apa resources at smithsonian institutions
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APA Resources at Smithsonian Institutions
Below is a listing of selected Asian Pacific American history resources at the National Museum of
American History and other Smithsonian Institution Museums/Affiliates. To view additional APA
holdings please browse the respective webpages and search for keywords such as “Asian Pacific
American.”
National Museum of American History
AAPI Heritage Month resources for teachers on Smithsonian's History
Explorer
Examine collections of the Museum's key resources on major themes in American history
and social studies teaching. Additional resources can be found in the main search areas of
the website.
https://historyexplorer.si.edu/major-themes/theme/asian-american-and-pacific-islander-
heritage-month
Tell Me What Democracy Looks Like
Explore what democracy looks like from the perspectives of five organizers working in
today's undocumented movement.
Look for:
Jung Woo Kim
Esther Jeon
https://americanhistory.si.edu/tell-me-what-democracy-looks-like
Stories of 2020
Stories from the public and their perspectives during 2020 –a time of pandemic, economic
crisis, police violence, and protest.
Look for:
Refugee Communities: A modest collection of stories in Stories of 2020 contributed
by former refugees from Bhutan and Nepal.
https://americanhistory.si.edu/stories-of-2020
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Order 9066 Podcast
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 just months after Japan
bombed Pearl Harbor. Some 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were forced from their
homes on the West Coast and sent to one of ten “relocation” camps, where they were
imprisoned behind barbed wire for the length of the war. Two-thirds of them were American
citizens. In a continued effort to increase public engagement about this chapter of American
history, the museum partnered with American Public Media to create Order 9066, a
landmark podcast series examining this sobering period in the nation’s history.
Listen Here
https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/podcast-order-9066
Pandemic Perspectives
Curators and historians engage in a series of panel discussions offering perspectives on the
current pandemic. Panelists will virtually share objects from the past as a springboard to a
lively discussion of how to better understand the present.
Look for:
Fear and Scapegoating During a Pandemic
Additional related information to this session: The Long History of Blaming
Immigrants in Times of Sickness
https://americanhistory.si.edu/pandemic-perspectives
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Smithsonian Jazz
Toshiko Akiyoshi is a pianist, band leader, and composer-arranger, whose vital
contributions to the art of big band jazz earned her the title of NEA Jazz Master in 2007.
Born in Manchuria, Akiyoshi first moved to Japan with her parents at the end of World War
II, and then to the United States in 1956 to study at Berklee School of Music in Boston.
Following a series of performances in top New York venues, in 1973 she and her husband,
saxophonist/flutist Lew Tabackin, formed the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra. Known for
her uniquely textural big band compositions and Japanese influence, Akiyoshi has received
14 Grammy Award nominations and was the first woman to win Best Arranger and
Composer awards in Down Beat magazine's annual Readers' Poll. The artist for the 2020
JAM poster is Wynter Jackson, a senior visual arts student at the Duke Ellington School of
the Arts in Washington, D.C.
Toshiko Akiyoshi has been featured on the official 2020 JAM poster, and the Museum has
conducted an interview with her for the Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program.
Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Appreciation Month Poster 2020
Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program- Toshiko Akiyoshi
Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II
An exhibition that was on view at the National Museum of American History from February
2017 to July 2019. The exhibition explores the history of Executive Order 9066 and the
incarceration of Japanese Americans.
Video highlighting World-War-II-era artifacts that represent community life of incarcerated
Japanese Americans inspired these personal stories that reveal the complexities of living in
the camps and striving to maintain some semblance of normalcy.
Related Learning Labs:
Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans in World War II
Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans in World War II
https://americanhistory.si.edu/righting-wrong-japanese-americans-and-world-war-ii
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Coronavirus: Chinatown Stories
The work of NMAH advisor Grace Young, featured in featured in Smithsonian Food History
Weekend, October 2020. Coronavirus: Chinatown Stories is a special project partnered with
Poster House that documents the personal stories from New York City’s Chinatown
community.
Grace Young commenced a one-day shoot on March 15, 2020 with a handful of businesses
and restaurant owners so that New Yorkers could hear their personal stories. She hoped
her interviews would inspire diners to patronize Chinatown eateries and shops at this
perilous moment. Her team conducted five heart-wrenching interviews, realizing, as Grace
reported, “we were recording and bearing witness to one of the saddest days in
Chinatown’s history.” However, a few hours later that same day, the mayor ordered the
shutting of all New York restaurants. In the interviews, individual restaurant and business
owners speak movingly of the personal toll wrought by the virus on Chinatown’s heart and
soul.
https://posterhouse.org/special-project/corona-virus-chinatown-stories/
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What It Means to be an American Project A national, multiplatform, multimedia conversation hosted by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and Arizona State University, and produced by Zócalo Public Square. It brings together leading thinkers, public figures, and Americans from all walks of life to explore big, visceral questions about how our nation’s past can help us understand its present and imagine its future. Spotlight Articles:
Chinese Immigrants Now Make Up the Largest Group of New Arrivals to the U.S.
