Book talk at the Mechanics’ Institute (in-person)
We’re excited to do our first in-person talk with the historic Mechanics’
Institute in San Francisco.
We’ll be joined by poet Hieu Minh Nguyen to explore intergenerational stories and reflections on Chinatown culture.
Tickets are $5 - $10 sliding scale, free for library members. RSVP/get tickets here: http://www.milibrary.org/events/interiorexterior-chinatown-reflections-apr-13-2023#tickets
We will be signing books after the talk. Copies will be available for purchase.
In-person book talk with San Francisco Public Library
We’re excited to do our first in-person talk with the SF Public Library.
Free and open to the public!
We will be signing books after the talk. Limited copies will be available for purchase.
Main Library branch
Koret Auditorium
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
More details: http://sfpl.org/events/2022/05/21/author-andria-lo-and-valerie-luu-chinatown-pretty
Virtual Book Talk w/ Burlingame Public Library
Virtual Event. No registration Required.
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82310123900?pwd=M0J5UU93QWlNUmxWWEt5UDJmK29pdz09
Meeting ID: 823 1012 3900
Passcode: 2022
AAPI Community Festival in Oakland
Make it stand out
On Sunday May 1st, help us kick off AAPI Heritage month in Oakland Chinatown! This community festival includes artists, makers, music & more. Find us at the historic Lincoln Square Park:
Taking portraits from 1-4pm. Bring your elders and family to get your very own portraits taken in time for Mother's Day, and be sure to wear your Chinatown Pretty best!
Signing books from 11a-1p. Books will be available for purchase from Eastwind Books of Berkeley.
Showing a new exhibit of photos + stories highlighting elders and their Lincoln Square Park stories.
All the deets can be found here.
Hosted by Cut Fruit Collective
Artwork by Shawna Chan
Book Signing @ Joy on Joice
We’ll be doing signing & selling books at the Joy on Joice Street fair on Sat, Oct 16 from 11am-1pm.
About the fair
The Chinese Historical Society of America Museum partners with community arts organization Cut Fruit Collective to host the first-ever Joy on Joice Street Fair. It will host AAPI makers, community organizations, performers, and artists while also bringing attention to supporting the small businesses across San Francisco Chinatown.
Artists Exhibiting
Yunfei Ren, a San Francisco-based visual artist that works with the photographic medium. His work critically investigates identity and the notion of belonging. Through photography, he presents identities as fluid and diverse in the context of citizenship, sexuality, and cultural polarization. Will be presenting his work in progress, Ghosts of Chinatown.
Artivate, a non-profit organization bringing multidisciplinary art experiences to marginalized communities in San Francisco, silk screening designs on the premises
Vita Hewitt – Working with weaver Travis Meinolf, she will provide cyanotypes and sepia prints that consist of a series of images and passages from literature that contain Asian stereotypes (eg. Dr. Suess). These will be shredded into long strips. From there, people will be invited to weave these onto the loom.
Lotus Boy, a local Chinese American drag king performer
Makers + Vendors
Tamiko Sidore Studio, Lunaria Flower Farm, Jasivyc.eramics, Jennifer Zee, Loyale Studio, LaanMao, Ximaps, Annie’s T Cakes, Southern Fried Chinese, Bloody Girl Gang, Hachi Bit, The Pobbery, pot & shrooms, Lotus Haus Studio, Neko-Oi, CLUB CHAZU, This Asian American Life, Drawwithkristi, Danielle Leong Photography, Prints by Paulina
Participating Partners
Chinese Historical Society of America Museum, Cut Fruit Collective, Cameron House, Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (CCC), Together SF, Off the Grid, Fault Radio
Chinatown Pretty @ Cal Academy of Science
We'll be doing a panel discussion (with the one-and-only Dorothy G.C. Quock) and displaying photos from our book at the Cal Academy of Science NightLife on Thursday, Sept 30 6-10pm. Panel discussion is at 8pm in the African Hall.
