Bex Kwan

Bex Kwan is an artist, organizer, and athlete of Han Chinese descent whose ancestors settled in Singapore, where Bex was born and raised. Engaged in a lifelong process of undoing the effects of growing up in a society rooted in Chinese supremacy culture, they are invested in creating loving movement spaces and consider deep friendship to be the basis of their work.

Bex first became politicized through queer and trans organizing for mental health care, and then later cut their teeth as a young organizer through anti-racist student organizing in social work graduate school. As the Senior Organizer at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), they worked on national, state, and local reproductive justice campaigns and facilitated grassroots organizing trainings for young Asian women and gender non-conforming people. Currently, Bex is organizing with a peer counseling collective to address mental health needs outside the carceral state in the New York City Asian and Asian American community.

Bex’s organizing practice is inseparable from their creative practice. Their art making spans performance, shadow puppetry and installation. With their creative partner So Mak, they are Jerome Hill Artist Fellows and have been selected for residencies with cultural institutions such as Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX), BRIC, The Trans Theatre Festival, and The High Line. 

As a facilitator, Bex specializes in working with coalitions and moving groups through complex processes of strategy, visioning, and repair. Bex also loves teaching the art of facilitation to strengthen movement building. They bring a dedication to supporting people in moving through conflict with skill.  Formerly an educator in pre-schools, they love to create environments that inspire play and creative possibilities while remaining grounded in a political rigor.

Bex currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with many loved ones and their dog Kaya.