The Generation We Don’t Know

June 7, 2024 | Hoopti Laboratories Retrosuperfutures archivist accompanied a group of over 20 Nigerian Aunties intent celebrating their sister’s 40th Birthday in Las Vegas, Nevada, uninhibited by children. In The Generation We Don’t Know, we investigate the permanence of the masks worn by first-generation immigrant parents by boldly presenting Auntie’s unmasked— dancing, laughing and screaming in passionate moments of uninhibited joy. The intergenerational dynamics of immigrant families tend to obscure children’s understanding of the identities of their parents, tend to overwhelm the identities of immigrants with expectations of that they embody sacrifice, survival, strength— often perspectives of the identities and humanity of their parents from the perspectives of their children. This collection reminds children and parents alike that parents can be heroes and human, too— that they love freedom, healthy doses of recklessness, and can laugh loud and freely enough to turn heads. And yes— some of them can crump. The collection asks, “do you understand what makes your loved ones’ souls move?” Do we deprive our elders of their authenticity as humans by virtue of rarifying their memory? Of what are they absolved? The archival work led by Hoopti laboratories functions to propagate accurate portrayals of the soul. In The Generation We Don’t Know,