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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Potluck Asian America
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261029
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261213
DTSTAMP:20260825T035429Z
CREATED:20260825T035144Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260825T035429Z
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SUMMARY:Yoshitomo Nara Exhibition
DESCRIPTION:David Zwirner is pleased to present an exhibition by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara (b. 1959) featuring new paintings and drawings\, recent sculptures\, and early works selected by the artist. Spanning the gallery’s 537 West 20th Street and 533 West 19th Street locations in New York\, this exhibition will be the artist’s first solo presentation with David Zwirner and his first major solo exhibition in New York in nearly a decade. \nSince the mid-1980s\, Nara’s multidisciplinary approach has produced a distinctive and varied body of work. His artistic sensibilities were uniquely formed and shaped by his solitary childhood in rural northern Japan. Nara’s formative encounters with nature\, folklore\, and children’s fables\, and his revelatory discovery of popular music through his self-built radio\, are the source of his creativity. Through introspection\, Nara freely reimagines his past experiences\, and they have determined his visual language and steered his stylistic development for four decades. \nThrough philosophical dialogues with his intrinsic self\, Nara creates personified entities. Depicted with big heads and wide eyes\, they are celebrated for their characterful demeanor and perceived to possess both innocence and defiance. Nara understands these figures as self-portraits\, and when his dynamic imagery emerged in the 1990s\, it was recognized as an expression of raw emotion\, carrying a spirit comparable to punk and rock music in its directness and intensity. Over time\, it has come to function differently. Today\, many people see Nara’s characters as projections of themselves\, mirroring their own sentiments and vulnerabilities. As a result\, these images have transcended their original impetus and become cultural touchstones\, resonating with a global audience and influencing younger generations of artists and viewers alike. \nBringing together foundational works from the 1980s and paintings from 2026\, this exhibition will illuminate the latest evolutions of Nara’s singular proxies. Newly completed paintings on canvas—front-facing portraits with direct gazes—show a significant development in his color palette. Over the past year\, his intricately layered colors have become more muted and highly nuanced\, while his increasingly diffused brushwork\, through which his forms materialize\, creates richly atmospheric depths across the surface. Other paintings reveal a new method in which Nara sketches compositions in colored pencil\, developing a framework drawing before applying washes of translucent acrylic—the figures adopt natural poses\, and their tear-filled eyes communicate an air of uncertainty. In tandem\, recent large-format\, monochrome drawings made with industrial oil-based paint sticks will be exhibited. By contrast\, these works are emphatically linear\, demonstrating the breadth of Nara’s two-dimensional output. On the surface\, his imagery may appear formally divergent\, but it captures a shared emotional intensity\, evoking universal feelings. \nNara integrated his drawing style into his painting practice as a student\, simplifying his compositions\, paring down his use of color\, and introducing an economy of line. Unbound by conventional methods\, Nara employs paint in ways aligned with how he uses pen and pencil. Whichever medium or implement he chooses\, for him drawing is an assured action\, the result of an immediate inspiration—it is a state of mind. In what Nara calls his “line” paintings\, he enlarges his bold notebook sketches through projection and reanimates them in paint. The deceptively simple outlines retain their original creative impulse and the freedom that drawing allows—the rapid execution and fluid delineation. \nIn conjunction with the presentation of paintings and drawings at 20th Street\, thirteen of Nara’s 10-times sculptural enlargements from 2024 will be on display at the 19th Street gallery. Coated in white urethane paint\, the matte surface affording an apparent softness\, these large-scale bronze heads recall the snow “monsters” that Nara knew from childhood winters\, created by heavy snowfall. He envisaged the enlargements as he sculpted their palm-sized clay prototypes\, fascinated by the potential psychological impacts of experiencing the small\, evidently hand-molded heads on a monumental scale. Encountering the magnification of their simple facial expressions\, and the play of light and shadow across their smooth surfaces\, nurtures conditions for serenity and contemplation. \nThis exhibition will coincide with the opening of Yoshitomo Nara: Sentinels of Stillness at the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden in Washington\, DC. Three monumental sculptures\, sixteen-times enlargements of Nara’s small clay heads\, will inaugurate the Annual West Lawn Series and be on view from October 31\, 2026 through November 7\, 2027.
