View the 30s excerpt on Vimeo
Multimedia Installation, 2026
100ft x 120ft
Materials: Personal Item, projectors, films
Journey to Home is a multimedia installation and community engagement project exploring immigration, relocation, and the evolving meaning of home. Developed during the Boston Center for the Arts’ 7-day Activate Residency in the Cyclorama, the project combines digital media, 16mm analog film, live-recorded footage, personal objects, and participatory storytelling to create a layered, sensory environment.
As a Chinese artist who arrived in the U.S. with two suitcases, Yue Hua reflects on rebuilding a sense of home through memory, culture, and connection. The installation begins with two suitcases placed on the floor; as audiences move through the space, everyday and travel objects gradually transform into a “home.” Projected video collages memories of China with lived experiences and encounters from the Boston community, forming a poetic dialogue between homeland and diaspora.
Community Engagement
Journey to Home includes 37 written and photographic reflections on home collected through an open call, installed as collective testimony. The project also features a direct animation workshop, inviting participants to draw and write on film strips that are projected live within the installation. Screenings accompanied by live music create a multisensory, participatory experience.
Open Call – What does HOME mean to you?
Click to View Home Reflection Archive – 36 Submissions Worldwide
Reflections from the community were printed, linked, and laid on the floor, tracing the journey from suitcase travel to “home,” inviting audiences to pause and read.
Direct Animation Workshop – Drawing Home
In the workshop, the artist invited participants to write and draw their responses to prompts such as What is the color of home? What is the shape of a home? on 16mm film strips.
The strips were collected, looped, and projected with live music, turning individual reflections into a shared, multisensory experience.
Projection Performance & Live Music
Work-in-progress Photos
To learn more about the process
Special thanks to Boston Center for Arts, Andrea Blesso, Michaela Bocchino, Emerson College DFL, AgX Film Collective, Stefan Grabowski, Tushar Gidwani, and all the audiences.
Crew
Artist – Yue Hua
Prop Making – Jiani Lin, YiChun Yang
Install & Set dressing – Jiani Lin, YiChun Yang, Zichen Lan
Photo/Video – Katiria Concepcion-Velez, Zichen Lan, vincent Luo
Musician – Douz (Pan Xu)
Collaborate Residency Filmmaker – Amir Dixon
Inspired by haiku and visual poetry, Timelapse by Sarah Sze, Waste Not by Song Dong, and Movie Dome by Stan VanDerBeek
YueHua 