Join the DIA and the Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures in celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month!

To honor the significance of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month to the community, our Opening Ceremony features special guest speakers and three music performances that span genres and cultures.

Featured Performances:

• Mongolian Tribute Songs to Genghis Khan | Performed by The Throat Singer
• Champa Mueng Lao | Performed by Team Sitthideth
• The Drinking Song (茶花女－饮酒歌) and Altar Rendezvous (敖包相会)| Performed by Jie Wang & Jinsheng Zhang

For families with children of all ages. This program is free with museum admission. Seating is limited – arrive early as seating begins 30 minutes prior to the performance.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPIHM) programs are developed in partnership with the DIA’s auxiliary group Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures (FAAC) with support from Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission (MAPAAC).

Weekend Family Programs at the DIA are generously presented by the MSUFCU Desk Drawer Foundation.

Join the DIA and the Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures in celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month!

In conjunction with the AAPI performances in Rivera Court on the same day, we invite you to view the works of locally based Asian American artists in the Great Hall. With special demonstrations by Kyoko Fuji, calligraphy, and Zhongou Xu, dumi ink painting, at 11 and 11:30 a.m., this display gives insight to the ways in which cultural heritage and tradition influences visual art across varied media.

Featured artists:

• Anthony Lee
• Benjamin Byung Kim
• Boisali Biswas
• Hiroko Lancour
• JenClare Gawaran
• Julius GC Hwang,
• Kyoko Fujii
• Luzhen Qiu
• Nobuko Yamasaki
• Rhona Lee
• Shinming Shyu
• Si Mo
• Zhongou Xu

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPIHM) programs are developed in partnership with the DIA’s auxiliary group Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures (FAAC) with support from Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission (MAPAAC).

Weekend Family Programs at the DIA are generously presented by the MSUFCU Desk Drawer Foundation.

Celebrate the voices and stories of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities at the DIA throughout May in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! In collaboration with AAPI community groups and professional artists, the museum will showcase a dynamic mix of traditional and contemporary dance, music, art, and more. This year’s celebration and performances include Chinese, Filipino, Hmong, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Mongolian, Taiwanese and Vietnamese cultures.  

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month programs are developed in partnership with the DIA’s auxiliary group, Friends of Asian & Asian American Arts & Cultures.

All programs take place onsite and are free with general museum admission unless otherwise noted. 

Friday, May 2

• 6–8:30 p.m. | Drop-in Workshop: Uchiwa Paper Fans – Artmaking Studio
• 6–8:30 p.m. | Drawing in the Galleries: Japanese & Korean and Indian & Southeast Asian Art Galleries

Saturday, May 3

• 10 a.m.–3 p.m. | Cultural Display & Demonstrations – Great Hall
• Noon–4 p.m. | Drop-in Workshop: Uchiwa Paper Fans – Artmaking Studio
• 1 p.m. | Opening Ceremony – Music Performance – Rivera Court
• 2 p.m. | Celebration Show – Dance Performance – Rivera Court

Sunday, May 4

• Noon–4 p.m. | Drop-in Workshop: Uchiwa Paper Fans – Artmaking Studio
• Noon–4 p.m.  | Drawing in the Galleries: Japanese & Korean and Indian & Southeast Asian Art Galleries

Friday, May 16

• 7 p.m. | Music Performance: Masayo Ishigure – Rivera Court

Friday, May 23

• 7 p.m. | Music Performance: Asian Sound Revolution – Rivera Court

Saturday, May 31

• Noon–4 p.m. | Guest Artist Workshop: Shingo Brown – Artmaking Studio
• 2 p.m. | Cultural Demonstration: Taiwanese Tea Culture presented by Jhentea – Danto Lecture Hall

Sunday, June 1

• Noon–4 p.m. | Guest Artist Workshop: Shingo Brown – Artmaking Studio

See "The Rooster's Crow" Automaton Clock come to life in the DIA's European Medieval & Renaissance galleries during its once-monthly day of operation!

