Artists & Identity

A conversation about the shifts and challenges in representing the Asian Pacific Islander American experience in mainstream media. Participants include comedian Jenny Yang, comedian and performance artist Kristina Wong and author Jeff Chang.

Join Asian American and African American leaders, thinkers, and organizers in a conversation focused on the current Civil Rights crisis; placing #BlackLivesMatter within historic context, and articulating connections between the experience of Asian Americans and African Americans in the United States. Moderated by journalist William Gee Wong; panelists include Alex Tom, Executive Director, Chinese Progressive Association; Nadia Khastagir, Design Action Collective & Asian Americans for Black Lives; Jeff Adachi, San Francisco Public Defender’s Office; and, Karissa Lewis, #BlackLivesMatter.

Shodo Harada Roshi, the abbot of Sogenji, a 17th century monastery in Okayama in Japan and international teacher of Rinzai Zen Buddhism, demonstrates his large scale calligraphy works.

Zhoong Kui (the demon queller) on a donkey, 1941, Pu Ru (1896-1963). China. Hanging scroll; ink and colors on paper. Acquisition made possible by John W. and Christine C. Barr, B82D2.

ERINA ALEJO is an educator, organizer and artist. Through ethnographic and archival frameworks, Alejo examines the role of the city, family and body in intergenerational memory, healing and trauma. Click to watch their Artist Spotlight 

Join influential playwright Philip Kan Gotanda to get the inside scoop on the ideas and inspirations behind his groundbreaking body of work, including his play, After the War Blues, which explores the lives of a diverse community in San Francisco’s Japantown in the aftermath of World War II. Gotanda, who teaches theater at UC Berkeley, appears in conversation with Michael Omi, associate professor of Asian American and Asian diaspora studies at UC Berkeley. To set the stage, local actors and musicians perform scenes from Gotanda’s plays. Warning: Contains explicit language.

The Bay Area’s own Ballet Afsaneh, a dynamic ensemble whose repertory focuses on Silk Road regions in Central Asia, will perform colorful, kinetic traditional dance.

The Urami Waterfall in Niko, Picture of Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces, August, 1853, by Ando Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797 – 1858), Woodblock print; Ink and colors on paper, Gift of Japanese Prints from the Collection of Emmeline Johnson. Donated by Oliver and Elizabeth Johnson, 1994.48. Photograph © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.

In this Therese Schoofs Memorial Lecture, Asian Art Museum docent, Kalpana Desai, discusses the life and works of the Korean artist Yoong Bae.