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/yoshitomo-nara-exhibition/
LOCATION:Multiple NYC locations
CATEGORIES:Art,Art Exhibit
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Yoshitomo-Nara-copy.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20261203
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20261221
DTSTAMP:20260907T045840Z
CREATED:20260907T045839Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260907T045840Z
UID:10003320-1796256000-1797811199@potluckasianamerica.org
SUMMARY:Saigon
DESCRIPTION:In a bustling restaurant in both 1950s Vietnam and 1990s France\, strangers gather to eat\, drink\, sing\, argue\, remember\, and mourn. Across decades and continents\, lives intersect as people reckon with exile\, longing\, and the lasting impact of history. \nCreated by acclaimed director Caroline Guiela Nguyen\, Saigon is an epic and deeply personal portrait of migration\, memory\, and belonging. As characters search for lost homes\, lost loves\, and lost versions of themselves\, ordinary encounters unfold into a sweeping story of resilience and connection. \nBy turns intimate and expansive\, joyful and heartbreaking\, Saigon is a richly diverse theatrical experience that celebrates the lives shaped by movement across borders and generations.
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/saigon/
LOCATION:St. Ann’s Warehouse\, 45 Water Street\, Brooklyn\, NY\, 11201\, United States
CATEGORIES:Theater
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Saigon-copy.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261209T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261209T210000
DTSTAMP:20260825T032839Z
CREATED:20260817T045206Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260825T032839Z
UID:10003104-1796842800-1796850000@potluckasianamerica.org
SUMMARY:An Evening with Min Jin Lee | Fundraiser for New Life Community Development
DESCRIPTION:This event is benefiting New Life Community Development Corporation\, a 501c3 nonprofit serving low income individuals in Elmhurst and Corona. \nDoors open at 6:30! \nJoin Min Jin Lee in conversation with Lucy Yu in the bestselling author’s very own hometown of Elmhurst\, NY\, to celebrate the arrival of her latest novel American Hagwon\, and to fundraise for an Elmhurst-based non-profit. \nTicket price will include a signed copy and a donation to New Life Community Development Corporation\, a 501c3 organization serving low income individuals in Elmhurst and Corona with a food pantry\, health center\, financial literacy\, and social emotional wellness programming. \n10% of each purchased copy of American Hagwon will also be donated towards New Life Community Development Corporation. \nABOUT THE BOOK \nThe National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Pachinko returns with a breathtaking contemporary epic: a masterpiece by turns sweeping and intimate\, that reckons with ambition and moderation\, lust and loyalty\, personal dreams and familial duty. \nMin Jin Lee brings grand ambition\, fierce heart\, and the tenderest hope to a novel I didn’t want to end.” —Roxane Gay\, bestselling author of Bad Feminist and Hunger \nIn schools and churches\, hotel rooms and nail salons\, law firms and fried-fish shops; in cramped\, dingy apartments and luxury\, gated communities\, the men\, women\, and children in American Hagwon struggle to find satisfaction and meaning in a world that seems to grow less forgiving with each passing year. Once comfortably middle class in Korea\, John and Helen Koh and their three children—Bo\, DH\, and Mido—find their lives upended\, first by a shocking betrayal by John’s oldest friend\, then by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. \nDesperately striving to regain their footing\, they leave Seoul for Sydney and eventually settle in Southern California—where new vistas of opportunity open up for the children as their parents\, strangers in a strange land\, must adjust to a new life in which their experience and education mean little\, and they set their sights on whatever it takes to provide for their children’s futures. The Kohs\, their friends\, relatives\, and even their foes move in and out of each other’s lives as they navigate new courses across the years\, always nursing the almost all-consuming faith that education will lead the next generation to success and security. \nIn American Hagwon\, Min Jin Lee has crafted an unforgettable\, panoramic novel where the smallest of gestures can have enormous repercussions\, where the bonds of family and of memory twist and fray but rarely break\, and where willful self-sacrifice—for the benefit of loved ones and even strangers—is a kind of prayer. \nABOUT THE AUTHOR \nMin Jin Lee was born in Seoul\, South Korea and immigrated to Queens\, New York with her family when she was seven years old. She is a writer whose award-winning fiction explores the intersection of race\, ethnicity\, immigration\, class\, religion\, gender\, and identity of a diasporic people. \nLee’s debut novel Free Food for Millionaires (2007) was a Top 10 Books of the Year for The Times of London\, NPR’s Fresh Air\, USA Today\, and a national bestseller. Pachinko\, her second novel\, is an epic story which follows a Korean family who migrates to Japan; it is the first novel written for an adult\, English-speaking audience about the Korean-Japanese people. Pachinko was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction\, runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize\, winner