Throughout the day, visitors can see this rare 16th-century clock's mechanical rooster flap its wings and open its beak every fifteen minutes, and witness the figures of seven princes parade around an enthroned emperor as the clock strikes each hour.

Winding the clock for one day each month is vital to maintaining its fully functional condition. This important conservation work offers a unique opportunity to see a work of Renaissance art and technology in motion.

Tammy Lakkis is a producer, DJ, and songwriter based in Hamtramck, Michigan, known for her genre-defying and transnational approach to electronic music. She gained recognition for her all-hardware live sets, which oscillate between dreamy vocal house and dance floor heaters. 

Her 2021 EP Notice, released on Shigeto’s Portage Garage Sounds, put her on the map as an unconventional, one-stop-shop weaver of sound—its title track was featured on NPR Music’s 100 Best Songs of 2021. Her knack for storytelling shines through in her bold and dynamic DJ sets, which fluctuate between extremes in genre and tone, often nodding to her ancestral nostalgia for Arabic percussion and melodies.

Featuring puppets, games, special guests, stories, drawings, music, and dance parties, The Rainbow Beard Show celebrates curiosity, play, and shared human experiences. Join host Ricky Rainbow Beard and their friends as they explore the fun of dressing up! What does it mean to dress up? When do you do it? Why?

This participatory live theater performance is inspired by classic children’s programming like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Sesame Street, and is designed for kids ages 4–8 (and their grownups).

For families of all ages.

Pride Themed docent-led guided gallery tours will be offered one hour prior to event start time, meeting at the DIA Woodward lobby entrance. The tours will be approximately 45-minutes in length.

Weekend Family Programs at the DIA are generously presented by the MSUFCU Desk Drawer Foundation.

Explore the exhibition Painted with Silk: The Art of Early American Embroidery, then head to Rivera Court to join Stitch Club Detroit for an afternoon of hands-on embroidery and needle crafts! Club members will showcase some of their favorite pieces and teach you the basics of embroidery and cross-stitch. 

Plus, take home a custom cross-stitch pattern—complete with detailed instructions—to create your own ornament.

For families of all ages.

Weekend Family Programs at the DIA are generously presented by the MSUFCU Desk Drawer Foundation.

The DIA's Friends of Modern and Contemporary Art presents a conversation on urban renewal with scholars Esther da Costa Meyer and Lauren Hood. During the second half of the 19th century, Paris underwent a radical transformation which provided a model for urban renewal, widely accepted in its day, while at the same time dramatically increasing social inequality. Considering the urban past and present of Paris and Detroit, Da Costa Meyer and Hood will discuss how the impulse to modernize impacts local communities.

Esther da Costa Meyer is Professor emerita, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, and the author of Dividing Paris: Urban Renewal and Social Inequality, 1852–1870.

Lauren Hood is Assistant Professor of Practice in Urban and Regional Planning at University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the Founder and Chief Visionary of the Institute for AfroUrbanism (IAU), a global think tank exploring the conditions for Black thriving.

Presented with American Sign Language interpretation.

This event is sponsored by the Friends of Modern and Contemporary Art. A private reception for FMCA members will follow the lecture. Become an FMCA member to access special members-only experiences.

Photo: Aerial view of Paris, ca. 1870

Common Threads is a museum art-making experience that brings together fiber artists from the tri-county area to explore creativity and mindfulness as a community. Whether you're into crochet, knitting, or embroidery, this event offers a chance to connect with fellow makers while working on your craft.

The experience begins with a guided tour of the special exhibition Painted with Silk, led by museum studio staff. Afterward, participants will have the opportunity to work on their own fiber projects in the serene Crystal Gallery, located above the Detroit Film Theatre.

Please bring your ongoing projects along with any necessary tools, such as hooks and needles. Materials will not be provided.

Tour & celebrate the exhibition Tiff Massey: 7 Mile + Livernois with Founders Junior Council and enjoy lite bites and entertainment immediately following.