The Contradictory Legacy of the 1965 Immigration Act
The Lawyer Who Beat Back a Racist Law, One Loophole at a Time
The Japanese-American Flower Growers Who Made Phoenix Bloom
Your Chinese Menu Is Really a Time Machine
Somersaulting into America
At an Irish-American Funeral Home, I Found My Chinese Roots
Captain America Dons a Turban
In Hawaii, an Immigrant Family that Bridged Japanese and American Worlds
The Hidden Life of Japanese-American Teenagers
https://www.whatitmeanstobeamerican.org/
Smithsonian Spotlight Pages
Asian American Artists and Selected Works
This page highlights Asian American artists in Smithsonian wide collection.
https://www.si.edu/spotlight/asian-american-arts-artists
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage in the Collections
This page highlights Smithsonian wide collection objects related to Asian Pacific American heritage.
https://www.si.edu/spotlight/asian-american
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American Women’s History Initiative
Twelve Women to Know for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage
Month
Twelve AAPI women with Smithsonian collection ties whose stories are integral to American
history then and now, largely authored by Healoha Johnston. https://womenshistory.si.edu/news/2020/05/twelve-women-know-asian-american-and-
pacific-islander-heritage-month
Care for the Community
Two videos highlight:
The influence of Regina Lee's upbringing as an Asian American Immigrant and how growing
up in Chinatown, NY during the 50's, 60's, and 70's shaped her philanthropy.
https://womenshistory.si.edu/vef/load/50fabedf156d18c0bc57b3414e999e31?width=1080&
height=612
New York City's Chinatown, college student Regina Lee and other volunteers organized a
neighborhood health fair to improve health literacy in their community.
https://youtu.be/wmf9lJj01uY
Anacostia Community Museum
The Past and Future of DC Chinatown
A documentary about the evolution of this important but shrinking neighborhood.
https://youtu.be/_HIYU5TsUHU
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A Right to the City Digital Exhibit
A Washington, DC History Project that explores the history of neighborhood change and
civic engagement in the nation’s capital by looking at the dynamic histories of six
Washington, D.C., neighborhoods: Adams Morgan, Anacostia, Brookland, Chinatown, Shaw
and Southwest. The exhibition tells the story of these communities through the eyes of the
Washingtonians who have helped shape these neighborhoods in extraordinary ways.
Explore the history of Washington, DC’s Chinatown
Excerpts from oral history interviews about the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, DC
Asian Pacific American Center
Our Stories
A digital storytelling Initiative to support the dissemination and perpetuation of Native
Hawaiian and Pacific Island cultures through the media arts. This 21st century approach to
traditional storytelling uses a combination of traditional knowledge, Multigenerational
Learning, and Mixed Media (MM) methodologies to capture traditional and contemporary
community narratives. These stories are available cross platform via short Film, Podcasts,
Mixed Reality (VR/AR), and emerging media content platforms bringing Pacific stories and
storytellers to the forefront of the craft.
https://smithsonianapa.org/stories/
Folk Hero: Remembering Yuri Kochiyama
Tribute to Japanese American civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama through art such as
drawings, songs, poems, flyers, etc. Yuri survived forced relocation during World War II,
eventually urging the apology from the U.S. government for the internment of Japanese
Americans. She was Malcolm X’s pen pal during his trip to Africa, receiving his postcards
from nine different countries. She was a cornerstone in the Black Power and Asian
American liberation movements alike, and was a fierce voice for a range of global civil rights
efforts until her death.
http://smithsonianapa.org/yuri/
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Queer Check-ins
Set of video poems, curated by Franny Choi, from twelve queer Asian and Pacific Islander
diasporic poets to check in and give us glimpses of queer life--okay, not okay, and in
between. Video footage, shot by the poets themselves, maps out queer space across the
U.S. and beyond.
https://smithsonianapa.org/queer-check-ins/
Queer Elders
Four APA elders share their experiences and thoughts about celebrating the past, what
shifts brought us to today, and what the future holds.
https://smithsonianapa.org/queer-elders/
Learning Activities:
We are not a stereotype
Addressing Anti-Asian Racism with Students
#KindnessHeals Activity (downloadable PDF from Learning Together)
Restorative Justice Activity
Anna May Wong x Sally Wen Mao Learning Lab collection and postcard activity
Blog posts
Books for the Diverse Reader by Terry Hong:
Pickles and Tea: Adventures in Asian American Cooking by Pat Tanumihardja
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Previous Events
Quiet Before Four Part Panel Talk May 2021 6PM EST
An examination of the current state of the Asian Pacific American community. What are some of the many factors that contribute to the disturbing violence we see perpetrated on the most vulnerable? The panelists will share importance of solutions that take into account APA community’s symbiotic relationship with allies. The panel will be moderated by Hua Hsu and feature the voices of Alena Victor, Carmelyn Malalis , Deepa Iyer , Kalayaan Mendoza , Khara Jabola-Carolus, Lolan Sevilla , Sasha Wijeyeratne and Vanessa Leung.
The Healing Power of Storytelling Roundtable (Mother Tongue Film Festival) May 14, 2021 5PM EST
This panel will highlight the unique ability of film to project stories to places they might have never traveled before—bringing connection, understanding, and healing. Festival co-director Joshua Bell and Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center Curator Kālewa Correa will moderate a live conversation with Directors Christopher Auchter of “The Mountain of Sgaana,” Adrian Baker of “Source of the Wound,” Christopher Kahunahana of “Waikiki” and Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu of “Kapaemahu.”