of the Medici Book Club Prize\, a New York Times 10 Best Books of 2017\, and is one of Kirkus Review’s Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far). A New York Times Bestseller\, Pachinko was also a Top 10 Books of the Year for the BBC\, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation\, and the New York Public Library. Pachinko was a selection for “Now Read This\,” the joint book club of PBS NewsHour and The New York Times. It was on over 75 best books of the year lists\, including NPR\, PBS\, and CNN. Pachinko has been translated into over 35 languages and is an international bestseller. President Barack Obama selected Pachinko for his recommended reading list\, calling it\, “a powerful story about resilience and compassion.” In 2024 Pachinko (#15) was named one of the New York Times Book Review’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. \nIN CONVERSATION WITH \nLucy Yu is a writer and multi-disciplinary artist living in Brooklyn\, New York. She is also the owner of Yu & Me Books in Manhattan’s Chinatown\, the first queer Asian American bookstore in New York City. Yu & Me Books specializes in immigrant stories\, writers of color\, and historically marginalized experiences. \nAbout the New Life Community Development Corporation \nFounded in 1994 by members of New Life Fellowship Church\, New Life Community Development Corporation seeks to serve the poor and marginalized in Elmhurst and Corona\, NY. New Life CDC envisions a neighborhood where every neighbor has the financial\, emotional\, and social resources to thrive\, and every neighbor is valued and recognized as worthy\, capable\, and deserving of investment and support. Annually\, New Life CDC serves over 1\,400 children\, youth\, adults\, and senior neighbors through culturally and linguistically accessible programs and services. New Life CDC’s programs provide relief\, cultivate restoration\, deepen relationships and model reinvestment with neighbors across the spectrum of poverty\, including those experiencing food or housing insecurity\, uninsured community members\, undocumented day laborers living on the streets\, survivors of domestic violence\, and working class families. Its core programs include a food and clothing pantry\, health center\, financial empowerment programs\, and social emotional wellness programs for low-income families at local schools and shelters.
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/an-evening-with-min-jin-lee-fundraiser-for-new-life-community-development/
LOCATION:New Life Community Development Corporation\, 82-10 Queens Boulevard\, Elmhurst\, NY\, 11373\, United States
CATEGORIES:Book,Discussion,Fundraiser
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Min-Jin-copy.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261210T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261210T210000
DTSTAMP:20260810T010930Z
CREATED:20260810T010930Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260810T010930Z
UID:10003055-1796927400-1796936400@potluckasianamerica.org
SUMMARY:MOCA x NYAFF Film Club: Full Moon in New York
DESCRIPTION:MOCA x NYAFF Film Club is a quarterly program celebrating the brilliance and boldness of Asian and Asian American cinema. This series highlights films of historic and cultural significance under the theme Margin\, spotlighting daring films that challenge the norm\, rewrite narratives\, and push boundaries. \nEach session is more than just a movie night—it’s an opportunity to connect\, discover\, and engage. This year’s screenings are scheduled for May 7\, June 11\, September 24\, and December 10. Following the screening\, join us for a moderated conversation to explore the film’s themes\, creative impact\, and cultural context. Attendees are encouraged to share their thoughts and continue the dialogue during a casual networking reception afterward. \nDon’t miss this chance to immerse yourself in the world of bold cinema and meaningful connections. Let’s watch\, chat\, and celebrate together! \nFull Moon in New York (2019)\nDirected by: Stanley Kwan\nRuntime: 89 minutes \nDirected by Stanley Kwan 關錦鵬\, Full Moon in New York (1989) is a landmark drama that follows three Chinese-speaking women from mainland China\, Hong Kong\, and Taiwan as they forge an unlikely friendship while building new lives in New York City. Starring Sylvia Chang\, Maggie Cheung\, and Siqin Gaowa\, the film explores the complexities of migration\, cultural identity\, homesickness\, and belonging\, revealing how shared experiences can bridge political\, linguistic\, and personal differences within the Chinese diaspora. \nWidely regarded as one of Kwan’s defining works\, Full Moon in New York received critical acclaim across the Chinese-speaking world. At the 26th Golden Horse Awards\, it won Best Feature Film and Best Actress for Maggie Cheung\, while becoming the ceremony’s most nominated film with 11 nominations and its biggest winner with eight awards. More than three decades after its release\, the film remains a poignant portrait of the immigrant experience and a rare cinematic exploration of the diverse identities that shape the global Chinese diaspora. \nStarring:Sylvia Chang 張艾嘉\, Maggie Cheung 張曼玉\, and Siqin Gaowa 斯琴高娃 \nStay after the screening for a conversation between MOCA’s Curator and NYAFF’s Programmer\, starting around 8:10 PM. Explore the film’s deeper meanings and behind-the-scenes context before engaging in further discussions with fellow attendees over beverages.
