Anida Yoeu Ali is a performing artist who believes art can help people understand religion, identity, and minority status. Ali is a Muslim Khmer woman who was born in Cambodia but raised in Chicago (Studio Revolt, 2011).

Her family was part of Cambodia’s minority Cham community, which faced persecution from the Khmer Rouge during the 1970s (Nghiem, 2014).

Ali describes in an interview that her family was able to flee Cambodia and move to the United States, where her grandfather lived. He sponsored the family to move to the United States, and because of this, Ali was able to avoid being recruited by the Khmer Rouge as a child soldier because she was too young to be enlisted. She has many identities including Malaysian, Cham, and Thai in her family background. Growing up, she says she identified with being Muslim more so than being Cambodian. “For me issues of identity have always been something I’ve been struggling with,” says Ali

(Nghiem, 2014). Her performances are aimed at including humor and science fiction in order to depict the challenge of multiple identities and what it feels like to be the one who is different (Nghiem, 2014).

Discussion Questions:

1. There is a saying that a picture is worth 1,000 words. Do you believe that art could be a good way to communicate complicated diversity issues such as intersectionality?

2. Think of one or two examples you have seen in the past of some form of art (whether it was a painting, a play, a movie, music, photography, or some other example) which conveyed a complex meaning in a clear and distinct way. What are these examples?
3. In what ways do organizations currently use art to convey meaning with respect to diversity?
4. In what ways can organizations expand their use of art to improve diversity management?