Exhibition & Festival Asia North 2026 May 1 – May 31 Various locations throughout the Station North Arts District, Baltimore, MD Celebrate Baltimore’s Charles North – Station North – neighborhood’s constantly evolving identities as a Koreatown, arts district, and creative hub. Co-produced by Asian Arts & Culture Center and Central Baltimore Partnership Exhibition Shoes at the Door Guest curated by Dylan Kaleikaumaka Hill Friday, May 1-Sunday, May 31 SNF Parkway Theatre and Currency Studio Parkway Gallery Hours: During Asia North and Parkway events at the Parkway Currency Studio Gallery Hours: Thursday – Friday 1 – 5 pm; Saturday 12 – 3 pm 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 sixteen 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.  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, 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 Opening Event Asia North 2026 Friday, May 1, 5-9 pm 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, being entranced by the exquisite art of Odissi dance, grooving to synth pop, and chilling out to indie-pop. Featuring performances from Han Pan Samulnori, Arpita Rakshit Sabud, Hello Fans, Plant Dad, and B’more Taiko. Savor dishes provided by the Baltimore Xiamen Sister City Committee. B’more Taiko performance sponsored by the Baltimore Kawasaki Sister City Committee. Performances curated and hosted by Kandi Wong. Workshop Born in Fire: Queer Asian Crafting Sunday, May 3, 3:30-5:30 pmSNF Parkway TheatreHosted 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! Curator Tour  Art Walk W/Dylan K. Hill Friday, May 8, 5:30 pm Starting location: SNF Parkway TheatreJoin 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 Theater and lead us to the opening of Katazomé at Gallery CA. Discover + Dine Asia North Kamayan Feast Saturday, May 9, 6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. SNF Parkway Theatre TICKET INFO COMING SOON! Experience Asia North’s annual communal Filipino feast where food is artfully laid out atop banana leaves in the middle of long banquet tables. “Kamay” literally translates to “hand” in this traditional Filipino practice of eating with your hands. Conversation Love Has Never Been a Popular Movement Monday, May 11, 6 – 8 pm Impact Hub Explore the role and dynamics of heritage knowledge (a community’s group memory that enables a sense of belonging) across the Asian Diaspora. Interact with art, concepts and each other to practice ways to imagine futures with expanded notions of belonging and solidarity. Facilitated by Paul J. Koh (Towson University Professor of Education). Interactive Performance Sticky Stars and Sheets: A Spoken Word Play Friday, May 15. 8 – 9:15 pm Club Car Regie Cabico takes on queerphobia in the classrooms and the dive bars with poetic lyricism and self-effacing humor, and resilience. Cabico presents his signature performance of poetry and stories of Asian appropriation and the daily triggers he confronts from a multiverse that gets smaller stepping out of a pandemic and surviving dive bars, bathhouses, teen stalkers, as he tries to get his groove back.   Regie Cabico: Writer & Performer Mohammad Rohaizad Suaidi: Director & Dramaturg K-town Culture Day The Past, Present, and Future of Baltimore Koreatown Sunday, May 17. 4 – 4:30 pm: Walking Tour. Meet at SNF Parkway Theatre entrance 4:35 – 4:50 pm: Performances 5 – 6:30 pm: Panel Discussion. SNF Parkway Theatre. 6:30 – 7:30 pm: Reception Free Registration Required  Join our guides for a walking tour of the Charles North neighborhood’s historical Koreatown landmarks and favorite food spots. Then, join us for an exclusive panel discussion in the Parkway Theater about Baltimore Koreatown’s past, present, and future. Our moderator is Jacqueline Shin, National Register Assistant at the Maryland Historical Trust. Our participating panelists are Shauntee Daniels, Executive Director of the Baltimore National Heritage Area; Phaan Howng, co-leader of the project for preserving Baltimore Koreatown; Angela Ra, Communications and Strategic Policy Manager at the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs; Matthew Lee, Founder/President & CEO of the FASTech, Inc. & A-Tech Systems, Inc. and President of KoBE Government Contracting Alliance; Myung Hwa Shin, President of the Korean Culture & Art of Maryland and business owner in Baltimore City, and Tae Wan Kim, a business owner for 30 years in Baltimore City. We will have a reception following the discussion with free Korean food. This event is organized by the Baltimore Changwon Sister City Committee and a program of the 2026 Asia North Exhibition and Festival. K-Movie Screening Our Season Tuesday, May 19. 7-9 pm SNF Parkway Theatre A mother returns to the world for three days after her death to spend time with her daughter, sharing meals and heartfelt moments. Directed by Yook Sang-hyo, 2023. Hosted by the Korean Cultural Center, Washington, DC. Generative Writing Workshop Minute Monologues Wednesday, May 20, 6 – 8pm SNF Parkway Theatre Registration is encouraged. Limited to 20 participants. (LINK COMING SOON) Create and share 1-minute monologues inspired by the Shoes at the Door art exhibit at the SNF Parkway Theatre. In this workshop, participants will be invited to explore their imaginative responses to the artwork exhibited through a series of writing prompts to create original short monologues. Starting with a contemplation of the theme “hospitality” and its practice across cultural traditions, the workshop will culminate in a reading of the monologues generated over the course of the evening. Facilitated by Mohammad Rohaizad Suaidi, Adjunct Professor in Towson University’s  Department of Theatre Arts. Walk + Talkback Queer Asian Artist Gallery Walk and Talkback Thursday, May 21, 6 – 8pm SNF Parkway Theatre Join us for the Queer Asian Artist Gallery Walk and Talkback as part of the Asia North 2026 exhibition, Shoes at the Door. This free event invites participants to reflect on how queerness and Asian identity intersect in our daily lives. Together, we will enjoy a gallery walk of the exhibition as shared experience, followed by a facilitated talkback and dialogue with several queer artists from the show: Riya Devi-Ashby, Anna Divinagracia, Katherine Pon-Cooper, and AX Qin. The gathering is open to all, with a special invitation to those who identify as queer, APIMEDA, and/or part of diasporic communities. Come as you are – no prior art experience needed – and be a part of a collective exploration! Refreshments will be provided. Closing Event Asia North 2026 Wednesday, May 27. 6-9 pm SNF Parkway Theatre Celebrate the conclusion of Asia North 2026. Congratulate the artists featured in Shoes at the Door. Enjoy performances by Soul of Persia and the Sutradhar Institute of Dance. Conclude the evening with a selection of APIMEDA film shorts curated by filmmaker Zara Kahan. Performances curated by Kandi Wong. Location Info:SNF Parkway Theatre, 5 W. North Ave, 21201Currency Studio, 18 W. North AveGallery CA, 40 E. Oliver StMotor House, 120 W. North Ave1718 N. Charles StImpact Hub, 10 E. North Ave Club Car, 12 W. North AveMobtown Ballroom & Cafe, 30 W. North AveBaltimore Improv Group, 1727 N. Charles St