Indiana University’s Asian Culture Center and the City of Bloomington have partnered to host Asianfest Saturday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. The event is free and open to the public.
The annual event celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage. This year’s theme is “Mosaic Traditions: Piecing a Common Ground.” The theme combines aspects of having a sense of community and resilience among Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, said Suyash Kumar Neupane, the culture center’s part-time program assistant.
It brings awareness and shows that AAPI heritage is multifaceted in its traditions and cultures and addresses the exoticization of AAPI in pop culture being one-dimensional, Neupane said.
“If you were to look at a mosaic, there are multiple parts and multiple things that go together, and none of the pieces in a mosaic basically lose their Identity,” he said. “You know, you can be part of a larger picture without losing sense of who you are. You can build a community just like you would build a mosaic with different parts.”
Asianfest consists of two parts: cultural and informational tabling from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and live performances and video screenings from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The tabling event will offer cultural insights and activities. For example, one student organization will be presenting a sari, a traditional attire from south Asia.
The second part of the event will have traditional and contemporary AAPI heritage dance performances. Prior to the event, organization submitted videos about this year’s theme. The videos will be screened at the event.
“So overall, our goal is to build a narrative out of performances, out of videos and out of tabling, right? So I believe the audience and visitors who come to see us at Asian fest, they will get to see well, here are different perspectives in which you can, you know, reflect on AAPI culture and heritage,” Neupane said.
Several student organizations will be represented including the Filipino Student Association, the Vietnamese Student Association, the Pakistani Student Association, the Nepali Student Association, IU’s Taekwondo club, Myanmar Student Association, Hinda YUVA and Nrithya at IU. There will also be community partners including Hoosier Asian American Power.
“It's a celebration of all of us. You know, whether you're part of the AAPI community, whether you're an Asian international student away from home, or whether you're part of Bloomington, because AAPI story is Bloomington story, you know? And I think that's something that needs to be stressed,” he said.
AAPI heritage is nationally celebrated in May.