Mahjong Game Highlights Displacement of Seniors in NYC’s Chinatown

A participatory art piece at the Data Through Design exhibit in Brooklyn uses the tile game mahjong “to explore what it means to grow old, isolated and increasingly invisible in a rapidly-gentrifying Chinatown – and to allow viewers to reimagine the neighborhood for the better.”

In an article for Next City, Eliana Perozo describes the project, titled “Aging Out of Place.” According to Perozo, “The title is a play on the research field of aging in place, or the ability to stay in one’s community and live independently with dignity, rather than being moved to a care facility or a senior home.” 

Participants begin by reading a storytelling zine that provides context about the community, then moves on to playing a game with hand-painted tiles on a map of Chinatown. “Some of these are fixed, while others are movable, representing buildings that are vulnerable to gentrification – such as libraries, restaurants, community centers, churches and temples.” To play, “Players are encouraged to add or take away pieces – benches, libraries, elderly homes, soup kitchens and more — to envision a neighborhood where residents can age in place.”

The artist hopes the project will help show planners and policymakers how their decisions impact communities. “But she also hopes that it helps people think about how to protect their own cultural institutions and the vulnerable seniors in their own neighborhoods.”