2026 asia north festival and exhibition
Catch our installation of historic panels and historic sign designs at the 2026 Asia North Festival and Exhibition! This year’s festival takes place from May 1-May 31 at the SNF Parkway.
SNF Parkway Theater
5 W North Ave
Baltimore, MD 21218
Exhibition: Shoes at the Door, Guest Curated by Dylan Kaleikaumaka Hill
Friday, May 1 – Sunday, May 31
GALLERY HOURS
SNF Parkway Theatre: During Asia North and Parkway events at the Parkway
Currency Studio: Thursday – Friday, 1 – 5 p.m. | Saturday, 12 – 3 p.m.
Every household is familiar with the pleasures and pains of hospitality. Hours of unseen preparation yield specialty dishes and spotless interiors for strangers and family alike. For many of us who are part of the APIMEDA (Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern and Desi American) community, guests are not expected to do anything, but leave their shoes at the door. This simple act–rooted in respect and ritual–demonstrates the way in which hospitality creates space for communal exchange. Shoes at the Door brings together works by seventeen APIMEDA-identifying artists living in the greater Baltimore and DMV region whose artworks consider hospitality as a malleable practice shaped by diaspora, cultural tradition, inheritance, colonial commodification, and celebration.
The works in this exhibition capture the breadth and diversity of hospitality customs and notions of home through installation, ceramics, painting, sculpture, drawing, and textiles, displayed throughout Parkway Theatre and Currency Studio. Some of the featured artists engage explicitly with intergenerational practices associated with welcoming others into our homes, reimagining household objects that evoke familial gatherings and celebratory meals. While such works incite nostalgia and joy, they also excavate the gendered labor and colonial legacies that inform them. Select artists also offer meditations on hospitable conditions within our built and natural environments, gesturing to the complexities of diasporic placemaking.
To honor the Charles North neighborhood's ongoing transformation from a historic Koreatown to a diverse arts district, the exhibit also includes research from the Asian Arts & Culture Center's Greater Baltimore Asian Community History Project.
Shoes at the Door offers a nuanced glimpse of what it means to prioritize the care of others through acts of hospitality, which have the ability to both strengthen our ties to distant homelands and subvert cultural expectation.
P.S. Unlike the title suggests, you will not be asked to take your shoes off at any point.
Featured Artists
Hannah Atallah, Thea Canlas, Rosa Chang, Aishwariya Chandrasekar, Michelle Chen, Riya Devi-Ashby, Anna Divinagracia, Heejo Kim, Anthony Le, Nadia Nazar, Lynn Nguyen, Katherine Pon-Cooper, AX Qin, Artie Sadahiro, Julie Sayo, Asma Waheed, Amelie Wang
Asia North 2026 Opening Event
Friday, May 1, 5 – 9 p.m.
SNF Parkway Theatre and Currency Studio
Celebrate the kick-off of Asia North 2026. Meet guest curator Dylan Kaleikaumaka Hill and the artists featured in Shoes at the Door. Spend the evening getting energized through the sounds of Korean samulnori and Japanese taiko drums, and being entranced by the exquisite art of Odissi dance, grooving to synth pop. Featuring performances from Hanpan Samulnori (right), Arpita Rakshit Sabud, Hello Fans, and B’more Taiko. B'more Taiko performance sponsored by the Baltimore Kawasaki Sister City Committee. Savor dishes provided by the Baltimore Xiamen Sister City Committee. Performances curated and hosted by Kandi Wong.
ASIA NORTH 2026 OPENING EVENT Schedule
5 – 9 p.m. Exhibiton opens at SNF Parkway Theatre and Currency Studio
PROGRAM AT THE SNF PARKWAY THEATRE
5:45 p.m. Start enjoying food provided by the Baltimore Xiamen Sister City Committee
6:15 p.m. Welcoming Remarks
6:30 p.m. Performance by Hanpan Samulnori
6:45 p.m. Performance by Arpita Rakshit Sabud
7 p.m. Performance by Hello Fans
7:15 p.m. Performance by Plant Dad
7:30 p.m. Performance by B’more Taiko
"Big Ass Snake(plant)s on a Plane" by Phaan Howng
Big Ass Snake(plant)s on a Plane Installation by Phaan Howng
Ongoing Inviting Light Installation
1718 N. Charles St.
Larger-than-life leaves with vivid colors and camouflage patterns are no longer passive objects of humans; they appear both aggressive and alien as they ‘grow’ out of the Charles Street Garage.
Born in Fire: Queer Asian Crafting Workshop
Sunday, May 3, 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.
SNF Parkway Theatre
Hosted by Hannah Shaw and Phyllis Zhu
Registration Required, limited to 15 spots.
The Year of the Fire Horse is here! What parts of you were shaped by passion or struggle and are ready to be expressed? Come collage, paint, and create with us in queer Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, and Desi American (APIMEDA) community. Make your own mini canvas and/or add to a collective piece - supplies included. Snacks and refreshments will be provided by Blueprint Cafe!
The Korean Diaspora in Baltimore and Beyond
Tuesday, May 5, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
Motor House
Students from Johns Hopkins University present their original research exploring Black-Korean relations in Baltimore, Korean transnational adoptees, the Korean diaspora in Ellicott City, and artists in the global Korean diaspora. Dinner will be provided. Hosted by the Critical Responses to Anti-Asian Violence (CRAAV) Initiative at Johns Hopkins University.
Art installation by Hannah Atallah
Curator Tour: Art Walk W/ Dylan K. Hill
Friday, May 8, 5:30 pm
Starting location: SNF Parkway Theatre
Join Dylan K Hill, curator of this year's Asia North exhibition Shoes at the Door for Station North's May 'Art Walk W/...'! Hill will give Station North Art Walk W/ participants a tour of the exhibition starting at the Parkway Theatre and lead us to the opening of Katazomé at Gallery CA.