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/moca-x-nyaff-film-club-full-moon-in-new-york/
LOCATION:Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA)\, 215 Centre Street\, New York\, NY\, 10013\, United States
CATEGORIES:Discussion,Film
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/MOCA-x-NYAFF-Film-Club-Full-Moon-copy.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261211T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261211T210000
DTSTAMP:20260929T202703Z
CREATED:20260929T202550Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260929T202703Z
UID:10003504-1797012000-1797022800@potluckasianamerica.org
SUMMARY:AAARI 25th Annual Gala
DESCRIPTION:Save the date! Join AAARI 12/11 for our 25th annual gala! Check our website for updated info on honorees and to purchase tickets\, http://www.aaari.info.
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/aaari-2026-gala/
LOCATION:House of Joy\, 28 Pell Street\, New York\, 10013\, United States
CATEGORIES:Gala
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/AARI-Gala-copy.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261211T200000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261211T213000
DTSTAMP:20260824T051009Z
CREATED:20260824T051009Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260824T051009Z
UID:10003207-1797019200-1797024600@potluckasianamerica.org
SUMMARY:White Stones
DESCRIPTION:A stone can mark a boundary. Or it can open one… Japanese-American musician Kaoru Watanabe and Lakota performance/visual artist Kite (Suzanne Kite) bring two inheritances together\, asking what it means to seek ancestral guidance in a country built on forgetting. On Japanese drums\, flute\, koto\, voice\, violin\, electronics and invented instruments\, they weave a soundscape moving between meditative stillness and ritual intensity\, while Kite’s sovereign AI\, built entirely from Indigenous worldviews and ancestral stories\, shapes what unfolds in real time. Drawing on the sacred vocabularies of Noh theater and Lakota ceremonial practice — both centered on stone\, here cast in patterns across the performance space — the artists forge the friction of these visions into something neither tradition could reach alone.
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/white-stones/
LOCATION:Japan Society\, 333 East 47th Street\, New York\, NY\, 10017\, United States
CATEGORIES:Music,Performance
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/White-Stones-copy.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261212T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261212T203000
DTSTAMP:20260710T190059Z
CREATED:20260710T190059Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260710T190059Z
UID:10002829-1797102000-1797107400@potluckasianamerica.org
SUMMARY:American Hagwon: A Conversation with Min Jin Lee
DESCRIPTION:Join internationally acclaimed author Min Jin Lee for a special evening celebrating the release of her highly anticipated new novel\, American Hagwon. \nFrom the bestselling author of Pachinko comes an epic\, deeply moving saga that follows a Korean family across Seoul\, Sydney\, and California’s Orange County from 1992 to 2007. Through the lives of the Koh family and those around them\, Lee explores the pursuit of opportunity\, the pressures of academic achievement\, the impact of economic upheaval\, and the enduring bonds between parents and children. \nAt the heart of the novel is the world of the hagwon—Korea’s private education system and a powerful symbol of ambition\, sacrifice\, and social mobility. As fortunes rise and fall against the backdrop of the Asian financial crisis and the Korean diaspora experience\, American Hagwon asks timeless questions about identity\, success\, family\, and what ultimately makes a good life. In this special live conversation\, Min Jin Lee will discuss the inspiration behind her sweeping new novel\, her creative process\, and the themes that have made her one of the most important literary voices of our time. A book signing will follow the program. \nDon’t miss this rare opportunity to hear from the celebrated author of Pachinko as she introduces her most ambitious work yet. \nTickets: $15 + fees (Event Ticket Only); $45 + fees (Event Ticket + Copy of American Hagwon\, Pick-Up at Kew & Willow Books in Kew Gardens); $51 + fees (Event Ticket + Copy of American Hagwon\, U.S. Shipping Included). \nBook pick-up and shipping will begin on September 29\, 2026\, the official publication date of American Hagwon. Limited signed editions by Min Jin Lee available—don’t wait\, order now! \nPlease note that discounts on tickets are only available for Queens College students. With a valid QC student ID\, Queens College students receive 50% off the Event Ticket. The student discount is available for in-person purchases at the KCA Box Office only. Students may also purchase the Event Ticket + Book Pick-Up option; though the 50% discount applies to the Event Ticket portion only. Instead of picking up the book at Kew & Willow Books\, Queens College students will receive their book at Colden Auditorium on the day of the event. \nFor any additional questions\, please contact our Box Office at (718) 793-8080.
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/american-hagwon-a-conversation-with-min-jin-lee/
LOCATION:Queens College – Colden Auditorium\, 153-49 Reeves Avenue\, Flushing\, NY\, 11367
CATEGORIES:Book,Discussion
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Min-Jin-Lee.png
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