The Streets of Dai Fau: Arnold Genthe’s Photographs of San Francisco’s Old Chinatown (Exhibition)

Exist Dates

1992 May - 1992 June 30

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract

Exhibition. Opened in May 1992 and closed June 30, 1992. Located on Floor 2 in the Akeley Gallery at the American Museum of Natural History. "The Streets of Dai Fau: Arnold Genthe's Photographs of San Francisco's Old Chinatown" was an exhibition featuring photographs taken by Arnold Genthe in San Francisco's Chinatown, known as Dai Fau, before it was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake.

Summary

"The Streets of Dai Fau: Arnold Genthe's Photographs of San Francisco's Old Chinatown" was an exhibition featuring photographs taken by Arnold Genthe in San Francisco's Chinatown, known as Dai Fau, before it was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake. Genthe was not a strict documentarian; in order to enhance the exotic image of Dai Fau, he freely tampered with his photographs. The exhibit featured both Genthe's original photographs and the altered versions. The Museum's Department of Education offered a series of lectures on documenting ethnicity and programs on the immigrant experience in conjunction with the exhibition. The exhibition and programs were funded by the Arthur Ross Foundation and the Henry Nias Foundation. A traveling exhibition organized by the Chinatown History Museum, the exhibit was on view in the Akeley Gallery of the American Museum of Natural History starting in May 1992 and continuing through June 30, 1992.

Individuals and institutions involved in the creation of the exhibition: Chinatown History Museum; Arnold Genthe.

Sources

American Museum of Natural History Press Release, May 11, 1992. Departmental Records, 101; American Museum of Natural History Library Archives.

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

American Museum of Natural History. Akeley Gallery.
Location of exhibition.

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