Museum

With interactive historical exhibits, theater performances and engaging arts shows, this International District museum is an educational treasure for local Asian and Pacific Islander communities, and those interested in their cultures. Permanent exhibits explore the settlement histories of Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, South Asian, Southeast Asian and Vietnamese immigrants. Artifacts, business signs, photographs and clothing are displayed under colorful Chinese lanterns, a 35-foot dragon and boat suspended from the ceiling.

Wing Luke is also a research center devoted to exploring the internment of local Japanese Americans during WWII. In the Densho exhibit - a Japanese term meaning "to pass on to the next generation" - visitors can work through a multi-media curriculum co-developed with Stanford University to learn about the causes of the event and related civil-rights issues. The museum also has an archive of more than 200 hours of video interviews with incarcerated Japanese Americans and almost 1,000 photos and documents.

Changing exhibits explore Asian and Pacific Islander cultural practices and arts. The museum - and its downstairs theater space - also features a non-lending library, readings, performances, children’s events, artist talks and demonstrations.

By Paysha Stockton
Special to NWsource