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The Smithsonian celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month for May 2009 with films, performances, talks, tours, demonstrations and family programs.
 

  WASHINGTON D.C.
Ongoing Exhibition
Location: National Museum of American History
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Ongoing Exhibition, 10 am - 5:30 pm
Description: Barriers to Bridges
An artifact case offers glimpses of Asian American history from the nineteenth century to the present.
 
May 1
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, McEvoy Auditorium
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Friday, May 1, 7 pm
Description: Jean Shin
On the opening day of the exhibition Common Threads, artist Shin discusses her groundbreaking work, in which she converts everyday objects into site-specific assemblages. A reception follows.
 
May 1 - July 26
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Friday, May 1 - Sunday, July 26, 11:30 am - 7 pm
Description: Jean Shin: Common Threads
Using discarded objects—everything from broken umbrellas to old lottery tickets—Shin creates large-scale installations that reflect the local community. This exhibition includes the debut of Everyday Monuments, in which she has incorporated hundreds of trophies gathered from Washington-area residents.
 
May 1 - May 31
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Friday, May 1 - Sunday, May 31, 12 noon on weekdays, 1 pm on Saturdays and Sundays
Description: Daily Walk-In Tour at the Renwick Gallery
Throughout Asian Pacific History Month, the gallery's hour-long tour features Kee-Ho Yuen's Bag-gage # 1 "Been Measured, Being Measured, Will Be Measured." Meet at the Information Desk.
 
May 5
Location: S. Dillon Ripley Center, Discovery Theater
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Tuesday, May 5, 10:15 am and 11:30 am
Description: Kodomono-Hi: Children's Day!
Kodomo Dance Theater, a troupe of talented young dancers in traditional kimono dress, celebrates Japanese Children's Day. Recommended for ages 5-10. Resident Associate members, $4. General admission, $5 for children, $6 for adults. For reservations, call 202.633.3030.
 
May 7 - May 8
Location: Freer Gallery of Art, Meyer Auditorium
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Thursday, May 7 - Friday, May 8, 10:15 and 11:30 am
Description: Birth of the Monkey King
Chinese Theatre Works present a shadow-puppet adaptation of the Chinese classic Journey to the West. The fantastic simian troublemaker Sun Wu Kung (a.k.a. Handsome Monkey King) gathers his superpowers and shakes the foundations of heaven, causing such a cosmic ruckus that Buddha intervenes. The audience in invited to explore the Freer's Chinese galleries after the performance. Recommended for ages 5-12. Resident Associate members, $4. General admission, $5 for children, $6 for adults. For reservations, call 202.633.3030. Related teacher workshops on shadow puppetry are offered free of charge. For information, visit Teacher Resources.
 
May 8
Location: National Museum of Natural History, Rotunda
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Friday, May 8, 10 am - 3:30 pm
Description: Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 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. This feature event also includes an evening performance of Dancing Through the Asian American Experience (see Performances).

This is the third feature event in the Smithsonian Heritage Month 2009 family-day series, sponsored by Target. The theme is "Living in Many Worlds," which explores the dynamic intersection of family, history, and cultural identity.
 
May 8
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Friday, May 8, 6 pm
Description: Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Company: Dancing Through the Asian American Experience
Burgess, hailed by the Washington Post as "the area's leading dance artist," presents the original works Hyphen, which integrates the work of video artist Nam June Paik, and Chino Latino. He also premieres a work in progress, Island, which explores the Asian Pacific American experience at the Angel Island Immigration Station in California. Following the performance, Burgess and his dancers take part in a discussion with Ken Hakuta, nephew of Nam June Paik. The evening is part of this month's Heritage feature event (see Feature Event).
 
May 9
Location: National Postal Museum, Atrium
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Saturday, May 9, 1 - 4 pm
Description: Postal Museum Celebration
The whole family is invited to an afternoon of activities related to stamps commemorating the Lunar New Year and Hawaiian statehood.
 
May 13
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Wednesday, May 13, and 27, 6 pm, Sundays, May 17 and 31, 2 pm
Description: Jean Shin: Common Threads
This sixty-minute tour of the exhibition Jean Shin: Common Threads features a look at the piece Unraveling, which consists of "deconstructed sweaters" collected from Asian American art communities around the country. Meet in the F Street Lobby.
 
May 13
Location: National Museum of the American Indian, Rasmuson Theater
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Wednesday, May 13, 6:30 pm
Description: Victoria Kneubuhl
Playwright and novelist Kneubuhl (Native Hawaiian/Samoan) reads from her works, which include Hawai'i Nei, an anthology of three plays, and Murder Casts a Shadow, a mystery set in 1930s Honolulu. Part of the Vine Deloria, Jr., Native Writers Series. A book signing follows.
 
May 15
Location: National Museum of Natural History, Baird Auditorium
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Friday, May 15, 6:30 - 9 pm
Description: An Evening of Asian Dance
This eight annual event includes performances by the Odissi Indian Dance Troupe and the Mongolian Dance Troupe.
 
May 15 & May 16
Location: National Museum of the American Indian, Rasmuson Theater
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Friday, May 15, 7:30 pm, and Saturday, May 16, 2 pm
Description: The Conversion of Ka'ahumanu
Set in Hawaii during the early nineteenth century, forty years after the islands' first contact with the West, this poignant theater piece by Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl explores the complex relationships between Christian missionaries and indigenous women.
 
May 16
Location: Freer Gallery of Art, Meyer Auditorium
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Saturday, May 16, 7 pm
Description: Vijai Nathan: McGoddess (Big Macs, Karma, and the American Dream)
Writer and comedian Vijai Nathan returns to the Freer with her hilarious one-woman show about contemporary Indian culture and identity in the United States. Nathan reflects on faith—and the lack of it—as she pays "homage to the experiences of children born in one country and to parents born in another." Intended for mature audiences. The performance is free, but tickets are required. Up to four tickets per person can be reserved through Ticketmaster (for a service fee of $2.75 per ticket and $1.25 per order) beginning Monday, May 4. A pre-performance tour of Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas begins at 6:15 pm.
 
May 17
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Wednesday, May 13, and 27, 6 pm, Sundays, May 17 and 31, 2 pm
Description: Jean Shin: Common Threads
This sixty-minute tour of the exhibition Jean Shin: Common Threads features a look at the piece Unraveling, which consists of "deconstructed sweaters" collected from Asian American art communities around the country. Meet in the F Street Lobby.
 
May 27
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Wednesday, May 13, and 27, 6 pm, Sundays, May 17 and 31, 2 pm
Description: Jean Shin: Common Threads
This sixty-minute tour of the exhibition Jean Shin: Common Threads features a look at the piece Unraveling, which consists of "deconstructed sweaters" collected from Asian American art communities around the country. Meet in the F Street Lobby.
 
May 28
Location: National Museum of American History
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Thursday, May 28, 12 noon
Description: Meet Our Museum Talk: Visualize Chinese Exclusion
In a thirty-minute talk, curator Nancy Davis explains how two nineteenth-century ceramic pieces illustrate exclusionary policies toward the Chinese. Meet in the Flag Hall, Second Floor.
 
May 31
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
City: Washington D.C.
Date: Wednesday, May 13, and 27, 6 pm, Sundays, May 17 and 31, 2 pm
Description: Jean Shin: Common Threads
This sixty-minute tour of the exhibition Jean Shin: Common Threads features a look at the piece Unraveling, which consists of "deconstructed sweaters" collected from Asian American art communities around the country. Meet in the F Street Lobby.

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