Events

“Hidden Tracks” is a weekly series of listening sessions held within “The Moon Represents My Heart” that expand on the exhibition soundtrack through deeply personal playlists with guest DJs and selectors from MOCA’s creative community. Why do so many Asian Americans love New Wave? Who are the best Asian American MCs? What are the latest sounds coming from underground scenes in China? What’s the deal with K-pop? Come listen, share and explore the exhibition!

Join us to meet and talk with Anne Anlin Cheng about her new book Ornamentalism, a stunning critical-historical unpacking of the figure of the “Asiatic yellow woman” as object-person, she/it. Through the use of legal, cinematic, and art case studies, Anne argues that “ornamentality,” rather than Orientalism, provides a better explanation for the representation of Asian women in the West from the 19th through 21st centuries. By illustrating the link between Asiatic femininity and a history of synthetic personhood in America that is at once aesthetic, legal, and technological, Anne provides an entirely new approach to the problems of racial and sexual commodification and objectification. Anne then extends her study to its implications for other women of color.

An evening with artists whose experimental work in electronic and improvised music continues to shape New York’s sonic landscape. Come and experience a range of moods and emotions through their use of amplified voice and modular synths within the setting of the exhibition.

Learn Cantonese in just four weeks! Join us as we make Cantonese fun and easy to learn with conversational Cantonese/Toisanese bootcamps by Kim Mui. The four-week course is designed to focus squarely on teaching real, applicable conversation skills that can help you actually communicate in Cantonese (and Toisan). Sign-up and start learning Cantonese today.  

Join us for the The Moon Represents My Heart concert series, a reflection of the current exhibition which focuses on the transformative power of music and identity. Tonight, we present the launch of local artist Frank Song, Jr.’s debut album, “My Home.”

“Hidden Tracks” is a weekly series of listening sessions held within “The Moon Represents My Heart” that expand on the exhibition soundtrack through deeply personal playlists with guest DJs and selectors from MOCA’s creative community. Why do so many Asian Americans love New Wave? Who are the best Asian American MCs? What are the latest sounds coming from underground scenes in China? What’s the deal with K-pop? Come listen, share and explore the exhibition!

Empire's Tracks: Indigenous Nations, Chinese Workers, and the Transcontinental Railroad boldly reframes the history of the transcontinental railroad from the perspectives of the Cheyenne, Lakota, and Pawnee Native American tribes, and the Chinese migrants who toiled on its path. In this meticulously researched book, Manu Karuka situates the railroad within the violent global histories of colonialism and capitalism. Through an examination of legislative, military, and business records, Manu deftly explains the imperial foundations of U.S. political economy.

Join us for an evening of FREE music, songs, and stand-up comedy, as we invite the public inside our temporary music exhibition “The Moon Represents My Heart” for a curated live performance featuring emerging talent from the community.

Learn Cantonese in just four weeks! Join us as we make Cantonese fun and easy to learn with conversational Cantonese/Toisanese bootcamps by Kim Mui. The four-week course is designed to focus squarely on teaching real, applicable conversation skills that can help you actually communicate in Cantonese (and Toisan). Sign-up and start learning Cantonese today.  

Join us for music, wine and fun in celebration of Hapa Magazine turning two! Special musical guests Rebecca Lee Lerman and Matt Park will perform.  

“Hidden Tracks” is a weekly series of listening sessions held within “The Moon Represents My Heart” that expand on the exhibition soundtrack through deeply personal playlists with guest DJs and selectors from MOCA’s creative community. Why do so many Asian Americans love New Wave? Who are the best Asian American MCs? What are the latest sounds coming from underground scenes in China? What’s the deal with K-pop? Come listen, share and explore the exhibition!

Nancy Davis joins us to meet and talk about the enthralling story of Afong Moy, possibly the first Chinese woman to encounter America. Nancy’s recently published book on Moy offers readers the first comprehensive account of her life, including new insights on Moy’s life, her coerced journey from Guangzhou to New York in 1834, the mixed reception she received as she traveled the country publicizing everyday Chinese objects for an American mercantile firm, the devastating years in poor houses, and her life as P.T. Barnum’s oriental “ornament.” Nancy shares with us the experiences of her research in China, and in U.S. museums, libraries, and archives as well as images of the everyday Chinese objects Moy presented to early nineteenth-century Americans; followed by Q&A.  

Join MC Jin for an intimate, insightful, and inspiring evening of conversation, laughter, and music.

Mooncakes, shadow puppets, and the Jade Rabbit on the moon! Explore the customs and traditions behind this harvest festival with a mooncake tasting, arts and crafts, story time, and more family fun!

Learn Cantonese in just four weeks! Join us as we make Cantonese fun and easy to learn with conversational Cantonese/Toisanese bootcamps by Kim Mui. The four-week course is designed to focus squarely on teaching real, applicable conversation skills that can help you actually communicate in Cantonese (and Toisan). Sign-up and start learning Cantonese today.