Archives of American Art
Video on Ruth Asawa
Ruth Asawa’s oral history interview was recorded in 2002 when the artist was 76 years old, it is one of nearly 2,500 interviews in the Archives of American Art’s unparalleled collection of oral histories. Asawa (1926–2013) was a sculptor based in San Francisco, best known for her looped wire sculptures. In a wide-ranging conversation, Asawa explores what it means to be modern, breaks down the artificial barriers between art and craft, provides a glimpse into what life was like at the legendary Black Mountain College in the 1940s, and addresses issues of race as a Japanese American in the mid-twentieth century.
http://s.si.edu/AsawaFilm
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Articles
One Spot of Normalcy: Chiura Obata’s Art Schools, 2019
Val Laigo, José Rizal Park, and the Mosaic of Filipino America, 2019
Roger Shimomura’s Seven Kabuki Plays and the Diaries of Toku Shimomura at Minidoka,
2018
Naming Ourselves: Asian American and Latina/o Arts Meet in the Kathy Vargas Papers,
2017
An Epistolary Friendship: Miné Okubo’s Letters to Kay Sekimachi, 2016
Questioning American-ness: Artists Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Aram Han Sifuentes, 2015
Miné Okubo, Number 13660, 2015
New Collections: Toshiko Takaezu papers, 2021
Exhibitions
Artist Teacher Organizer: Yasuo Kuniyoshi in the Archives of American Art, 2015
What is Feminist Art?
Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage
Masters of Tradition: A Cultural Journey Across America
A story map built on the ESRI platform that includes profiles of many AAPI artists who are among the masters of traditional arts recognized by the National Endowment for Arts as National Heritage Fellows
https://folklife.si.edu/masters-of-tradition
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Folklife Festival Blog posts
Speaking to Her People: How Rapper Ruby Ibarra Sings to and about Immigrants
The Story of a People and a Plant: American Ginseng and the Hmong People
Art for Social Action: Soul & Ink’s Asian American Identity and D.C. Community
Remembering E.O. 9066: San Jose Taiko on Musical and Historical Resonances
Body Language: A Discussion on Gender and Performance
What Does It Mean to Be American Muslim?
Love of Life as Survival: Malini Srinivasan and Bharatanatyam Dance
Ted’s Talk: A Conversation on Chinese Immigration History
Coming to America the Muslim American Experience
Rumah Indonesia: Young Adults on the Move
The Chinese Community of Tacoma, Washington: A Story of Forced Migration
Names on the Move: The Stories of My Many Names
Atomic Nancy: Sounds of Los Angeles
George Abe: Ripples of Japanese Internment
Echoes of History: Chinese Poetry at the Angel Island Immigration Station
Discovering Chinese Heritage, Part 1: Chinatowns
Discovering Chinese Heritage, Part 2: Food
Uncle Ng and Chinese Muk’yu Music
Recipe: Chả Giò, More than the “Vietnamese Spring Roll”
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Magazine articles
Our Shared Journey: An International Student Strives for Contact in the Time of COVID-19
A Tribute to Corky Lee and the Fight for “Photographic Justice”
Where Bapsang Is Home: Korean “Cottage Foods” in America
Voting Their Stories: Asian Americans Reckon with Race and Community
What My North Korean Friend Taught Me about Home
Madame Kansuma at 102: On Confinement and Little Tokyo’s Cultural Heritage
What They Carried When the Japanese American Incarceration Camps Closed
How I Found My Father’s Memory in Flushing, New York
In the Days of Peony Flowers: A Contemporary Reflection on Chinese Kunqu Opera
Eighteen Feet of Fabric Can Go a Long Way: How Monica Jahan Bose Connects
Bangladesh and D.C. in Climate Action (includes video)
Why Every Filipino American Should Know about Larry Itliong (includes video)
What Is “Authentic” Korean Bulgogi?
Asian American Chefs Shaping D.C.’s Culinary Landscape
Cowboys in the Tropics: A History of the Hawaiian Paniolo
Defining Ourselves: Multiracial Identity for Modern-Day Asian Americans
Asian American Folklore: Redefining and Debating Meanings and Methodologies
Programming, Performance, and Public Art: Inclusion through Intrusion
Sacrifice and Stigma: Mental Health in Chinese America
Torta — Filipino Christmas Cake, I Think
Just Dance: Connecting Life, Death, Traditions, and Communities in L.A.
Blacktop Battles: 9-Man Volleyball and the Chinese Youth Club of Washington, D.C.
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Archived Festival Programs related to APA History
China: Tradition and the Art of Living (2014)
2014 Festival program, which included metro D.C. diaspora participation, provided an
opportunity for reunion among those sustaining traditional culture in China, as well as in the
diaspora. It was a gathering of old and new friends, an experience in which people could
explore connections and continuities through culture and art making.
Asian Pacific Americans: Local Lives, Global Ties (2010)
2010 Festival program brought together people from diverse communities to highlight the
breadth of traditions practiced by AAPIA cultures, making connections not only to each
other, but also to the broader communities in which they live, work, and play.
The Silk Road (2002)
2002 Festival program co-curated by Yo Yo Ma, exhibited ways in which the many cultures
of Eurasia were brought closer together through a creative commercial and cultural
exchange that continues in the lands of the Silk Road and beyond.
Tibetan Culture Beyond the Land of Snows (2000)
2000 Festival program featured a lecture on peace by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
and participation by Tibetan American cuture bearers.
Pahiyas: A Philippine Harvest (1998)
1998 Festival program included diaspora participation.
Hawai‘i (1989)
1989 Festival program demonstrated how Hawaii's ethnic communities have retained and
developed their individual identities that are expressed in the vitality of their traditions.
Japan: Rice in Japanese Folk Culture (1986)
1986 Festival program included more than 50 Japanese and Japanese Americans who
demonstrated the cultivation and myriad uses of rice found in the traditional folk culture in
Japan, and how many of them have been retained in the U.S.
