Before Station North was an arts district, the neighborhood was the southern end of Baltimore’s amorphous Koreatown. Longtime residents may remember the Parkway Theatre’s stint as an Asian grocery store that attracted shoppers from across the region, who watched the price of bok choy instead of indie flicks. Word-of-mouth karaoke joints and late-night eateries offering the greasy/spicy/starchy trusted hangover-prevention gochu pajeon peppered the area, casting a neon glow into neighboring vacant lots.
Since 2019, the Asia North celebration has been marrying the neighborhood’s past, present, and future identities as a melting pot of immigrants, artists, and students from the APIMEDA (Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, and Desi American) diaspora with exhibitions, performances, screenings, and some very excellent food.
Co-produced by Asian Arts & Culture Center and Central Baltimore Partnership, Asia North 2026 kicked off on May 1st with events continuing through May 30th.
Shoes at the Door is the main group exhibition and the first ever at the Parkway Theatre, curated by Dylan Kaleikaumaka Hill. “Although these artists engage with customs spanning diverse histories and geographies, together they emphasize the value of relationality, care, and resistance,” Hill describes. “I’m constantly in awe of Baltimore’s vibrant arts community and feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to connect with so many inspiring artists and cultural workers through this exhibition and the Asia North festivities!”
Queer Manifesto, a pop-up exhibition produced by Area 405, is on view at Club Car; and Katazomé: A Multidisciplinary Visual Art Exhibition is at Gallery CA. This year’s month-long itinerary also includes crafting workshops, art walks, feasts, performances, dance socials, writing workshops, and more!
BmoreArt reached out to the organizers to get a glimpse from this year’s opening events, exhibitions, and the Kamayan Feast on May 9th. If you haven’t taken part in the celebration yet, it’s not too late! The photos below are followed by a schedule of what’s still upcoming this month.
Asia North exhibitions and upcoming events:
Shoes at the Door
Guest curated by Dylan Kaleikaumaka Hill
May 1 – May 31, 2026
Parkway Theater + Currency Studio
Featuring Artists: Hannah Atallah | Thea Canlas | Rosa Chang | Aishwariya Chandrasekar | Michelle Chen | Riya Devi-Ashby | Anna Davinagarcia | Heejo Kim | Anthony Le | Nadia Nazar | Lynn Nguyen | Katherine Pon-Cooper | AX Qin | Artie Sadahiro | Julie Sayo | Asma Waheed | Amelie Wang
Shoes at the Door brings together works by seventeen 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 SNF Parkway Theatre and Currency Studio.
A note from Dylan Kaleikaumaka Hill: “Through the framework of hospitality, the artists featured in the exhibition generously share facets of their respective traditions, private dwellings, and notions of home, while also addressing the complexities of diasporic placemaking and challenges posed by legacies of colonialism through their work.”
Queer Manifesto
May 1 – May 27, 2026
The Club Car
AREA 405 presents Queer Manifesto, a pop-up exhibition featuring poems and visual collages of twenty-one (21) East and Southeast Asian queers. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Wishing Fountain Project, a virtual diasporic queer ESEA art book library (@the.wishing.fountain.project). Founded by You Liang and Zao Zao Zhang (MICA c/o 2024), the project began with a writing workshop that encouraged participants to transform poetry, prose, and diary entries into visual forms and was later published as a zine. Queer Manifesto loyally exhibits select pages of zines, with renewed visualization of words arraying themes from family relationships to immigration processes.
Katazomé: A Multidisciplinary Visual Art Exhibition
Gallery CA
May 8 – May 30, 2026
Mon-Fri 12 – 4 p.m. and by appt
Gallery Talks:
May 16 & May 30, 2 – 5 p.m.
Hiromitsu Hubbard and his mother, Donna R. Omata tell the story of Donna’s journey to Japan to study the ancient art of katazomé through a multi-disciplinary visual art exhibition. Hiromitsu will present a series of new paintings inspired by Donna’s artwork and photographs shown alongside her original katazomé work on handmade paper and fabric from the 1970’s and 1980’s. Through this exhibition, Hiromitsu and Donna share a personal family story of discovering cultural roots, intergenerational exchange, and transcending discrimination by finding identity through art and creativity. This exhibition is a program of the 2026 Asia North Exhibition and Festival and is supported by a 2025 Rubys Artist Grant, which is a program of the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation. Text 443-370-4684 for appointment.
Minute Monologues Generative Writing Workshop
May 20, 6 – 8 p.m. at SNF Parkway Theatre. Registration is encouraged.
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 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.
Queer Asian Artist Gallery Walk and Talkback
Thursday, May 21, 6-8pm at 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. Refreshments will be provided.
Asia North 2026 Closing Event
Wednesday, May 27, 5-9 p.m. at SNF Parkway Theater
The Asia North and Shoes at the Door exhibition closing reception will feature remarks from Ms. Hana Scott, the First Lady of Baltimore, performances by Soul of Persia and the Sutradhar Institute of Dance, and Stay for Tea: An Asia North Short Film Showcase curated by filmmaker Zara Kahan plus food pop-up by Toki Underground.
Free and open to the public.
Asia North Encore: The Art of Kimbap K-Food Experience
Friday May 29th, 6:30-8 pm at Motorhouse. Register here.
Spend engaging evening exploring the art and culture of kimbap with special guest chef and restaurateur Des So. Participants will hear stories about Korean cuisine, Des So’s journey building Korean food businesses in the DC area, enjoy a live kimbap-making demonstration, and take part in a delicious kimbap tasting experience. Small Korean souvenir giveaways will also be available for attendees. Hosted by the Korean Cultural Center, Washington, DC.
Stay up to date on Asia North 2026 exhibitions and events here.
