Events

Windy and her goddaughter, Carmen, post on a motorcycle in front of Windy’s Market. By Akito Tsuda

Time and Location

June 3–December 2024
Harold Washington Library Center (Chicago, IL)

About

Featuring work by Japanese photographer Akito Tsuda, Pilsen Days highlights the unique spirit and daily life of the neighborhood in the 1990s.

Akito Tsuda arrived in Chicago from Japan in 1988 at the age of 21 and enrolled at Columbia College Chicago in 1990. On a class photography assignment, Tsuda encountered Pilsen, a primarily Mexican American neighborhood a few miles southwest of downtown. In Pilsen, he found himself readily accepted in the homes and lives of the residents. Despite knowing only some English and no Spanish, Tsuda developed a good rapport with the people he photographed and made over 500 striking and intimate images in collaboration with the community over the next four years.

The exhibition opens on the 9th floor exhibit hall at Harold Washington Library Center on June 3. Additional satellite exhibits will run during fall 2024 at other CPL locations.

For more information, please visit: Akito Tsuda Pilsen Days

This event is supported through the JFNY Grant for Arts and Culture.