Southeast Asian Americans (1980)
1980 Festival program explored how new immigrants from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia
find ways of preserving and adapting their cultural heritage in the United States.
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Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. The label is dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound.
Look for:
Rahim AlHaj (artist profile)
Asian Pacific America Series
The Asian Pacific America Series is a musical exploration of multiple generations of
diverse experiences. The series includes a broad range of styles, from traditional to
popular, highlighting how music connects people to shared senses of history,
community, and place.
Sunny Jain: Wild Wild East
Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East encompasses myriad facets of Jain’s identity both as a
first-generation South Asian–American and as a global musician, from his own
family’s immigration story to his eclectic musical upbringing.
Nobuko Miyamoto: 120,000 Stories
Nobuko Miyamoto is an icon of Asian American music and activism. 120,000 Stories
collects powerful new songs, reinterpretations of old ones, and recordings from
across her career. They chronicle difficult histories, they celebrate resilient traditions,
and most of all, they endeavor to connect communities.
No-No Boy: 1975
No-No Boy is the musical project of Vietnamese American singer and scholar Julian
Saporiti. On his Smithsonian Folkways debut 1975, named after the year Saigon fell,
Saporiti investigates his own family heritage as well as life in WWII Japanese
internment camps, immigrant detention centers and refugee camps in 2020, and
other stories of immigration.
A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America
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A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle of Asians in America, a 1973 Paredon
Records release, is widely recognized as the first album of Asian American music.
Chris Kando Iijima, Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto, and William “Charlie” Chin deliver
their activist message through simply–recorded acoustic guitars and vocals, with the
occasional accompaniment of bongos, bass, and di zi, a Chinese flute.
"A Grain of Sand" Smithsonian Folkways Magazine Spring 2011 Cover Story
Article: In 1973, three young activists in New York City recorded A Grain of Sand:
Music for the Struggle by Asians in America. Singing of their direct lineage to
immigrant workers as well as their affinity with freedom fighters everywhere, Chris
Kando Iijima, Nobuko JoAnne Miyamoto, and William “Charlie” Chin recorded the
experiences of the first generation to identify with the term and concept Asian
American.
"Musics of Hawai'i: Anthology of Hawaiian Music - Special Festival Edition"
Article: Following on the heels of Hawaii’s cultural renaissance (1960-70s), the 1989
Smithsonian Folklife Festival brought Hawaii’s dynamic multicultural traditions to
center stage on the National Mall.
"Na Leo Hawai'i: Musics of Hawai'i"
Article: Asians and Pacific Islanders make up the majority of the population of Hawai'i. Music has always played a central role for all these communities.
Music
Explore APA music from Folkways’ repertoire
A list of 372 Albums featuring Asian music
A list of 19 Albums featuring music of Pacific Islanders
A list of 21 articles about Asian music
A list of 12 playlists featuring Asian music
A list of 26 videos featuring Asian music
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Learning
Lesson Plans
Island Soundscape: Musics of Hawai‘i, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea
A list of 21 Lesson Plans related to Asian music
A list of 3 lesson plans related to Pacific Islander music
Learning Lab
Music & Migration: "We Are the Children" by Chris Iijima, Nobuko Miyamoto, and "Charlie"
Chin
More resources with media
Podcasts
I’m in the Band ✕ D.C.: The Social Power of Music, Episode 1: First Ladies DJ Collective
Video & Audio
FORKLIFE: Korean Fried Chicken, a Transnational Comfort Food
FORKLIFE: Children of Sticky Rice
Remembering Senator Daniel K. Inouye
"If We Don't Have a Voice For Our Community, Who is Going To?"
Legend and Legacy: Hawaiian Slack-Key Guitar with Ledward Kaapana
Five Minutes of Political Theater: An Interview with Spoken Word Poet Regie Cabico
A Thousand Things Connected: FandangObon at the Festival
To Which Culture Do Adoptees Relate?
The Musical Universe of Low Leaf
Busboys and Poets: G Yamazawa
Chinese American History: Origins of an Organic Farmer
Through Their Eyes: Poet Jerrica Escoto
Through Their Eyes: Spoken Word Poet Gowri K.
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Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
Winner Salon with National Design Award winner Derek Lam
In this 20 minute talk, Ivan Poupyrev | Interaction Design Award Winner, and Derek Lam |
Fashion Design Award Winner talk with Andrea Lipps, Cooper Hewitt Associate Curator for
Contemporary Design on the topic "Design and the Body."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm2Fh3dw1X0
Related Learning Lab:My Smithsonian Closet: Derek Lam
Master Class with National Design Award winner Mary Ping
2017 National Design Award winners Mary Ping and Joe Doucet lead a master class
exploring their designs featured in Cooper Hewitt’s exhibition Tablescapes: Designs for
Dining.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwuJwHUg9W8&t=39s
Related Learning Lab: My Smithsonian Closet: Mary Ping
Design talk with National Design Award winner Christina Kim
As part of the 2018 National Design Awards Winners’ Salon series of talks, Winners
Christina Kim, Neri Oxman, and Mikyoung Kim of Mikyoung Kim Design discuss the
interplay of technology and materials in design. This intimate conversation, moderated by
Associate Curator Andrea Lipps, touches on topics such as the life cycle of materials, the
development of new material paradigms, and the future of design resources.
https://www.cooperhewitt.org/2018/11/28/2018-nda-winners-salon-materials-technology/
See also:
RECYCLED JAMDANI
CREATIVE REUSE
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National Air & Space Museum
Ben Kuroki: A Story We All Need to Know
Article on Ben Kuroki. He was the only Japanese American to serve in air combat in the
Pacific, and one of very few soldiers at all to have fought in both the European and Pacific
theaters.
