JANM Announces Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Events

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) welcomes Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with a lively roster of events and exhibitions. Event details and tickets are available at janm.org/events and janm.org/democracy. 

Giant Robot Biennale 5 and J. T. Sata: Immigrant Modernist as well as the ongoing exhibitions Common Ground, and The Interactive StoryFile of Lawson Iichiro Sakai are currently on view. Giant Robot Biennale 5 highlights diverse creative works that celebrate the ethos of Giant Robot and J. T. Sata delves into the photographer’s work that emphasized geometric forms and conveyed newness, modernity, and irony.

May 1–5, 2024
VC Film Fest at JANM
$15 
JANM will be one of the venues to host festival events and screenings for the 40th edition of the VC Film Fest (Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival) from May 1–5, 2024. The entire festival runs from May 1–10, 2024 and is the premier showcase for the best and brightest of Asian Pacific cinema.

May 4, 2024
World Premiere of Nobuko Miyamoto: A Song in Movement at the VC Film Fest
6 p.m.–7 p.m.
$20 
JANM’s Frank H. Watase Media Arts Center and PBS SoCal partner for this new sweeping documentary that follows the life of visionary artist-activist Nobuko Miyamoto and her work that changed Asian America forever. The documentary will debut as part of PBS SoCal’s ARTBOUND series in fall 2024.

May 4, 2024
Empathy and Democracy Part 4—The Practice of Fearless Gratitude
4 p.m.–5:30 p.m.
$16
The Daniel K. Inouye National Center for the Preservation of Democracy and Gratitude Blooming host the fourth and final part of Empathy & Democracy, a unique live podcast and pop-up art series guided by the changing seasons.

May 9, 2024
Asobi! at JANM: Greeting Cards with Kristina Yu of Cheery Human Studios
7 p.m.–9 p.m.
$10
Draw and color alongside Kristina Yu of Cheery Human Studios as she walks through her artistic process and teaches participants how to make a card to keep or gift to a friend.

May 11, 2024
Giant Robot Workshop at JANM: Wooden Worlds with Yoskay Yamamoto
1 p.m.–4 p.m.
$21
Join Giant Robot Biennale 5 exhibition artist, Yoskay Yamamoto, as he guides you through the process of designing and decorating your own recycled wood creations.

May 18, 2024
Rising from the Ashes with Paula Yoo & Philip Chung
4 p.m.–5:30 p.m.
$16
Join author Paula Yoo and writer Philip Chung for a conversation around the legacy of Vincent Chin on the 6th Annual National Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Day Against Bullying and Hate. 

May 18, 2024
Cruising J-Town Community Scanning Event at JANM
11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Free
Bring your photographs, documents, and objects related to Japanese American car culture for scanning or photographing as part of the research behind JANM’s summer/fall 2025 exhibition, Cruising J-Town: Nikkei Car Culture in Southern California.

May 20, 2024 
Defining Courage at the Neuhaus Theatre at the Alley, Houston, TX
6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
$100
Defining Courage is a gripping and emotional journey into the legacy of Nisei veterans, a segregated combat team of Japanese American soldiers that fought during World War II and that remains the most highly decorated unit in US Army history.

May 25, 2024
Giant Robot × JANM Art Konbini
11 a.m.–5 p.m.
$16
Join the artists of Giant Robot and JANM for an art market at the Museum! Playing on the idea of the konbini or Japanese convenience store, which stocks everything from snacks to household supplies, this Art Konbini will feature art prints, zines, pins, and more! Featured artists include Natalie Andrewson, Sean Chao, Luke Chueh, Lucas Pincer Flynn, Jenn Lima, Cassia Lupo, Erick Martinez, Paperobott, Sakai Harts and Crafts, Kelly Yamagishi, and more.

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About the Japanese American National Museum (JANM)

Established in 1985, JANM promotes understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience. Located in the historic Little Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles, JANM is a center for civil rights, ensuring that the hard-fought lessons of the World War II incarceration are not forgotten. A Smithsonian Affiliate and one of America’s Cultural Treasures, JANM is a hybrid institution that straddles traditional museum categories. JANM is a center for the arts as well as history. It provides a voice for Japanese Americans and a forum that enables all people to explore their own heritage and culture. Since opening to the public in 1992, JANM has presented over 100 exhibitions onsite while traveling 40 exhibits to venues such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Ellis Island Museum in the United States, and to several leading cultural museums in Japan and South America. JANM is open on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday–Sunday from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. and on Thursday from 12 p.m.–8 p.m. JANM is free every third Thursday of the month. On all other Thursdays, JANM is free from 5 p.m.–8 p.m. For more information, visit janm.org or follow us on social media @jamuseum.