The Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA) announces the return of San Francisco Chinatown’s native son with the upcoming exhibit We Are Bruce Lee: Under the Sky, One Family. In close collaboration with the Bruce Lee Foundation, top collectors of Bruce Lee memorabilia, and a team of artistic innovators, this exhibition provides state-of-the-art immersive projection art environments and interactive engagement activities, showcasing the vision and values of the Chinese American icon who transcended race, geography, and culture through uncanny strength and resilience. We Are Bruce Lee will make its debut in the CHSA museum space in April 2022.
For San Francisco, it is a heartwarming homecoming for a legendary figure who was born in Chinatown’s own Chinese Hospital in 1940 and grew into an international superstar. Visitors of all ages will discover unique perspectives of Bruce beyond martial arts and acting—as a visionary, athlete, thinker, and unifier who fought discrimination with profound engagement with a multicultural society. They will learn about his evolution from a visionary to a pioneering entrepreneur and his immortal influence on fans and followers across generations and backgrounds. Along with the generous contributions of collectors Jeffery Chinn, Ken Hao, and Perry Lee, this trove of rarely seen artifacts, historic photos, memorabilia, video, film, artwork, graphical displays, and multimedia technology reveal Bruce’s personal philosophies on life and society—which offer relevant lessons in present day, a time that is currently fraught with xenophobia, racism, and social injustice.
The journey to present this historic We Are Bruce Lee exhibition was born as a result of the challenging times that Chinese Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), and San Francisco Chinatown have faced over the past two years. Amid this unrelentingly difficult time, the hardships have become an opportunity to bring light to our community. We Are Bruce Lee and CHSA’s mission is to revitalize the historic Chinatown neighborhood in which Bruce was born; amplify the Chinese American and AAPI communities; and combat racism and hate by bridging audiences of all walks of life. As Bruce himself stated, “Under the sky, under the heavens, there is but one family.”
For more information, visit CHSA.org.
