May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month
The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America’s history and are instrumental in its future success.
How Asia Changed the Course of American Art
The opening of Japan to Western trade in the 1850’s exposed European and American artists to many new Asian artistic conventions. Many of these would take root in new Western artistic movements during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The Tsars and the East: Gifts from Turkey and Iran in The Moscow Kremlin
In the 16th and 17th centuries Russia and the neighboring countries of Iran and Turkey forged diplomatic and commercial ties through the exchange of gifts. This exhibit presents many of the opulent gifts that emissaries and wealthy merchants offered to the tsars of Russia.
Global Sounds - Asia
The Smithsonian's Global Sound project brings together traditional music from around world. Presentations for Asian-Pacific Heritage month include music from the countries along the Mekong River in Southeast Asia as well as songs and chants that record the ancient oral history of Hawaii.
Veterans History Project
Asian Pacific Americans made lasting contributions to America’s wartime efforts. Collected stories highlight service from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq.
For Teachers
Put the power of primary sources to work in the classroom. Browse ready-to-use lesson plans, student activities, collection guides and research aids.
2009 Theme
Event Highlights
- May 5
Children's Day
The Kodomo Dance Theater, a troupe of talented young dancers in traditional kimono dress, celebrates Japanese Children’s Day. Recommended for ages 5–10
(Smithsonian, S. Dillon Ripley Center)
- May 7
Keynote Address
Author Svetlana Kim delivers the keynote address and discusses her book "White Pearl and I: A Memoir of a Political Refugee"
(Library of Congress)
- May 8
Family Day
A day of arts-and-crafts demonstrations includes Chinese paper folding, Indian rangoli designs, Japanese doll making, Korean calligraphy and fiber art, Mongolian watercolor work and mask making, Philippine weaving, and Thai soap and fruit carving.
(Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History)
- May 12
Lecture
James Miho, Bauhaus illustrator, and Yuko Ota, Japanese comic illustrator and creator of Johnny Wander, present "Japanese Illustrators Then and Now"
(Library of Congress)
- May 12 & 21
Gallery Talk
"The Shadow of Japanese Prints on Nineteenth-Century Europe" Japanese woodblock prints exerted one of the single most pervasive influences on Western art during the second half of the nineteenth century. Both the subjects of the woodcuts and their unconventional style fired the creative imaginations of French, British, and American artists.
(National Gallery of Art)
- May 21
Performance
Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Company: Dancing Through the Asian American Experience A presentation of two new, original dance pieces and a post-performance discussion.
(Smithsonian American Art Museum)