Interactive Exhibition Highlighting Five Countries Across Six Unique Experiences
Learn about the arts and cultures of Asia through an immersive journey to China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam — without ever leaving Houston. Ride a virtual bullet train that travels across space and time, learn about delicious meals and treats (and where to find them in Houston), take our stage in a participatory drumming experience, and more!
Public Hours
Wednesday・10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Thursday・12 p.m. – 7 p.m. | Free Thursday exhibition admission
Friday–Sunday・10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Admission
When planning your visit, please consider purchasing or reserving admission in advance. We welcome walk-up visitors.
More to See!
See It All!
$15
$8 Students with I.D.
Free for Ages 6 and Under and for AST Members
Explore Asia Exhibition
$8
Free for Ages 6 and Under and for AST Members
Louisa Stude Sarofim Gallery
$8
Free for Ages 6 and Under, for Students with I.D., and for AST Members
Discounts
Seniors, military personnel, and guests with disabilities receive a 20% discount on onsite admission purchases.
Photography
Photography is permitted. Flash photography and use of tripods and selfie-sticks are not allowed.
Explore Asia Grand Opening Weekend
Friday, July 21, 2023・12–7 p.m.
Saturday, July 22, 2023・10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday, July 23, 2023・10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Free admission made possible by The Ling and George Yang Family.
Super Saturdays at Asia Society Texas
Learn more about Super Saturdays!
July・Summer Campout
Saturday, July 20, 2024
10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
$12 Ages 13 and Up, $10 Ages 7–12 (Free for Ages 6 and Under and for AST Members)
Experience the best of our summer camps — in one afternoon! Learn about summer traditions in Asia as you gather around our imaginary campfire for storytimes and songs, make arts and crafts, and play games.
August・Back-to-School Bento
Saturday, August 10, 2024
10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
$12 Ages 13 and Up, $10 Ages 7–12 (Free for Ages 6 and Under and for AST Members)
Explore new ideas for school lunches and find inspiration from Japanese bento boxes! Learn about the history behind these cute and convenient boxes while gaining a deeper understanding of Japanese culture.
August・Junior Artists on Site Workshop
Saturday, August 31, 2024
10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
$12 Ages 13 and Up, $10 Ages 7–12 (Free for Ages 6 and Under and for AST Members)
Meet the resident artists transforming our galleries into public-facing studios as part of our Artists on Site project! Learn from these Houston-based artists and create your own unique artwork to take home.
September・Mid-Autumn Fun
Saturday, September 14, 2024
10:30 a.m. — 1:30 p.m.
Explore the traditions and meaning behind the popular Mid-Autumn Festival holiday through stories, dances, and crafts. Look forward to a storytime and make your own mooncakes!
October・Korean Culture Celebration
Saturday, October 5, 2024
1–3 p.m.
Free; registration required
Learn about traditional and contemporary Korean performing arts and enjoy lively music and dance performances from our partner Han Narea.
November・Diwali Fun
Saturday, November 9, 2024
10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
$12 Ages 13 and Up, $10 Ages 7–12 (Free for Ages 6 and Under and for AST Members)
Explore the traditions and meaning behind the festival of lights celebrated by Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains across the world. Enjoy storytimes, dance performances, and hands-on crafts while learning about India's biggest holiday of the year!
December・Winter Wonderland
Saturday, December 14, 2024
10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
$12 Ages 13 and Up, $10 Ages 7–12 (Free for Ages 6 and Under and for AST Members)
Celebrate the season by learning about winter traditions across Asia! Enjoy crafts, storytimes, and games inspired by the wintertime in China, Japan, and the Philippines.
- For high-resolution images, please email Stephanie Todd-Wong, Vice President of Communications and External Affairs: [email protected]
- To download a PDF copy of this release, please click here
HOUSTON, July 5, 2023 — Asia Society Texas (AST) enthusiastically announces the grand opening of Explore Asia — an immersive exhibition highlighting five Asian countries across six unique experiences — on July 21–23. The new $4.6 million permanent exhibition — the only interactive learning exhibition in Texas focused specifically on Asia — focuses on Asian art and culture and transforms the experience of visiting AST’s Yoshio Taniguchi-designed Center. The grand opening weekend will include FREE access to the new exhibition, made possible by generous funding from the Ling and George Yang family, along with lion dances and a variety of family-friendly activities. Asia Society Texas members receive early access through a Member Preview slated for July 12–20.
Through an immersive journey to China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam, guests of all ages can magically travel across time and space on a virtual bullet train, learn about delicious meals and treats (and where to find them in Houston), take our stage by participating in a drumming experience, and more! “It’s thrilling to finally share this joyful experience with our community,” says Bonna Kol, AST President. “We hope guests from all backgrounds will have fun exploring the exhibition and find connectivity to our shared lives and experiences. Houston is one of the most diverse metropolitan areas in the U.S. and we are honored to uplift the cultural significance and people who have helped shaped our city.”
Gordon Quan, chair of the exhibition’s Advisory Council, shares, “As an Asian American who grew up in Texas, providing opportunities to foster curiosity and build human connectivity by elevating AAPI perspectives is deeply meaningful to me. I know how impactful it is for a child to see their own story and identity reflected — reinforcing the idea that everyone’s life experience and cultural history are valued and important.”
Informed by several years of research and in consultation with an extensive group of scholars and community partners, Explore Asia is designed to spark curiosity and highlight the interconnectedness between the peoples of Asia, Houston, and the United States, building on AST’s belief in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society. According to Jennifer Kapral, AST Director of Education and Outreach, “inspiring empathy and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world is our passion, and the Explore Asia exhibition provides an accessible and entertaining celebration of the diverse perspectives and vibrant cultures of Asia.”
