USAAF 2026 Festival: Common Ground

United States of Asian American Festival 2026: Common Ground

The 2026 USAAF Festival welcomes an exciting season of new work from artists across the Bay Area, inviting you to immerse in a rich tapestry of culture and perspective that ground us in a communal sense of belonging. This year’s theme, Common Ground, invites us to reflect on our relationships with each other and with the spaces we move through together as AAPIs in the diaspora by exploring what it means to take up space and practice placemaking for others. The festival will celebrate modes of thinking about solidarity through shared experiences and histories by underscoring how visibility in public spaces can cultivate belonging. 

• How do API communities continue to create spaces for gathering and community care through arts and culture? How do we use these spaces to act in solidarity with other BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ communities and work towards collective liberation?

• What does it mean to create and hold space for healing, and how does API cultural expression inform the ways that we are able to expand reflective spaces within ourselves? 

• How do we continue to create spaces to amplify API narratives in the face of injustice and erasure in the United States? How can the arts help us imagine new ways to tell our stories and steward our histories for future generations? the Experience the diverse narratives and innovative perspectives that reflect the spirit of our community.

FEATURED ARTISTS

• Artist Produced Events: 

  • Eddie Jen - “Seeking a Penpal for the End of the World”

  • Hamesha Project & Dilpreet Anand - “Brown Thumbs: Exploring Punjabi x Mexican Land Solidarity”

  • King LOTUS BOY, Piss E Sissy, and EUPHEMIA - “Beyond Borders & BPM: Underground Rhythms of Queer Black & AAPI Resistance”

  • Priyanka Suryaneni - “Unfaded Memories (Working Title) Film World Premiere”

  • Sami See - “FLOOD LISTENING PARTY”

  • Thao P. Nguyen - “WHITE POWER: A Comedy”

    
    

• Promotional Only Events

  • GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance (GAPA) - “As One”

  • Megan Lowe Dances - “Air Between Us”

  • QWOCMAP - “Queer Women of Color Film Festival”

    
    

• Outdoor Showcase Artists: 

  • Alice Hur - “For the Culture” 

  • Nu Tekno and DJ YUKA YU - “Yuka Yu and AL Yu on the digeridoo with Yuka's video art playing in the background”

    
    

• Featured Artist: Maya Fuji

  
  

• Exhibit: “Lineages of Organizing: The Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center at 30”

  • Curator: Colin Choy Kimzy 

  • Dates: April 23 - May 24

  • Location: SOMArts Cultural Center

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