting, artists Madeleine Conover, Eva Fahey, Katie Mongoven, explore the Chinese American adoptee experience and the ramifications of China’s former one-child policy (1980 - 2015). Collectively, the subject matter, methodologies and material choices of these works come together to triangulate transracial adoptees’ complex cultural and racial identities, and the complexities of the Asian American diaspora. This exhibition also coincides with the launch of the first edition risograph cookbook filled with Chinese adoptee narratives and recipes.
🥟 🧧 Scattering/Collecting at @davinciartalliance presents the work of Chinese American adoptees: Allison Carl, Talia Connelly , Madeleine Conover, Eva Lin Fahey, Jillian Hammer, Mia Kaplan, Katie Mongoven, Alison Spring, and Ari Zuaro. Together, they have come together to create an exhibition that transforms the gallery at Da Vinci Art Alliance into a “third space;” a place to gather, fortify self and forge community.
I will be teaching a dumpling making workshop on November 2nd from 12-2pm. The event will center other Chinese adoptees or folks facing displacement to gather, learn a new skill, and be a part of this third space.
Participants will be led through the step-by-step process of the filling mixing, folding, and cooking. At the end of the workshop, participants will have a chance to taste and enjoy their dumplings amongst new friends. Ticket price of $25 will pay for workshop materials. Registration now open, space is limited.
SAVE THE DATE:
Scattering/Collecting opens November 1st, 4-6pm at DVAA. There will be a limited edition of the first edition riso copies of the Chinese Adoptee cookbook available through the gallery.
+ digital reprint for cookbooks pre-orders now open on my site: madeleineconover.bigcartel.com no spiral bound this time, minor tweaks, same content as the og
LINK IN B!O, love u
@allisonncarl@a.painting.in.the.park@evalinfahey@jillianphammer@miakaplanmakes@katiemongoven@unicorncaptain@oatsntats
chinese adoptee cookbook soft launching friday at noon est 🧧
my small press @maddogdiggittydog is self publishing its first big project :,) it’s hard to sum up how my passion project evolved into a larger BOOK, that so many other adoptees resonated with. i am so honored and proud to organize so many talented friends, artists, and collaborators: Jillian Hammer @jillianphammer , Eva Lin Fahey @evalinfahey , Alison Spring @unicorncaptain , Katie Mongoven @katiemongoven , Ari Zuaro @oatsntats , Allie Carl @allisonncarl , Talia Connelly @a.painting.in.the.park and Mia Kaplan, @miakaplanmakes
the cookbook is hard launching at the end of the month in an exhibition @davinciartalliance , more info on that soon but for now a little bts, mark your cals for the opening 11/1 ❤️ thank u, i love u!!
The NEA may have cut the funding for our Artist in Residence program, but it couldn’t cut our commitment to celebrating our ongoing relationship with Chinatown.
Rather than choose one winner and develop a citywide poster campaign, this year’s program invited all four finalists to contribute to a group show at Welcome to Chinatown’s Hub (@welcome.to.chinatown ) honoring the idea of community within the Asian-American diaspora.
This month-long exhibition will be on view starting on Tuesday, September 23, and we hope you will help us celebrate artists Jessica Lou @lookygoodss , Vanessa Nguyễn @nessafiesta , Prisca Choe @priscachoe , and Madeleine Conover @madeleineconover . Additional thanks to @harry_trinh , @mihoshifukushark , and @stirfryguru for sharing our commitment to the program and finding solutions in an otherwise chaotic time.