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/ben-kuroki-story-we-all-need-know
National Museum of Asian Art (Freer/Sackler Gallery)
Uplifting Asian and Asian American Voices in Arts and Culture
Museum resources including conversations, learning activities, and personal stories that
feature inspiring Asian and Asian American artists, performers, and filmmakers.
https://asia.si.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Uplifting-Asian-and-Asian-American-Voices-
in-Arts-and-Culture.pdf
The Studio
A digital museum space for contemporary Asian artists.
https://asia.si.edu/collections/contemporary-art/the-studio/
Teaching China with the Smithsonian
Educational resource for discovering Chinese art, history, and culture, and for enhancing
cultural competency.
https://asia.si.edu/learn/for-educators/teaching-china-with-the-smithsonian/
Join the Curator: A Conversation with Annu Palakunnathu Matthew
To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, Indian artist and
scholar Annu Palakunnathu Matthew sheds light on a lesser-known aspect of that conflict
through her recent work based on archival photographs of Indian soldiers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAMzpfiyHQk
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Mapping the Future World: Reimagining Art in DC and Seoul
This Transformer's Sister Cities project has connected artists based in Washington, DC,
and Seoul, South Korea, to build dialogue, connectedness, inspiration, and insight during
this uncertain time. Responding to the ways in which the coronavirus is radically remapping
our world, both literally and figuratively, Transformer invited eight artists to reimagine the
future world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEwtzhpNOFA
Lunar New Year Celebration
Resource portal in honor of the Spring Festival, as celebrated by Chinese, Vietnamese,
Korean, and other Asian American communities.
https://asia.si.edu/lunar-new-year-celebration/
Be Water: The Legacy of Bruce Lee (Oct. 2020)
“Be water,” Bruce Lee’s famous advice to be strong or yielding depending on the
circumstances, was adopted as a tactic by Hong Kong’s street protesters in their battles
with the police, proving that Lee’s influence is no less relevant today than it was during his
brief life. The phrase also provides the title of Bao Nguyen’s documentary about him, which
is now streaming on ESPN. As Nguyen’s film shows, Lee, as one of the first non-white
action stars who often went toe-to-toe against racist foes in his films, was always a hero to
people of color in the US and around the world. In light of the protest movement in Hong
Kong and the Black Lives Matter protests here in the US, it is a perfect time to take a fresh
look at Lee’s life and his influence on social justice movements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1rD0prz18o&list=PLC8Yzyqd-urD-
ITa6nA7JgALWCe9BzV2u&index=8&t=2s
Personal Stories about Tea in Chinese Culture
In this video Hollie Wong, the owner of Ching Ching CHA Tea House in Washington, DC,
discusses why she decided to immigrate from Hong Kong and open a tea house in the US
and shares her favorite teas. Then, she is joined by three other tea lovers originally from
Beijing, Shanghai, and Taiwan who share their personal attachment to tea culture.
https://youtu.be/UJpr9256svM
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No Data Plan: A Conversation with Miko Revereza
Since moving to Los Angeles from Manila with his family, Revereza has lived in the United
States illegally for over twenty-five years. Revereza narrates the history of his family and
reflects on his own anxiety during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown as he
films the claustrophobic interior of the train, the wide-open American landscape flowing by,
and the people he meets along the way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxWZnVgfpcs&list=PLC8Yzyqd-urD-
ITa6nA7JgALWCe9BzV2u&index=5
New Asia Chamber Music Society
Music by Asian and Asian American Composers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0kGSv6Ywh4&list=PLC8Yzyqd-urBkgPQKIpOCLsr-
1nhOeTMT&index=4
Film Discussion: Meet the Women Behind "Maggie" and "Heart"
Yi Ok-seop and Jeong Ga-young discuss their bold, eccentric, female-driven comedy-
dramas, Maggie and Heart, along with Jeong’s Heart co-star, Lee Suk-hyeong.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFXLkYqVr8s
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Events
In Dialogue: Smithsonian Objects and Social Justice Explore Agency in Representation,
May 13, 2021 5-6 pm EDT
Yamanaka & Co: An Asian American Story, including a screening of the short film An
Uninterrupted View of the Sea by Mika Yatsuhashi, May 26, 2021 12-1pm
Special Screening of Minari, in conjuction with the CulinASIA series, June 18, 2021 7-
9:30pm
CULINASIA: The Future of Asian Food in America
A free, virtual series presented by Smithsonian Associates, APAC, and Freer and Sackler,
May 5 & 19, June 9 & 23, 2021
Instagram takeover by Asian American artists (coming soon)
Learning Labs
This is Us (DCPS 9-12th Grade Visual Arts Curriculum Unit, 2020-2021)
How can we guide student inquiry of identity through the arts? Explore the themes of
identity, community, and home in this Learning Lab collection based on works of art
displayed in Freer and Sackler's exhibition My Iran: Six Women Photographers (August 10,
2019–February 9, 2020). Students will reflect on their identities and feelings of home
through an art activity that utilizes the metaphor of a suitcase, a variation of creating a self-
portrait or identity artifact. This Learning Lab collection includes teaching strategies, object
inquiry questions for students to complete, and a lesson plan to create an identity artifact.
