Smithsonian Celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

The Smithsonian celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May with a series of films, lectures and performances at museums around the Institution. All programs are free, unless otherwise indicated.

Feature Event
The Institution will kick off Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Sunday, May 4, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum with “Sharing Stories/Sharing Heritage: Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Family Day Celebration.” The event will include workshops on origami, letter writing and stamp designing; presentations by artist Sushmita Mazumdar, storyteller Kathy Mathieson, origami artist Marcia Mau and children’s book author and stamp illustrator Kam Mak; and performances by Hawaiian dance group Halau O Na Hali‘a, South Asian “fusion dance team” Chamak and the Northern Virginia Rondalla, a string orchestra that plays traditional Filipino folk music. Children’s books with Asian-American themes will be available for purchase.

Performances
The Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art will present “The Legacy Tour” Friday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the museum’s Meyer Auditorium. Two of the leading father-son teams in Indian music will join forces for this celebration. Partha and Purbayan Chatterjee will play the sitar, a plucked string instrument. They will be joined by Anindo and Anubrata Chatterjee, who will play the tabla, a set of hand drums. The performance is free, but tickets are required. Free tickets (up to four per person) can be reserved in advance through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (202) 397-7328 or (800) 551-7328. Two tickets per person will be distributed at the Meyer Auditorium one hour before show time on a first-come, first-served basis. A preconcert gallery tour of Indian art will begin at 6:45 p.m.

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