2023: A Year in Review at Asia Society New York

by Bryanna Entwistle

Over the course of 2023, Asia Society New York hosted artists, government officials, best-selling authors, Michelin-starred chefs, and even a superhero. We celebrated journalists, humanitarians, educators, and oncologists. Read on to learn more about our favorite moments of 2023.

We opened the year with In the Green Room, a concert layering the legacies of Asian and Black American women in jazz. It was one of the many musical performances we hosted.

Asia Society Museum was home to three exhibitions: Comparative Hell: Art of Asian Underworlds, Buddha, Sage of the Shakya Clan, and Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan. Tens of thousands of visitors enjoyed these stunning and thought-provoking shows.

Meiji Modern Tour — *Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan* premiered in October with a members-only opening reception and curator-led tour. Organized by the Japanese Art Society of America, the exhibition featured over 80 of the finest examples of Meiji-era artworks in American collections, both public and private (Ellen Wallop)

At our March Asia Arts Game Changer Awards, we celebrated contemporary Asian artists and arts professionals for their significant contributions to contemporary art. In October, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our marquee Asia Game Changer Awards in the soaring great hall of Cipriani’s lower Manhattan location.

Sumi Tonooka and Jen Shuyu — Musicians Sumi Tonooka and Jen Shyu perform at the 2023 Asia Arts Game Changer Awards. This year, we honored trailblazing Asian artists across the arts including arts visionary Swati Bhise, groundbreaking visual artist Tsherin Sherpa, and acclaimed musician Wu Man (Elsa Ruiz)

2023 Asia Game Changer Awardees — The 2023 Asia Game Changers: Yao Chen, Stephan Riady, Shabana Basij-Rasikh, Josie Natori, Aikiko Yamazaki, Jerry Yang, and Matias Tarnopolsky of the Philadelphia Orchestra (Ellen Wallop)

We laughed at stand-up sets with acclaimed Asian comedians Negin Farsad and Jiaoying Summers, among others.

Negin Farad — Negin Farsad of NPR's *Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me*, Earwolf's *Fake the Nation*, Nat Geo's *Year Million*, and HBO's *High Maintenance* (Ellen Wallop)

Several foreign dignitaries joined us for important conversations about Asia and the world.

Conversation with Enrique Manila — Asia Society Policy Institute's Daniel Russel, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines Enrique Manalo, and Asia Society's Chief Programming Officer Philipp Ivanov joined a round table during the UN General Assembly (Ellen Wallop)

Rahm Emanuel and Dany Russel — On October 20, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel (right) joined Asia Society Policy Institute Vice President Daniel Russel for a conversation about the past and future of U.S.-Japan relations (Elsa Ruiz)

In April, we hosted the 16th annual National Chinese Language Conference, bringing together educators from across the field to share new ideas and insights, connect with others, and chart the future of language learning.

We hosted over 20 holiday and culture appreciation events, including multiple "Family Days." Children and adults of all ages joined us to ring in the Year of the Rabbit, celebrate Diwali, and welcome Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

Lion Dancers at CNY Family Day — We celebrated the Lunar New Year with performances and craft activities inspired by traditions across Asia, including lion dances, a kung fu demonstration, and shadow puppet making (Ellen Wallop)

Nowruz Family Day — We celebrated Nowruz and welcomed the Persian New Year with a fun, family-friendly afternoon filled with interactive workshops, music, crafts, and storytelling (Ellen Wallop)

Leo Bar was a highlight of each month as we mingled, enjoyed art on view in the museum, and sipped specialty cocktails.

Pride Leo Bar — Our Pride Month Leo Bar was a huge success and featured a special performance by Tony Award Winner Lea Salonga (Ellen Wallop)

We held plenty of policy-focused panels, creating a platform for dialogue in our increasingly complex world.

Tsai, Chang, and Liu in Conversation — Alibaba Group CEO Joe Tsai, TSMC Founder Morris Chang, and President of Citi Private Banking Ida Liu in conversation about leadership in a fracturing world (Elsa Ruiz)

Asia Outlook Panel — Asia Society Policy Institute's Bates Gill, Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict's Sidney Jones, Dr. Paul Sheard, and Bloomberg's Bobby Ghosh on what to expect in Asia in 2024 (Elsa Ruiz)

We screened numerous award-winning films in our auditorium, and hosted engaging conversations with producers and directors.

A packed audience enjoyed a screening of *American Sikh*, the true story of “Sikh Captain America“ Vishavjit Singh. Executive Producer Vikas Khanna, Co-Director Ryan Westra, and Co-Director Vishavjit Singh joined Reena Roy for a conversation about the film (Ellen Wallop)

Yao Chen at Asia Society — Asia Game Changer honoree and award-winning actress Yao Chen joined us for a screening of *The Cord of Life*, which she recently produced (Ellen Wallop)

In 2023, we also celebrated journalists. We awarded the Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia to two writers for The Economist in June. We also held panels throughout the year to discuss the future of reporting from Asia.

2023 Elliot Prize — The Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia was awarded to Sue Lin-Wong (right) and David Rennie of *The Economist*, for their stories examining Xi Jinping's rise to power and China today (Elsa Ruiz)

Alongside many book talks, we hosted two world-class literary festivals: the Lahore Literary Festival and the Jaipur Literature Festival, bringing together writers from across the globe to discuss fiction, nonfiction, art, architecture, history, and politics.

Jaipur Literature Festival Tibet Panel — The Jaipur Literature Festival featured a conversation entitled “Writing Tibet, Remembering Tibet" between Bard College Professor Dominique Townsend, Tibetan poet Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, and Tibetan writer and translator Tenzin Dickie (Ellen Wallop)

Asia 21 Next Generation Fellow Durreen Shahnaz joined us for a discussion of her book *The Defiant Optimist* about fighting global inequality through impact investing in Asia and the Pacific (Elsa Ruiz)

We wrapped up the year with the first-ever Cure4Cancer Conference, hosted by the Asia Society Policy Institute working with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Chinese Thoracic Oncology group, titled "Advancing Global Health Equity and Harmonization."

Cure4Cancer Plenary Panelists — Cancer experts, global public health leaders, founders and CEOs of major biotechnology companies, chairs and CEOs of top hospitals, patient advocacy groups, and cancer survivors joined together for the inaugural Cure4Cancer conference (Elsa Ruiz)

Thank you for your support, and we are excited to see you in 2024! You can check out the exciting events we already have lined up here.