Incidental Contact was a group photography exhibition and series of community activations that took place every Sunday from May 11 to June 15, 2025, in and around Columbus Park, Chinatown.
Curated by Benji Zi Jian Hsu and Sha Luo, the project explored basketball as a stage for connection, intimacy, and self-discovery. Featuring works by Matías Alvial, Yuhan Cheng, Tracy Dong, Yulin Gu, Andrew Kung, Macey Keung, Andrew Liu, Dustin Lin, Dominick McDuffie, Irma Mauro, Chloe Scout Nix, Xander Opiyo, Alejandra Paloma, Ramona Jingru Wang, Zuya Yang, and Echo Zixuan Zhao, the show unfolded along the fencing of Columbus Park’s basketball courts—the home of Chinatown Basketball Club’s (CBC) weekly pick-up games.
Programming included free Sunday morning pick-up basketball games and "Sunday School" sessions open to the public at 10am in the park.
Basta spoke with Benji, the New York City–based artist and curator behind the exhibition, about the show.
Basta: What initially prompted the idea for the exhibition?
Benji: The idea for the exhibition began when I first started doing little photo exchanges with another CBC community member, Echo. Those moments sparked a desire to more intentionally gather artists from within CBC and explore how the community has shaped their work and how, in turn, their work has shaped CBC. It was then, during the ICP holiday market, that CBC was asked to table. I was able to sit with and see photo work from the different members within the community. CBC has always been a home to artists who also play basketball, so the impulse to explore that connection felt like a natural step.
I moved to California after college in 2009, and things started falling into place. Some music people heard my songs, and I was given money, which was shocking and amazing. From that moment on, I knew: this is what I want to do. I don’t want to settle for anything else.
Basta: Walking through the exhibition, we were so amazed by the unity of the artists. Even though the photographs were by varied artists, they all seemed to possess a similar aesthetic, which made the exhibition flow beautifully. What criteria did you follow when curating the artists and their work?
Benji: We wanted to arrange photos that visually invoked strong feelings of physical connection, softness, and motion. We were drawn to images that embodied the physicality of basketball but also the emotional texture of shared space. We were looking for work that didn’t just document the game but expressed something more poetic about what it means to gather, to move, and to hold bonds. A lot of it came down to intuition, work that felt like it belonged together because it was in conversation. We were less focused on uniformity and more on resonance and on assembling pieces that could speak to one another across styles and perspectives.
Benji: The idea for the exhibition began when I first started doing little photo exchanges with another CBC community member, Echo. Those moments sparked a desire to more intentionally gather artists from within CBC and explore how the community has shaped their work and how, in turn, their work has shaped CBC. It was then, during the ICP holiday market, that CBC was asked to table. I was able to sit with and see photo work from the different members within the community. CBC has always been a home to artists who also play basketball, so the impulse to explore that connection felt like a natural step.
I moved to California after college in 2009, and things started falling into place. Some music people heard my songs, and I was given money, which was shocking and amazing. From that moment on, I knew: this is what I want to do. I don’t want to settle for anything else.
Basta: Walking through the exhibition, we were so amazed by the unity of the artists. Even though the photographs were by varied artists, they all seemed to possess a similar aesthetic, which made the exhibition flow beautifully. What criteria did you follow when curating the artists and their work?
Benji: We wanted to arrange photos that visually invoked strong feelings of physical connection, softness, and motion. We were drawn to images that embodied the physicality of basketball but also the emotional texture of shared space. We were looking for work that didn’t just document the game but expressed something more poetic about what it means to gather, to move, and to hold bonds. A lot of it came down to intuition, work that felt like it belonged together because it was in conversation. We were less focused on uniformity and more on resonance and on assembling pieces that could speak to one another across styles and perspectives.
Photograph by Dominick McDuffie
Photograph by Ramona Jingru Wang
Basta: How do you feel art connects to basketball, specifically in Chinatown - has there always been a link between the two, or do you feel like Chinatown Basketball Club is the first?
Benji: Basketball in Chinatown has always been more than just a sport; it's a rhythm and a way of claiming space. The courts are sites of improvisation, ritual, and self-expression, all qualities that artists know intimately.
Basta: How has the community responded to the exhibition?
Benji: The response has been incredibly warm and affirming. People who come to play or pass through the park have stopped to engage with the work, sometimes recognizing a familiar face in a photo, sometimes just taking it in quietly. We’ve had conversations with longtime locals, visiting artists, and people who didn’t expect to encounter art in that space. There’s been a real sense of pride, curiosity, and belonging. It feels like the work is meeting people where they are, and that’s been really meaningful.