About Asia Society Texas
Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community — trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.
Asia Society’s New Interactive Exhibit Is Unlike Anything Else, Houstonia, July 26, 2023.
體驗虛擬子彈列車 休城新互動展探索亞洲5國, World Journal, July 22, 2023.
Immersive $4.6M 'Explore Asia' exhibition opens this weekend in Houston's Museum District, Houston Chronicle, July 21, 2023.
Explore 5 different Asian countries without leaving Houston, KPRC, July 20, 2023.
Experience Asian Culture during the Grand Opening of ‘Explore Asia’ at Asia Society Texas, Houston Life, KPRC, July 19, 2023.
Interactive exhibits offer a way to ‘Explore Asia’ without leaving Houston, Houston Matters, Houston Public Media, July 19, 2023.
Wanna ride a bullet train? You can (virtually) in Houston this weekend, ABC 13, July 18, 2023.
Join Asia Society Texas for the free grand opening of ‘Explore Asia’, 365 Things to Do in Houston, July 12, 2023.
Don't Miss Out on the Grand Opening of the 'Explore Asia' Exhibition Coming to the Asia Society Texas This July!, Houston on the Cheap, July 8, 2023.
You can ‘Explore Asia’ with a new exhibit debuting in Houston, CW29, July 6, 2023.
Foundational Gifts
E. Rudge and Nancy Allen Family
Anne and Albert Chao
The Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation
Durga D. and Sushila Agrawal Family
Major Support
Chinhui Juhn and Edward R. Allen III
American First National Bank
The Brown Foundation, Inc.
The Cullen Foundation
The Elkins Foundation
The Fondren Foundation
The Freeman Foundation
H-E-B
Hugesen Polymers Inc.
Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation
The Wu and Tsai Family
Dr. Asha and Farid Virani
Additional Support
bp America
Tripp Carter
The Clayton Fund
Donna Fujimoto Cole
The James and Molly Crownover Family Foundation
ExxonMobil
Edgar G. Hotard Family Fund
Clare Attwell Glassell
The Glassell Family Foundation
Kathy and Glen Gondo
Kathleen and Martyn E. Goossen
Mikki Hebl and David Harvey
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Teri and Jeff Lee
Y. Ping Sun and David W. Leebron
Reinnette and Stan Marek
Shazma and Arshad Matin
Anna and John McKay
The Powell Foundation
Sylvia and Gordon Quan
Susan Sarofim
Sue and Randy Sim
Vivian L. Smith Foundation
Sahana and Kishore Sundararajan
Truist Foundation
The Susan Vaughan Foundation
Michelle and Rishi Varma
Whalley Family Foundation
White & Case LLP
The Wortham Foundation
Jason Yoo
Free Thursday exhibition admission presented by The Nyquist Family.
Asia Society Texas collaborated with design teams Potion and C&G to create an educational and immersive experience that encourages visitors to reflect on their own cultures, their roles as global citizens, and how they can take action towards a vision of shared humanity. Explore Asia exhibition content curation, research, and development was completed by AST Director of Education and Outreach Jennifer Kapral, Education and Outreach Manager Phuong Ha, and AST education interns.
Our Design Partners
Potion is a design and technology studio based in New York City. We have built projects from concept to close-out, at home and abroad, on every scale from kiosks to interactive galleries to monumental digital walls, and distributed on digital platforms for mobile, native frameworks, and responsive web. Since our founding, Potion has been committed to a different, more inclusive vision for a technology company. We are proudly minority-owned, we embrace inclusion and diversity as a core strength and believe that we make our best work when we bring together an array of people with a multitude of experiences and perspectives. With a tailored focus on experiential and interactive work, we’ve built a practice devoted to the transformation of public places and the empowerment of those who operate and support them. Potion has been recognized by AAM, SEGD, Fast Company, MUSE, Communication Arts, SXSW, and the Art Director’s Club.
C&G Partners is a multi-specialty creative studio, dedicated to design for culture with deep expertise integrated across exhibitions, signage, digital installations, branding, and web. The firm has worked on projects for cultural clients including the Smithsonian, Japanese-American National Museum, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Library of Congress, MoMA, and the National September 11 Memorial Museum. Working in close collaboration with Asia Society Texas and Potion, the studio is creating interactive experiences that celebrate diversity and connectivity and build an understanding of both Asia and Asian-American communities in Houston.
Special thanks to our scholars circle and community partners:
Scholars Circle
Chu Hyun Hannah Chung, Adjunct Professor, Houston Community College
Dr. Melody Yunzi Li, Assistant Professor of Chinese, UH College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dr. Sarasij Majumder, Sita and Bhaskara Rao Mutyala Endowed Professor of India Studies, Director of India Studies, Associate Professor, UH College of Liberal Arts and Science
Dr. Duy Lap Nguyen, Associate Professor of World Cultures and Literatures, UH College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Dr. Naoko Ozaki, Lecturer in Japanese, Rice University Center for Languages and Intercultural Communication
Community Partners
Brave Little Company
Chinese Community Center
Chowdown in Chinatown
Discover U
Houston Korean Education Center
Huaxing Performing Arts Group
The Puranik Foundation
Saigon Matcha Cafe
Silambam Houston
Vietnamese Culture and Science Association
University of St. Thomas Rising Star Program
Museum Partners
Health Science Museum
Holocaust Museum Houston
Museum of Fine Arts Houston
School Partners
The Awty International School
Houston Independent School District
Post Oak Montessori
Spring Branch Independent School District
Plan Your Visit
1370 Southmore Blvd, Houston, TX 77004
713.496.9901
