2010 Smithsonian Folklife Festival—Asian Pacific American: Local Lives, GLobal Ties

Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) in the Washington, D.C. area speak dozens of different languages, teach classes that emphasize ethnic identity, participate in traditional practices, and contribute to the cultural landscape of our nation's capital and its surroundings. With approximately 30 Asian American and 24 Pacific Island American groups in the U.S., the more than 350,000 APAs who live in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area represent a microcosm of the cultural, linguistic, and religious diversity found from New York to Hawaii, and every state in-between. The Asian Pacific American Connections program at the 2010 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will focus on what it means to be a person of Asian descent living in the United States today and examine strategies for adaptation.

A calligrapher from the Washington, D.C. area works with children in the Family Oasis section of the Silk Road program, 2002 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Photo by Richard Strauss, Smithsonian Institution. Photo courtesy Smithsonian Institution.Courtesy of the Ralph Rinzler Archive, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution. The traditional Cambodian 'Golden Mermaid' Dance is performed by members of a Maryland-based Cambodian organization on Mekong-American Day at the 2007 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Photo courtesy Smithsonian Institution. Courtesy of the Ralph Rinzler Archive, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution. A Filipino American participant from the Washington, D.C. area demonstrates his skill at carving fruit as part of the Food Culture USA program at the 2005 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Photo by Harold Dorwin, Smithsonian Institution. Photo courtesy Smithsonian Institution.Courtesy of the Ralph Rinzler Archive, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution. Laotian Americans from the Washington, D.C. area recreate a Laotian rocket festival as part of the Mekong program at the 2007 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Photo by Harold Dorwin, Smithsonian Institution. Photo courtesy Smithsonian Institution. Courtesy of the Ralph Rinzler Archive, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution.
Hover over photographs for captions. Photos Courtesy of the Ralph Rinzler Archive, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution.

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Upcoming exhibition—March 5, 2010

The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946

The Art of Gaman showcases arts and crafts made by Japanese Americans detained in U.S. prison camps during World War II in California, Wyoming, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and Arkansas. The exhibition is organized by San Francisco-based author and guest curator Delphine Hirasuna, with the cooperation of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). It will feature approximately 100 objects, many of which are on loan from former internees and their families. The exhibition is based on a 2005 book by Hirasuna, The Art of Gaman.

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Upcoming Event—Feb. 20, 2010

Annual Day of Remembrance.

To mark the 68th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt which led to the imprisonment of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program welcomes award-winning playwright Philip Kan Gotanda and historian Dr. Scott Kurashige to the American History Museum stage.

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