South Philadelphia immigrants the focus of multifaceted art project

This art project shows the journeys these immigrants have taken to come here. - - Donna Poisl

By Amy S. Rosenberg, Inquirer Staff Writer

Samnon Mao Chan - 63, newsstand owner, Khmer Rouge survivor, Buddhist meditator, and lottery-ticket dispenser - is outside the Doggie Style pet-supply store on East Passyunk Avenue.

Arms spread for balance, a willing smile on his face, he places his feet on footprints painted on the sidewalk, choreographed by Miro Dance Theatre's Amanda Miller to echo his "backward and twisted" journey from Cambodia to Philadelphia.

"My history is here," Chan says as he follows the steps, tracing his initial exit from and subsequent return to Phnom Penh, then a big leap across the ocean to Washington, D.C., then to Philadelphia.
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