Educating for Global Competence with Contemporary Asian Art
What is global competence? What are the skills and dispositions of globally competent
students? What role can art play in educating students for global competence? Teachers
can use this Learning Lab Collection as a resource for students to explore themes of global
importance in the arts of Asia. The Collection features two works of contemporary Asian art
at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery with several tools for students to
examine and reflect about the works of art, such as Visible Thinking Routines, Artful
Thinking Routines, or Global Thinking Routines. For each routine, the rationale and process
are described to help the teacher practice. The Collection also includes artist interviews and
other contextual information about the works of art for teachers and students to deepen
their understanding.
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Upcoming projects
Collaboration with the Committee of 100, a non-partisan leadership organization whose
mission is to promote the full participation of all Chinese Americans in American society.
“The Arts of Devotion”, a portfolio of projects consisting of an online educational resource,
community engagement efforts and four exhibitions that will highlight the intersection of
Asian arts and religious diversity and change.
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National Museum of African American History & Culture
Collection Objects
Look for:
Pinback button with "Asian Americans for David Dinkins"
SWANstudy #2 (for Aretemisia)- Iona Rozeal Brown’s work has been referred to as a
visual mash-up that juxtaposes elements of Japanese art and culture with African
American hip hop pictures and fashion
Talking About Race
Look for:
Bias
Once we know and accept we have bias, we can begin to recognize our own patterns
of thinking. With awareness and a conscious effort, we have the power to change
how we think and to challenge the negative or harmful biases within ourselves.
Community Building
By considering each other’s lives and experiences, and perspectives, we allow a
community to be not only about what we have in common but what makes us
different. Community is a gateway to better understand our own lives and the lives of
others and creates an essential foundation for people working toward common goals.
https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race
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National Museum of African Art
SYMPOSIUM: AfricAsia: Overlooked Histories of Exchange
September 14–16, 2020, 9–11 am
The National Museum of African Art is collaborating with the National Museum of Asian Art
in our AfricaAsia project, which included a workshop and virtual symposium, as well as a
forthcoming publication. The project explores the long history of creative engagement
between Africa and Asia. Contributions by scholars and artists consider social, economic,
political and cultural exchanges, as well as cultural and artistic responses to the enduring
legacies of the colonial presence.
https://africa.si.edu/symposium-africasia-overlooked-histories-of-exchange/
National Portrait Gallery
The Tommie L. Pegues and Donald A. Capoccia Conversation Series
Antonius-Tín Bui and David Antonio Cruz in Conversation with Taína Caragol. Talk about portraiture as a platform to represent and honor LGBTQ+ communities of color. Both artists use portraiture and performance to explore the connections between queerness, their personal diasporic stories, and the communities that ground them.
Cruz and Bui were finalists of the 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, and their work is now on view in the traveling exhibition "The Outwin: American Portraiture Today" at the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts of the Springfield Museums, Massachusetts. The competition and exhibition are made possible through generous support from the Virginia Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition Endowment.
https://youtu.be/qZSD9LX4ESU
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2020 Edgar P. Richardson Lecture Series: Women, Power, and Portraiture
Symposium
The Interiority of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa's Portraits
Who is Miki Hayakawa (ミキ早川, 1899–1953)? Why is there so little known about the work
of an artist who held her first solo show of 150 paintings in San Francisco in 1929, was selected for the inaugural exhibition of the San Francisco Museum of Art in 1935, and contributed to Santa Fe’s vibrant art scenes alongside the likes of John Sloan and Alfred Morang? Professor ShiPu Wang shares discoveries from his journey of piecing together Hayakawa's oeuvre and life and explore how portraiture served as a vital means for her to forge multicultural connections in diverse communities during the Exclusion Era.
https://youtu.be/mbJVE1ldqXE
Other Videos Related to APA History
Look for:
Introducing: Ruth Asawa
Open Studio: Maya Lin
Choreographer in Residence with Dana Tai Soon Burgess
Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company
Google Arts and Culture Story: What Does it Mean to be American?
Get Up Close to Shimomura Crossing the Delaware
https://artsandculture.google.com/story/what-does-it-mean-to-be-american/qgKyqngar3xtIg
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Exhibitions
Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter (in-gallery exhibition 2011/2012)
This exhibition displays the diversity of contemporary Asian American identity through the groundbreaking work of seven visual artists: CYJO, Zhang Chun Hong, Hye Yeon Nam, Shizu Saldamando, Roger Shimumura, Satomi Shirai, Tam Tran.
https://npg.si.edu/exhibit/encounter/
Classroom Resources
Look for:
Portrait Spotlight: Isamu Noguchi
Portrait Spotlight: Shimomura Crossing the Delaware
Learning Labs
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with the National Portrait Gallery
Exploring Identity Through Portraiture
Explore! at the National Portrait Gallery Learning Lab Collection (highlighting Bruce Lee, Sarah Chang, Indra Nooyi)
Voices of Social Justice
#ColorOurCollections Learning Lab Collection (highlighting Maya Lin and Indra Nooyi)
Roger Shimomura: Young Portrait Explorers
Previous Events
In Dialogue: Smithsonian Objects and Social Justice- Explore Agency in Representation,
May 13, 5-6 pm EDT
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National Postal Museum
Learn & Explore Activities
Look for:
Stamp Stories: The fascinating life of Ruth Asawa
The story of stamp designer Kam Mak
Collection Objects
Look for:
Sun Yat-sen on U.S. Postage
Stamps
37c Duke Kahanamoku single
41c Year of the Rat single
37c Year of the Monkey single
32c Year of the Ox single
29c Year of the Boar single
32c Year of the Tiger single
37c Year of the Ram single
34c Year of the Horse single
33c American Samoa pane of twenty
5c Opening of Japan single
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Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in the Postal Service and Philately
Topical Reference Page:
The National Postal Museum celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander history by providing online resources about the role of Asian and Pacific Americans in the postal service and philately.
