RISE, the Pop History of Asian America, Becomes a Free Exhibition at Pearl River Mart in New York
RISE: The Exhibition, based on the book by Jeff Yang, Phil Yu and Philip Wang, runs at Pearl River Mart's 452 Broadway gallery from 7 November to 3 January.
Opens Sat 7 Nov (free opening reception)
RISE: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now, the New York Times bestseller by Jeff Yang, Phil Yu and Philip Wang, is becoming an exhibition. RISE: The Exhibition opens at the Pearl River Mart gallery at 452 Broadway in New York on Saturday 7 November and runs until 3 January 2027. Entry is free.
The book covers three decades in which Asian America moved into the global spotlight, from the 1990s to the 2010s. Its authors wrote it during the Covid lockdowns. Yang is a journalist and CNN columnist who founded A. Magazine in the 1990s. Yu founded the blog Angry Asian Man, and Wang co-founded Wong Fu Productions.
Yang has curated the exhibition and Jonathan Lo has designed it. Pearl River Mart describes it as an immersive multimedia show built from sections of the book. They include the early history of the Asian American movement, the depiction of Asians in the media in pieces such as "How to Yellowface" and "#StarringJohnCho", 1990s youth culture in "How to AZN", "The Asian American Playlist", "Asian Home" and "Pioneers of Asian American YouTube".
"It's a seminal book that's chock full of history and humor," said Pearl River Mart president Joanne Kwong. "We can't think of a better fit for our gallery on what will be its 10th anniversary." She said the shop hopes this will be the first of many showings.
An opening reception takes place on Saturday 7 November at 452 Broadway. It is free, but Pearl River Mart asks people to register on Eventbrite. After that, the gallery is open every day from 11am to 7pm.
