Photo by Glen Gordon Photographer
Photo by Glen Gordon PhotographerACTivate Residency Filmmaker 2026 | Visual Designer for #HellaBlack Vol. 7: Shift
Amir Dixon is an award-winning filmmaker, visual artist, and the Founder & Creative Director of ANI (Amir Now Inc.), a full-service creative and visual design firm. ANI’s mission is to advance health and economic equity within communities of color and other marginalized groups. Amir explains, “I started ANI to create work that disrupts social norms, amplifies the voices of the marginalized, and has a direct impact on the lives of our most vulnerable—through art.”
Amir is also the Director of the award-winning film BLACK: Narratives in Boston’s Black Queer & Trans History, a groundbreaking work that highlights the rich and complex stories of Boston’s Black LGBTQ+ community.
Amir has been recognized as one of The Advocate Magazine’s “40 Under 40” and is a recipient of the Black Pride Heritage Award. His work has been featured in Ebony Magazine, Buzzfeed, Advocate Magazine, The Rainbow Times, and other outlets.
2026
ACTivate Residency
Amir Dixon will partner with ACTivate Resident Yue Hua to document the residency and Cyclorama takeover, resulting in a short film that captures the project.
Project Statement
I propose a multichannel 16mm film installation and live performance exploring layered meanings of “home” from both personal and Boston community perspectives. As a Chinese artist who arrived in the U.S. with two suitcases, I reflect on home as memory, flavor, and the connections I’ve built in new places. Using hand-made, found, and live-recorded film, I will create a sensory portrait inspired by haiku and visual poetry.
Personal objects will be arranged on the floor to trace a transition—from travel essentials to the familiar furniture and belongings that define a sense of home. Film strips will hang across the Cyclorama’s circular space, transforming it into a living cinematic reflection on home, life, and belonging. There will be a final showcase that collaborates with musicians on a live score, and invites local participants to draw or write on clear 16mm film, integrating their reflections into the final performance. Inspired by Stan VanDerBeek’s Movie-Drome, this participatory work reimagines cinema as a collective space for memory, identity, and shared experience.
—Yue Hua
Open Call
WHAT DOES "HOME" MEAN TO YOU?
Resident Artist, Yue Hua, is creating a new multimedia film installation for the ACTivate Residency at BCA in January 2026. This new work explores the shifting, intimate, and sometimes fragile meaning of home, both physically and mentally, in the Cyclorama.
Yue invites members of the community to contribute short written reflections or photographs that express what “home” means to you. These contributions may be incorporated into the final installation, becoming part of a collective portrait of belonging, memory, and place.
What to Submit Responding to one or both of the following questions:
1. What does “home” mean to you?
2. What is the most essential element of your home, or something that makes it feel like home?
Your reflection can be literal, emotional, abstract, poetic, or personal. No right or wrong answer.
How Your Words Will Be Used:
Submitted texts may appear anonymously within the installation’s visual or sound components, contributing to a collective portrait of how people experience belonging, memory, and place.
Submission Details
Length: 1–2 text sentences or one picture
Deadline: Dec 25th, 2025
Submission: If you would like to be part of this installation, please email Yue at yvetteyhua@gmail.com
Optional Permissions Section: By submitting, you grant permission for your text to be included in the installation, exhibition materials, and related documentation. Your contribution may be edited lightly for clarity, while preserving your meaning and voice.