ON VIEW NOW
Temple University, Charles Library
August 24–December 13, 2026

Drawing on materials and imagery from Temple Libraries’ Special Collections—including the Urban Archives, the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, the Philadelphia Jewish Archives, and Templana—Philadelphia Unfolded explores identity, memory, migration, and belonging through the many communities and histories that have shaped Philadelphia.

PHILADELPHIA UNFOLDED

Inspired by the nostalgia of pop-up books, I transform photography and paper into kinetic moments of discovery. Moving between intimate books and large-scale installations, I use the engineering and problem-solving of pop-up structures to explore migration, memory, identity, and cultural history—revealing how stories can be constructed, concealed, and unfolded.

  • Colorful paper cutout art display resembling swirling flames with fish and other decorative elements, placed on a wooden cart near large glass windows inside a building.

    麵 高如山 Noodle Mountain, Slow Motion

    Inspired by the album cover of the children’s song On Top of Spaghetti, Noodle Mountain contemplates the deeply personal memories and the complex intergenerational histories of place, labor, and diaspora that food can conjure.

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  • Colorful display of traditional food and decorative elements on a table, with a woman in traditional attire behind it.

    我们是虎龙人 We Are Tiger Dragon People

    An ongoing series of photographic pop-up books exploring ethnic minority communities in China and my own relationship to ancestry, identity, and belonging.

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  • Group of people taking photos around a large, three-dimensional floral installation resembling a broken rock with cherry blossoms.

    桃花源記 Tao Hua Yuan Ji

    Tao Yuanming, a Jin Dynasty (317-420 CE) poet, wrote of a traveler who came upon an isolated peach blossom valley beyond a cave where people seeking political refuge lived an ideal, harmonious life with nature and each other.

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Iron and Paper: Unfolding Philadelphia's Chinatown

Commissioned by Art Philly as part of the What Now: 2026 Festival, with lead support provided by the William Penn Foundation, in partnership with Asian Arts Initiative and the Crane Community Center.

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"Fu’s books — their exuberant shapes, intense colors, and closely interwoven pop-up pages give the impression of being alive. Each of her pop-up books tells a story. She is a fearless wanderer who shares her wonders and helps us understand the world around us."

– Krystyna Wasserman, National Museum of Women in the Arts