Join us for the The Moon Represents My Heart concert series, a reflection of the current exhibition which focuses on the transformative power of music and identity. Tonight, we present Treesearch and will feature music from their forthcoming album, Know More Knowledge.

Hear stories about the myths and traditions of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Celebrate the harvest season with catchy Chinese-language nursery songs and then make your own clay mooncake to take home!

Join us for the The Moon Represents My Heart concert series, a reflection of the current exhibition which focuses on the transformative power of music and identity. Tonight, we present multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Treya Lam. Treya’s cinematic songs and compositions are built on dynamic classically trained piano, ethereal vocals, meditative guitar and lush chamber-folk arrangements. Their debut album Good News was created entirely by womxn, headed by Kaki King who produced and released the record on her label June 2018.  

Keep your family and community memories for posterity! Sign up for a timeslot where the MOCA Collections team will scan and digitize your most beloved photos, paper documents, and/or 2-D mementos 11" x 17" or smaller.   为后代留下您对家庭和社区的记忆！注册一个时间段，美国华人博物馆馆藏部将数字化扫描您最喜爱的照片、文件、或者其它二维纪念品，尺寸限制在不超过11"x17"。分享您数字化物品背后的故事，并带走一份数字化的副本，发个朋友圈炫耀一下吧！

Are your precious memories sitting boxed up in your apartment or storage unit? Join conservator Lauren P. Isaacs as she demonstrates how to pack, store, and display items safely and affordably so they endure the test of time.  

Learn Cantonese in just four weeks! Join us as we make Cantonese fun and easy to learn with conversational Cantonese/Toisanese bootcamps by Kim Mui. The four-week course is designed to focus squarely on teaching real, applicable conversation skills that can help you actually communicate in Cantonese (and Toisan). Sign-up and start learning Cantonese today.

Join us for the The Moon Represents My Heart concert series, a reflection of the current exhibition which focuses on the transformative power of music and identity. Tonight, we present a dreamy 1930's Shanghai Pop-Jazz trio inspired by Gary Lucas’ celebrated album The Edge of Heaven: Gary Lucas Plays Mid-Century Chinese Pop, which rose to #1 on the World Music Charts. This cool new trio play an intriguing fusion of Eastern and Western musical styles that mingles with new Mandarin versions of classics by Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Jeff Buckley.  

Join us for a conversation with three leading Asian American comic book innovators, Larry Hama, Jerry Ma, and David Chun as they discuss challenges as well as influences in their careers.

Join us Friday, September 20 in collaboration with Teen Resource Center for Music + Mic Night: Teen Edition, an evening of FREE music, songs and stand-up comedy from New York kids and teens. Explore the museum and exhibitions for free.  

Did you hear that? That’s the sound of a broom sweeping, a dog barking, and a basketball bouncing, all mixed together. What are the sounds of your neighborhood? Join us for a sound walk and art making inspired by the soundscapes of our streets.

Learn Cantonese in just four weeks! Join us as we make Cantonese fun and easy to learn with conversational Cantonese/Toisanese bootcamps by Kim Mui. The four-week course is designed to focus squarely on teaching real, applicable conversation skills that can help you actually communicate in Cantonese (and Toisan). Sign-up and start learning Cantonese today.

There is an extraordinary story to be told of the thousands of Chinese workers who contributed to the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad 150 years ago. This fall, that story comes to life in an epic symphonic oratorio by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Zhou Long. Men of Iron and the Golden Spike 铁汉金钉 will receive its world premiere on October 1 at Carnegie Hall, performed by Bard College’s The Orchestra Now with Jindong Cai conducting. Join us for a lively discussion with Zhou Long, librettist Su Wei, and Jindong Cai to learn about the conception, creation, and performance of this large-scale symphonic work.  

Join us for stories and songs about learning, reading, and making friends. Take home a bookmark craft!

“Hidden Tracks” is a weekly series of listening sessions held within “The Moon Represents My Heart” that expand on the exhibition soundtrack through deeply personal playlists with guest DJs and selectors from MOCA’s creative community. Why do so many Asian Americans love New Wave? Who are the best Asian American MCs? What are the latest sounds coming from underground scenes in China? What’s the deal with K-pop? Come listen, share and explore the exhibition!

Xu Xi’s new book This Fish is Fowl is subtitled "Essays of Being.” Her questioning of identity is underpinned by the myriad ways of “being” in this globally transnational existence that has become her life. These quirky, darkly comic and obsessively personal essays emerge from her diverse professional career as a writer, business executive, and educator. But is it fair or foul to seemingly belong everywhere and nowhere? Xu will talk about her life and writing that led to this book and discuss the way this collection came together, followed by a Q&A.

Join us for an evening of FREE music, songs, and stand-up comedy, as we transform our museum lobby into a stage for emerging talent from the community. Explore the museum and exhibitions for free. Advance registration is required.

