Held on May 17-19, 2024, “InVISIBLE: A Reclaiming of the Asian Gaze” provided a showcase of local Asian American creativity and talent, including a literary booklet and visual exhibit.
Over 30 people provided submissions of poignant, funny, and thoughtful reflections about being Asian for the InVISIBLE literary booklet. A pdf copy is available here. For a hard copy, please contact Robin Hattori at robinannhattori@gmail.com.
Danny Poon of STL PAC served as co-organizer of InVISIBLE with Lauren Gentry and Robin Hattori
JACL member Anne Omura with her daughter Paulette, next to her photo (lower image) “Buddha Barbie”.
Steve Mitori, Edie Quick, Hallie Rolle, Anne Mitori and Robin Hattori with two pieces related to the Japanese American internment: “Iris in Tule Lake” by Wendy Mitori and “Kinstugi Katsume and Kango” by Robin Hattori
Thank you for the tremendous response to our call for creative works by the Asian American/Pacific Islander community in the St. Louis region! We received over 120 submissions from people of diverse ages and backgrounds who used a variety of media to explore, interpret and express their AAPI identities. Although we could not show all of the amazing works, we will have other opportunities to highlight these AAPI creators at local businesses and more into 2025.
This initative was co-sponsored by the JACL- St. Louis Chapter and the St. Louis Pan Asian Collective. It is supported as a Washington University in St. Louis Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity Arts & Culture Community Grant. The CRE2 Arts & Culture Community Grant aims to continue and build on the work foregrounded by the Divided City Initiative with the generous support of the Mellon Foundation.
St. Louis JACL 