Tickets: $22 / 21+ w/ ID & vaccination
From NightLife:
Immerse yourself in the Bay Area’s Asian American community with an evening of music, storytelling, and fashion. Join us for our first Culture Clash event, where we celebrate the multidimensional cultures that make up the cultural fabric of our beloved city by the Bay.
Throughout the night you’ll have the opportunity to watch performances from a cadre of talented Asian American music makers, including rapper-by-night-scientist-by-day Ruby Ibarra; pop, R&B, hip hop and electronic music artist Ashley Mehta; rapper and multiinstrumentalist Rocky G; plus sets from DJ Presto, DJ Toy, and The Les.
Discover the rich histories, invaluable wisdom, and inspiring style captured in Chinatown Pretty, a storytelling project that documents senior citizens’ street style in Chinatowns across North America. Founders Andria Lo and Valerie Luu will participate in a panel discussion moderated by Masashi Niwano, festival and exhibitions director at the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), with special guest and Chinatown Pretty fixture Dorothy Quock. Together, the group will discuss the inspiration behind the project, and the unique opportunity it provides to celebrate unique style, convey cultural values, reveal resilience, and share seniors’ immigration stories.
Awaken a deeper appreciation for Asian American representation in the Bay Area music scene with a panel discussion featuring local changemakers who are bringing Asian American music to the fore. You’ll hear from Richie Menchavez, founder of TRAKTIVIST, an online hub for discovering music made by Asian North Americans; music industry professional and global Asian music advocate Christina Luna, founder of Asian American Music Conference; and Allyson Toy, co-founder and co-host of LIONS SHARE, a creative community and weekly music podcast featuring Asian artists on the rise.
SF State University Exhibit
photo by Benjamen Chinn
We’re proud to be part of the group exhibit “Power of Community: Chinatown Then and Now” at San Francisco State University’s Fine Art Gallery up through 10/20.
Gallery open Tuesdays-Fridays 12-4pm. Reserve your free tickets HERE.
To join us at our Closing Reception on Saturday, October 16th from 1pm to 3pm, RSVP HERE.
Location: Fine Arts Gallery - Fine Arts Building, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, California 94132, US
——————
More about the show and artists:
San Francisco State University’s Fine Arts Gallery presents Power Of Community: Chinatown Then and Now, an exhibition welcoming back students and the greater community to the University’s main campus. The Fine Arts Gallery’s exhibition focuses on the people of Chinatowns across North America, with a special spotlight on San Francisco. It features historic work from Benjamen Chinn, and contemporary works by Lenore Chinn, Chinatown Pretty (Andria Lo and Valerie Luu), Chinatown Alleyway Tours, and MACRO WAVES.
In solidarity with Stop AAPI Hate and other groups countering the current violence against AAPI people in our Bay Area and across the country, Power of Community: Chinatown Then and Now celebrates the joy and longevity of these incredible neighborhoods through multigenerational works spanning from the 1940s to the present.
After serving as a photographer for the US Army Air Corps during WWII Benjamen Chinn (1921–2009) enrolled in the new fine art photography program at San Francisco at the California School of Fine Arts, now the San Francisco Art Institute, with teachers that included Ansel Adams, Minor White, and Edward Weston. During this time Chinn, a lifelong resident of San Francisco’s Chinatown, began documenting his neighborhood. This presentation features street scenes from Chinatown during the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Contemporary artist Lenore Chinn has been documenting the art and culture of San Francisco’s Chinatown for decades through her dynamic street photography. An artist working in diverse media, and a community activist and archivist, Lenore Chinn is also the niece of Benjamen Chinn.
The collaborative team of photographer Andria Lo and writer Valerie Luu are behind Chinatown Pretty, a project documenting the street style of the elders who live and grocery shop in Chinatowns across North America. Portraits are accompanied by stories told to the two artists, about personal histories and life in Chinatown. https://www.chinatownpretty.com/