Basta: Can you speak more on the basketball term "incidental contact" and how it inspired the exhibition's conceptual framework?
Benji:
Photograph by Dustin Lin
Basta: How do you see photography as a medium particularly suited to capturing the essence of basketball and the show’s theme?
Benji: Photography is built on timing, on catching something just before it slips away. Photography freezes these fleeting, almost invisible moments of contact and exchange that might otherwise be lost in the speed of the game.
Basta: How does Chinatown Basketball Club's history and weekly rituals inform the exhibition's themes?
Benji: CBC’s consistency of playing every Sunday has created this slow, organic archive of community. It’s not formal or structured, but over time, it’s become something people count on. That sense of ritual is central to the show: the rhythms of showing up, of looking, of participating. The exhibition tries to mirror that not just in the work itself, but in the way it unfolds over six Sundays, alongside the regular pickup games.
Benji: Basketball in Chinatown has always been more than just a sport; it's a rhythm and a way of claiming space. The courts are sites of improvisation, ritual, and self-expression, all qualities that artists know intimately.
Basta: How has the community responded to the exhibition?
Benji: The response has been incredibly warm and affirming. People who come to play or pass through the park have stopped to engage with the work, sometimes recognizing a familiar face in a photo, sometimes just taking it in quietly. We’ve had conversations with longtime locals, visiting artists, and people who didn’t expect to encounter art in that space. There’s been a real sense of pride, curiosity, and belonging. It feels like the work is meeting people where they are, and that’s been really meaningful.
Basta: Can you speak more on the basketball term "incidental contact" and how it inspired the exhibition's conceptual framework?
Benji:
Basta: How do you see photography as a medium particularly suited to capturing the essence of basketball and the show’s theme?
Benji: Photography is built on timing, on catching something just before it slips away. Photography freezes these fleeting, almost invisible moments of contact and exchange that might otherwise be lost in the speed of the game.
Basta: How does Chinatown Basketball Club's history and weekly rituals inform the exhibition's themes?
Benji: CBC’s consistency of playing every Sunday has created this slow, organic archive of community. It’s not formal or structured, but over time, it’s become something people count on. That sense of ritual is central to the show: the rhythms of showing up, of looking, of participating. The exhibition tries to mirror that not just in the work itself, but in the way it unfolds over six Sundays, alongside the regular pickup games.
Photograph by Tracy Dong
Basta: What does it mean to present art in the same space where these basketball communities gather weekly?
Benji: It blurs the line between viewer and participant. The exhibition isn’t something you go inside to see; it’s woven into the life of the park. That decision was intentional. We wanted the art to live alongside the community. To let people encounter it in the midst of their everyday life. It’s about honoring the space for what it already is: alive, layered, full of stories.
Basta: What do you hope participants take away from the combination of visual art, sports, and community gathering?
Benji: I hope they feel how deeply connected these realms are. That art isn’t separate from life, or from the court, or from the community around it. I hope they notice the small gestures, like the way the wind blows the fabric and are open to those unexpected collisions that shape us.
Basta: What's next for Chinatown Basketball Club and its intersection with the arts community?
Benji: We’re thinking about ways to keep this momentum going through more collaborations, publishing, workshops, and film screenings. The goal isn’t to institutionalize it but to keep it porous, playful, and community-led. There’s a lot of energy in the CBC orbit, and we’re just beginning to tap into what’s possible.
Benji: It blurs the line between viewer and participant. The exhibition isn’t something you go inside to see; it’s woven into the life of the park. That decision was intentional. We wanted the art to live alongside the community. To let people encounter it in the midst of their everyday life. It’s about honoring the space for what it already is: alive, layered, full of stories.
Basta: What do you hope participants take away from the combination of visual art, sports, and community gathering?
Benji: I hope they feel how deeply connected these realms are. That art isn’t separate from life, or from the court, or from the community around it. I hope they notice the small gestures, like the way the wind blows the fabric and are open to those unexpected collisions that shape us.
Basta: What's next for Chinatown Basketball Club and its intersection with the arts community?
Benji: We’re thinking about ways to keep this momentum going through more collaborations, publishing, workshops, and film screenings. The goal isn’t to institutionalize it but to keep it porous, playful, and community-led. There’s a lot of energy in the CBC orbit, and we’re just beginning to tap into what’s possible.