Learn Cantonese in just four weeks! Join us as we make Cantonese fun and easy to learn with conversational Cantonese/Toisanese bootcamps by Kim Mui. The four-week course is designed to focus squarely on teaching real, applicable conversation skills that can help you actually communicate in Cantonese (and Toisan). Sign-up and start learning Cantonese today.

Learn Cantonese in just four weeks! Join us as we make Cantonese fun and easy to learn with conversational Cantonese/Toisanese bootcamps by Kim Mui. The four-week course is designed to focus squarely on teaching real, applicable conversation skills that can help you actually communicate in Cantonese (and Toisan). Sign-up and start learning Cantonese today.

Learn Cantonese in just four weeks! Join us as we make Cantonese fun and easy to learn with conversational Cantonese/Toisanese bootcamps by Kim Mui. The four-week course is designed to focus squarely on teaching real, applicable conversation skills that can help you actually communicate in Cantonese (and Toisan). Sign-up and start learning Cantonese today.

Learn Cantonese in just four weeks! Join us as we make Cantonese fun and easy to learn with conversational Cantonese/Toisanese bootcamps by Kim Mui. The four-week course is designed to focus squarely on teaching real, applicable conversation skills that can help you actually communicate in Cantonese (and Toisan). Sign-up and start learning Cantonese today.

Author Fuchsia Dunlop joins us to talk about her fully revised and updated edition of her classic cookbook Land of Plenty. When Fuchsia Dunlop’s Land of Plenty was first published in 2001, few people outside China had experienced the lip-tingling sensation of real Sichuan pepper. Nearly twenty years later, Sichuanese cuisine has become popular all over the world, but Dunlop’s pioneering work remains the key text for English speakers eager to understand its myriad flavors and sophisticated culinary techniques. As the New York Times has said, Dunlop has “done more to explain real Chinese cooking to non-Chinese cooks than anyone.”

Join us to meet and talk with Sean Fraga about the forgotten reason for the construction of America’s numerous transcontinental railroads: trade with Asia. Sean uses maps, postcards, government records, magazine articles, and corporate files to reveal this overlooked history. He argues that nineteenth-century Americans believed the transcontinental railroads’ great potential lay in opening the United States to the Pacific World.

Join us for an evening of FREE music, songs, and stand-up comedy, as we transform our museum lobby into a stage for emerging talent from the community. Explore the museum and exhibitions for free. Advance registration is required.

Learn Cantonese in just four weeks! Join us as we make Cantonese fun and easy to learn with conversational Cantonese/Toisanese bootcamps by Kim Mui. The four-week course is designed to focus squarely on teaching real, applicable conversation skills that can help you actually communicate in Cantonese (and Toisan). Sign-up and start learning Cantonese today.

Learn Cantonese in just four weeks! Join us as we make Cantonese fun and easy to learn with conversational Cantonese/Toisanese bootcamps by Kim Mui. The four-week course is designed to focus squarely on teaching real, applicable conversation skills that can help you actually communicate in Cantonese (and Toisan). Sign-up and start learning Cantonese today.

Learn Cantonese in just four weeks! Join us as we make Cantonese fun and easy to learn with conversational Cantonese/Toisanese bootcamps by Kim Mui. The four-week course is designed to focus squarely on teaching real, applicable conversation skills that can help you actually communicate in Cantonese (and Toisan). Sign-up and start learning Cantonese today.

Simon Tam joins us to talk about his new memoir, “Slanted: How an Asian American Troublemaker Took On The Supreme Court.” Simon will also be bringing some special guests to perform with him.

Danielle Seid joins us to talk about the iconic Asian American film star Anna May Wong, who, in the 1950s, appeared on numerous television programs such as Adventures in Paradise, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, and Mike Hammer. A pioneer in early American television, in 1951, Wong also starred in a series for the Dumont Network called The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, a show sadly missing from TV archives. Danielle will situate Wong’s television stardom within recent studies of and popular interest in Wong’s life and film career. In particular, Danielle will ask what Wong’s late career performances, which were primarily on TV but also included a few minor roles in film, suggest about aging Asian American stardom and Wong’s symbolic importance to the transition from the Chinese exclusion era to 1950s Cold War multiculturalism.  

Learn Cantonese in just four weeks! Join us as we make Cantonese fun and easy to learn with conversational Cantonese/Toisanese bootcamps by Kim Mui. The four-week course is designed to focus squarely on teaching real, applicable conversation skills that can help you actually communicate in Cantonese (and Toisan). Sign-up and start learning Cantonese today.

Learn Cantonese in just four weeks! Join us as we make Cantonese fun and easy to learn with conversational Cantonese/Toisanese bootcamps by Kim Mui. The four-week course is designed to focus squarely on teaching real, applicable conversation skills that can help you actually communicate in Cantonese (and Toisan). Sign-up and start learning Cantonese today.