The Craft of Asian American Activism through Art- 1/23/2023

Conversation Overview

Amplified during the pandemic, the Anti-Asian stigma in America is being boldly confronted by multi-generational forms of creative resistance that build upon the legacy of community-based art collectives.  We will hear about how these creative responses take shape, what they have in common, and the unique ways through which Asian American art and activism call out bigotry, expose oppression and inspire social change.

Kris Kuramitsu, Curator of the recent exhibit in Los Angeles “Voice a Wild Dream: Moments in Asian American Art and Activism, 1968-2022” will be in conversation with Rosa Garza-Mourino, AULA Faculty member.

Kris Kuramitsu is contemporary art curator and consultant based in Los Angeles. She is Senior Curator at Large at The Mistake Room, where she has organized exhibitions and programs such as Matsumi Kanemitsu: Metamorphic Effects (2014); Cao Fei: Shadow Plays (2015); Carlos Amorales: A Film Trilogy (2015); Histories of a Vanishing Present: A Prologue (2016) (co-curator); andA Tender Spot: Sky Hopinka and Karrabing Film Collective (2018); Susu Attar: Isthmus (2018); Gaëlle Choisne: Temple of Love - ADORABLE (2019); and Where the Sea Remembers (2019) (co-curator). 

As an independent curator, she has organized exhibitions for institutions such as LAXART, Los Angeles; Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, California; Instituto Cervantes, Madrid; Paramo, Guadalajara; and the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles in addition to managing private art collections. Most recently, she curated Voice a Wild Dream: Moments in Asian American Art and Activism, 1968-2022 at OxyArts, Occidental College’s community facing exhibition space. 

In 2019, she launched the Candlewood Arts Festival—an ongoing temporary public art exhibition project for the Under the Sun Foundation in the Anza Borrego Desert.  Her previous posts include Associate Director for Artis; Programs Director at Creative Link for the Arts, New York; Curator for the collections of Eileen and Peter Norton and the Collection of Eileen Harris Norton; and the Arts Programs Director for the Peter Norton Family Foundation.

Rosa Garza-Mourino is a trans-disciplinary scholar, educator and academic administrator driven by curiosity and difference. Rosa earned her MA in Media and Cultural Studies in Mexico City. Before moving to the U.S., Rosa had extensive professional experience with Mexican think-tanks focused on media analysis and field study methods, as well as with adult education programs. She currently serves the AULA UGS Division as both part time faculty, and Director of External Academic Partnerships in charge of the Internship Program, local engagement initiatives, and articulation liaison with 2 year local colleges. Rosa is the volunteer chair of the AULA Diversity Inclusion committee.