Look for:
Pacific Exchange: China and U.S. Mail
This exhibition looked at the relationship of China and the U.S. through the study of stamps and mail.
Lunar New Year Postage Stamps
The U.S. Postal Service celebrates the 12-year cycle of the Chinese lunar calendar with two distinct postage stamp series.
Women on Stamps: Part 3 - Artist and Educator: Ruth Asawa
Ruth Asawa was a groundbreaking artist who is primarily recognized for her beautiful and intricate wire sculptures.
People and Places of the Pacific
Beginning with the Pacific Islands and ending with the nations on the Pacific Rim,
this exhibition highlights the political and cultural relationship between these nations
and the United States through the medium of postage stamps.
The Transcontinental Railroad and the Asian-American Story
Blog post: 2019 marks 150 years since the completion of the Transcontinental
Railroad. The story of postal history in this country is very much one of
communication and the spread of both mail and information, with the railroad being
integral to that story.
https://postalmuseum.si.edu/topics/asian-and-pacific-islander-americans-in-the-postal-
service-and-philately
Smithsonian American Art Museum
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Art by Asian Americans
Highlights works by artists of Asian descent that speak to the continuous exchange
between East and West.
Exhibitions:
Tiffany Chung: Vietnam, Past Is Prologue and video
Chiura Obata: American Modern
Do Ho Suh: Almost Home
The Artistic Journey of Yasuo Kuniyoshi Nam June Paik: Global Visionary
https://americanart.si.edu/art/highlights/asian-american
Nam June Paik Archive
Nam June Paik is a pivotal figure in the history of modern art. Arguably the most important
video artist of all time and certainly among the most influential and prolific, he was a
legendary innovator who had a profound impact on late twentieth century art through his
transformation of the electronic moving image into an artist’s medium. The Paik Archive
provides a locus where Paik’s art and ideas are studied and made accessible to a world-
wide constituency.
https://americanart.si.edu/research/paik
Events
Viewfinder Virtual Film Series: Chitra Ganesh on Dreaming and Refusal, virtual film
screening and conversation with Brooklyn-based artist Chitra Ganesh, June 3, 2021 5:30
p.m. ET
Join the Smithsonian American Art Museum for a virtual film screening featuring the work
of artistic duo Girl. Made up of the Brooklyn-based artists Chitra Ganesh and Simone
Leigh, Girl created the collaborative video My Dreams, My Works Must Wait Till After Hell
(7:14 mins., 2011).
Lunar New Year Family Zone
Join SAAM and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United States online
to ring in the Lunar New Year!
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Smithsonian Associates
Previous Events
Disability Visibility: Intersectionality in Art, Design, and Museums In an evening program on April 14th 2021, the founder of The Disability Visibility Project, Alice Wong keeps the conversations going with an active online community dedicated to creating, sharing, and amplifying disability media and culture. Beth Ziebarth, director of Access Smithsonian, leads the conversation with Wong, Riva Lehrer, artist and author of Golom Girl (One World), and Disability Visability contributor S.E. Smith, to discuss intersectionality in art, design, and the museum world through inclusive design and representation.
https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/disability-visibility-intersectionality-in-art-design-and-museums
CULINASIA
A dynamic free series of virtual conversations taking place in May and June that explore
food legacies and how Asian Diaspora cuisine continues to adapt and enrich our lives. Join
chefs, food writers, food entrepreneurs, home cooks, cookbook authors, and other
participants whose heritage and experiences span the complex spectrum of Asian
Diaspora identities in the United States as they discuss the successes, challenges, and
future of Asian food in America. Curated by Burmese American restaurateur and cultural
connector Simone Jacobson. Presented in collaboration with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific
American Center and the Freer and Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian's National Museum of
Asian Art.
Saving Chinatown and Our Legacies, May 5, 2021 6:30-8pm EDT
Southeast Asia Got Something to Say, May 19, 2021 6:30-8pm EDT:
"Fast, Casual, Ethnic": Asian Food Beyond Misnomers & Myths, June 9, 2021 6:30-8pm
EDT
Asian American Farmers Look Back to Go Forward, June 23, 6:30-8pm 2021 EDT
https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/free-conversation-series-culinasia-explores-future-
asian-food-america
Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access
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A Fusion of Culture and Identity: Joe Bataan’s Latin Boogaloo Music
Joe Bataan, a musician of Afro-Filipino descent, who was born and and raised in Spanish
Harlem, became one of the founders of Latin Boogaloo in New York City. What started out
as a local music by young folks has become a global phenomenon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se9hYSAl72s&list=PLFGZwzyPnxTu41Iks44f1Bv6QQ1
rj-Sc0&index=44
Learning Lab Collections
A series of educational resources focusing on Asian American history and culture, created
by Smithsonian educators, Affiliate museum educators and classroom teachers during
workshops hosted across the country in 2018.
