By Kylie Jones and Nayeli Alonzo
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writers
It was 1992 when President George H. W. Bush designated the month of May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Today, the annual celebration is thriving in Baltimore with a month-long festival dedicated to showcasing Asian heritage and culture.
The festival, co-produced by Towson’s Asian Arts & Culture Center and Central Baltimore Partnership, features events including art exhibitions, feasts and movie screenings aimed at honoring the influence of Asian art and culture in the Greater Baltimore region.
“Through the festival we want to showcase and share all the creative and artistic things that the community does,” Joanna Pecore, director of Towson’s Asian Arts & Culture Center, said. “When everybody’s enjoying and sharing culture and these creative pursuits together, it really does build community.”
The festival officially kicked off on May 1 with an opening event that spanned from 5 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Attendees had the opportunity to watch live performances, savor food provided by the Baltimore Xiamen Sister City Committee and visit a pop-up exhibition that featured poems and visual collages in collaboration with the Wishing Fountain Project.
Along with the day-to-day events, the festival also features a month-long art exhibition curated by Dylan Kaleikaumaka Hill, entitled “Shoes at the Door,” which is on display at Currency Studio and SNF Parkway Theatre, both located on West North Avenue.
Hill became involved with the festival in February, when last year’s director reached out to her personally. Hill planned the exhibition alongside Nerissa Paglinauan, the program manager of TU’s Asian Arts & Culture Center.
“My hope with this particular exhibition is that folks within the APIMEDA (Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern and Desi American) community and outside of it find a place to feel welcomed and a place to learn and welcome exchange or that it serves as a touching reminder of home. That would be the biggest compliment, I think,” Hill said.
The gallery features work from 17 Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern and Desi American artists living in the Baltimore region that highlight hospitality customs in the community. The exhibits range from paintings to sculptures and installations.
“I really look forward now to May when I know that this community is going to be given a platform in certain non-culturally specific spaces, and it gives me a sense of comfort that I will be able to learn more of these diverse histories from the APIMEDA community,” Hill said.
Alongside the art exhibition, the festival also featured a discussion titled “Love Has Never Been a Popular Movement,” which took place at Baltimore’s Impact Hub on May 11.
The conversation was facilitated by Paul Koh, a professor of education at TU. Koh found inspiration for the name of the event from activist James Baldwin.
“James Baldwin is one of my heroes, for sure. I think he’s many people’s heroes,” Koh said.
Koh used several quotes from Baldwin and other activists to help guide the conversation.
Attendees discussed concepts of belonging, love and heritage knowledge across the Asian Diaspora. During the conversation, participants interpreted artwork from this year’s exhibition and related it to concepts and issues that the Asian American community faces.
After attendees analyzed the artworks, Paglinauan detailed the intended meanings of the pieces.
The discussion also emphasized welcoming and learning from other cultures as well as sharing one’s own culture.
Virna Almuete, an attendee at the discussion, touched on the realities of growing up in Baltimore as a Filipino immigrant.
“My parents wanted me to fully integrate into the American culture, so they stopped speaking Filipino,” Almuete said. “It’s strange because I feel like I’m part of the Filipino community, but we don’t speak the language. I feel sort of like an outsider looking in.”
Almuete’s experience resonated with many attendees and highlighted that conversations surrounding culture are important for people of all backgrounds, not just Asian Americans.
Pecore shared why this month is special to her despite not being a member of the Asian American community.
“I am not an Asian American, but I became very passionate about cultural preservation,” Pecore said. “I’m deeply involved in promoting the arts of the Asian community because I did a lot of research and work with these communities over the years.”
The themes of cultural understanding and community that were discussed during the conversation reflect the goals that organizers were hoped to accomplish during the month-long festival.
“We want to build community through the festival,” Pecore said. “We want to bring different groups, bring different people, different ages together.”
Following the discussion, festivalgoers can expect a South Asian dance social, a spoken word play and a tour of Koreatown landmarks among several other events set to take place throughout May in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
“We love heritage months, but we want to see a world where we’re celebrating different cultures all 12 months of the year,” Pecore said.