Hidden Heritages: San José’s Vietnamese Legacy Exhibit

The San Jose Public Library California Room is honored to present Hidden Heritages: San José’s Vietnamese Legacy, an exhibit born from a multi-year partnership with the San José Museum of Art, Chopsticks Alley Art, and the City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs.

The exhibit will be on display in the 5th Floor Special Collections exhibit area from July to October.

Join author Andrew Lam along with Vietnamese artists as they share their experiences followed by an art activity workshop.

Where: Room 225 on the Second floor of the Martin Luther King Jr Library

When: Saturday, September 6, 2025

Time: 4 P.M. - 5:30 P.M.

Attend the Event

About the project

In 2018, the San José Museum of Art and Chopsticks Alley Art initiated a co-developed project intended to build on previous cultural connections with the Vietnamese community in San José, the largest in the United States. Entitled Hidden Heritages: San José's Vietnamese Legacy, the project was based on the shared goals of promoting creative expression as a tool for intergenerational storytelling and reflection, and to demonstrate the power of art to build community and deepen cross-cultural under- standing. It was envisioned to unfold in three parts. The first component was a series of three community-based, creative learning workshops designed and lead by artists Binh Danh and Trinh Mai. Workshop projects invited community members to share their stories through art.

A project that began with a focus on displacement and inherited trauma evolved into one of community, commitment, a sense of place, and the meaning of home. At its core the project was about storytelling-the value of the freedom to tell our own stories, to speak our own truths, and the unassailable power of narrative. Yet the project became its own story, one that played out against the backdrop of a worldwide pandemic, another upending, historical event that ultimately reshaped the narrative. Marked by displacements that are both physical and emotional, the story of the pandemic, like war, is one of profound disruption.

There is an old saying that every archive writes the future. It is hoped that the final chapter of Hidden Heritages: San José's Vietnamese Legacy will be the placement of all the project materials within a proper archive, one that will help to establish a permanent home for the history of the Vietnamese people in San José, their individual stories, the story of the community, the story of the lives they've built, and the legacy they will leave to all future generations who call this city home.

Share Your Story

Short Edition: Do you have a San Jose story?

Members of the Vietnamese Community are encouraged to share their stories via Short Edition, an SJPL program of user submitted writings. The Short Edition Machine will be on display during the September 6th event.

Retro Tech: Digitize your home media

Save your family history by digitizing your VHS, camcorder tapes, photographs and more! Many Vietnamese patrons have made appointments since the return of the program in 2024. Media such as weddings, birthdays, and other celebrations can be saved for generations to come.