https://learninglab.si.edu/search/?f%5B_types%5D%5B%5D=ll_collection&st=APA2018&s
=&page=1
Learning Lab Collection from the Japanese American National Museum about
Japanese American incarceration
This collection came from a series of trainings with Smithsonian Affiliate museums and
their local educators to enhance the teaching of Asian American history and culture.
https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/japanese-american-incarceration-focus-on-the-
assembly-centers/TcBVRbWRKPYe8Djf#r/
Learning Lab Collection about Emma Tenayuca, from the Institute of Texan
Cultures
This collection was created to support a program with Smithsonian Affiliate museums in
Texas to aid teachers in using digital museum resources to teach Ethnic Studies. series of
educational resources focusing on Asian American history and culture, created by
Smithsonian educators, Affiliate museum educators and classroom teachers during
workshops hosted across the country in 2018.
https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/emma-tenayuca-la-pasionaria-rim-
si/lK6ZkCEinQmd7vGh
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Learning Lab Collection from an Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
family day in the Grand Salon of the Renwick Gallery of Art
The festival was created to complement the Renwick exhibition, "The Art of Gaman: Arts
and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946."
https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/the-art-of-gaman-storytelling-musical-and-dance-
performance-and-hands-on-activities-demonstrations/EycPpGKbCfLMuTXs#r/
Learning Lab Resources from Smithsonian Affiliations
Asian American Resource Center, Austin Texas
Where I Belong
Waves of Hope: Asian American History in Austin
Inter/sected – LGBTQ + Asian Pacific American"
Pioneers from the East: The Sing Family
Lowell National Historical Park, Lowell, Massachusetts
Burmese Americans in Lowell, MA
Cambodian Americans in Lowell, MA
Cambodian Refugees in Lowell
Their Stories: Lowell’s Youth and the Refugee Experience
Representation of Girls - Gender Diversity, Empowerment and Stereotypes
This topical Learning Lab collection looks at girls' diversity and empowerment, as well as
gender stereotypes. Examples below are depictions of girls--both antiquated and modern--
domestic and career expectations, educational opportunities, personal grooming and
beauty, emotions and attitudes, and traditional representations.
https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/representation-of-girls-gender-diversity-empowerment-
and-stereotypes/szJrNSbGBCDV1nMF
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SCLDA Teacher Partner #APAArtsIntegration Learning Lab collection
Includes artwork, artifacts, images, and resources that addresses the theme of social
justice. Asian-Pacific American Artists and Artwork will be highlighted along with
contemporary artists and artwork that depict the theme of social justice.
https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/paterson-public-schools-school-21-theme-social-
justice/6mgb2wVMP9WREdoj#r/
Storytelling through Dance: Perspectives Inspired by American Portraits
Choreography and portraiture are unique forms of storytelling through which artists can
communicate universal narratives and express diverse perspectives without words.
Featuring Dana Tai Soon Burgess, Choreographer-in-Residence at the National Portrait
Gallery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=joKB-3K8Jto
SITES (Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services)
"Smithsonian Affiliations Virtual Scholar Talk: A Legacy of Healing, Rebirth,
and Leadership"
Smithsonian Affiliations, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American
Center and two Affiliates—the Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, CA)
and the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience (Seattle, WA,)—
present a discussion of examples of activism and finding joy after the destruction of
trauma, resilience in response to oppression and ways this has been observed throughout
history in Asian American communities.
https://youtu.be/655wb1r0d3Y
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Righting A Wrong
Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II Traveling Exhibition
https://www.sites.si.edu/s/topic/0TO36000000SzvWGAS/righting-a-wrong-japanese-
americans-and-world-war-ii
Righting A Wrong: Japanese Americans And World War II Poster Exhibition includes a
link to our Educator's Guide. Within the guide is a link to the NMAH-created Learning Lab
for their larger, related exhibit "Righting a Wrong."
https://www.sites.si.edu/s/topic/0TO1Q000000MC9SWAW/righting-a-wrong-japanese-
americans-and-world-war-ii-poster-exhibition
The Bias Inside Us
A community engagement project that considers the connections between implicit bias and
group dynamics, how they can lead to explicit acts of bias and hatred by individuals and
whole societies, and what we as individuals can do about it
Learning Lab
https://biasinsideus.si.edu/
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Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation
In 2015, SITES and APAC partnered to travel the exhibition, Beyond Bollywood: Indian
Americans Shape the Nation that depitcts Indian Americans and their contributions to the
United States. As part of this exhibtion, SITES collaborated with International Coalition of
Sites of Conscience to create a facilitated dialogue toolkit to help venues open new
conversations about the often difficult subjects of immigration, identity, race, and social
justice.
Digital Exhibition
Traveling Exhibition
Beyond Bollywood Blog
https://www.sites.si.edu/s/archived-exhibit?topicId=0TO36000000L5MyGAK
https://smithsonianapa.org/beyondbollywood/
I Want the Wide American Earth
Poster exhibition and educational resources. A broad look at the history of Asian
immigration to America, and Asian American contributions to this nation
https://www.sites.si.edu/s/topic/0TO36000000ZbT4GAK/i-want-the-wide-american-earth-
an-asian-pacific-american-story
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Smithsonian Science & Education Center
DEAI in STEM
The Smithsonian Science and Education Center (SSEC) is dedicated to making K-12
STEM education more accessible and inclusive to diverse audiences across all platforms
and communities, and to ensuring the fair and just treatment of all students.
https://ssec.si.edu/deai-stem