Asia Society Texas Center

The business and policy pillar of asia society texas fosters a better understanding of our interconnected world through programming that elevates dialogue and ideas to combat bias and connects houstonians with global business and thought leaders, authors, scholars, diplomats, and policy experts. Our programs are primarily in-person at asia society texas. In fy23-24 we hosted 24 in-person programs and welcomed 2,375 guests. Key b&p programs included discussions on u.s. Foreign policy,the north korea nuclear weapons program, the asian economic outlook, china and taiwan, mental health and wellbeing, inclusivity in the workplace and energy transition. This year we also incorporated two food forward programs hosting a ramen culture and dinner event and a us-japan sister cities sake tasting event. The annual huffington award dinner honored former washington governor and us ambassador to china gary locke. Notable speakers included former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general richard myers, author and npr correspondent elise hu, new york times best selling author alka joshi and mitsubishi heavy industries america ceo takajiro ishikawa. We continued our strong tradition of welcoming international delegations hosting ambassadors from brunei, cambodia, china, laos, pakistan, singapore, thailand and vietnam.

Astc's education and outreach department offers unique learning experiences for children, adults, and families to explore diverse asian cultures and asian american experiences. Our permanent education exhibit, explore asia, provides an interactive edtech experience which immerses guests in asian culture. Our digital learning platform, asia in the classroom, offers engaging webcomics for students, comprehensive lesson guides for educators, and professional development workshops. Through our programming, we provide a platform for communities to celebrate and share culture through family festivals, language classes, summer camps, workshops, and performances. All of our initiatives are designed to spark curiosity, build cultural empathy, and develop global competency and intercultural connectivity in houston and beyond.

The exhibitions department at asia society texas shares the best visual arts from and about asia with the houston-area community. Through exhibitions and related programs in fy23-24, we featured the works of 6 contemporary artists through 4 exhibitions, both from the united states and asia. Our department's programming deepens appreciation for the arts in texas. In fy23-24, the organization also created 10 unique programs including a symposium on the legacy of contemporary chinese artist xu bing, as well as programs about the asian diaspora. Featured artists included tsherin sherpa, xu bing, and farima fooladi.