Blacklava Celebrates 20 Years of Creating Asian American Culture at LA's Hatakeyama Gallery thru Oct 10

Blacklava, the "source for all things Asian American," celebrated its 20th anniversary yesterday, September 29th, 2012 at the Hatakeyama Gallery in Downtown, Los Angeles with a community reception and art exhibit of original works inspired by key events in Blacklava and Asian American history.

The exclusive showing launched yesterday, September 29, 2012, with the Blacklava 20th Anniversary Exhibit Opening Gala at Hatakeyama Gallery at 905 S Hill St, Los Angeles, Calif. The Blacklava 20th Anniversary Exhibit will run until October 10th, 2012.

Along with the Blacklava retrospective, various artists will present their own artistic take on Blacklava product designs including . Guests will also be able to model Blacklava clothes for their own Opening Gala photo shoot. Face painting, puppet interviews, a Blacklava red carpet, and a Blacklava cocktail creation will also be featured at the celebration. Exclusive and limited-run commemorative 20th Anniversary T-shirts will be available for sale. An exclusive and limited edition book, A Different Way, A Blacklava Story, by Edren T. Sumagaysay will also be available for purchase.

Some of exhibits notable artists include Tak Toyoshima (Secret Asian Man), Erin Nomura, Keiko Agena (Transformers: Dark of the Moon; Gilmore Girls), Mark Yamasaki, Shane Sato, Karin Anna Cheung (Better Luck Tomorrow, The People I've Slept With), Shin Kawasaki (Musician, The Flying Platforms), Traci Kato-Kiriyama (Tuesday Night Project, Zero 3), Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, and Scott Okamoto (Professor, Azusa Pacific University, Writer).

"Blacklava was at the forefront of using the internet revolution as a tool to empower under-represented and misrepresented groups amongst diverse Asian American communities," says Traci Kato-Kiriyama, Founder of Tuesday Night Project, a presenter of the Gala. "Countless scores of students, organizers, educators, artists and community members have seen the growth of Asian Americans as a community mature alongside the growth of Blacklava over these past twenty years."

Among the celebrities in attendance included SAG Award recipient Aubrey Anderson-Emmons (Modern Family) along with her mother, comedian Amy Anderson; Patrick Gallagher (Glee, Hawaii Five-0); Elizabeth Sung (Flash Forward); Keiko Agena (Transformers: Dark of the Moon; Gilmore Girls); and Tim Chiou (Living With Models). The red carpet was hosted by comedian Jenny Yang.