Amid news of rising immigration enforcement in Minnesota, local and national artists are creating spaces for cultural connection this weekend. An Afro-Colombian singer will bring the sounds of her homeland to the Cedar Cultural Center, Indigenous artists will celebrate fall with a park party in St. Paul, and queer Southeast Asian artists will lead workshops to mark 50 years of Southeast Asian migration in Minnesota. 

“We’re celebrating the anniversary of something really kind of horrible — the breaking down of our homelands, being torn from our identities, cultures, histories,” said Lynn Nguyen, the co-founder of Paper Lantern Project, which is hosting the creativity festival.

“Our communities are being torn away from their families right now as deportations are on the rise for Southeast Asian folks,” she said. “I hope people can still find moments of joy and celebration within our culture despite the environment we’re living in because this is honestly dangerous and radical work.” 

Ride the creative wave at a Southeast Asian arts festival

After centering queer Southeast Asian artistry this summer with “Alternate Routes,” the gender and reproductive justice nonprofit Paper Lantern Project is back with a new invitation: 10 experimental workshops where participants can create poetry, story cloths, drag performances, ink paintings, zines, cultural artifacts and more. 

“We see a lot of Southeast Asian art practices being focused on preservation,” Nguyen said. “What is really interesting about our workshops is that it’s a reinterpretation of traditional art. We don’t just want to see craft being preserved, we also want it to evolve.” 

The Making Waves Creativity Festival, held Saturday at the Minnesota Humanities Center, also features “Yellownoise,” an exhibit of queer Asian American art produced by a creative youth circle after a 12-week mentorship program. The exhibit’s opening reception will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3 with an artist night market. 

On screen, the coming-of-age documentary “New Wave” by Chinese-Vietnamese American filmmaker Elizabeth Ai traces the lives of displaced Vietnamese refugee youth in the 1980s who created their own cultural movement through fashion, music and art. 

“Our programming this year is making sure that voices and stories that are often underrepresented get a time to shine,” said Rae Rowe, the organization’s executive director. “Our community deserves beautiful things and we deserve our beautiful things to be shared with others.”

Celebrate autumn with Native art and food

With summer temperatures lingering into October, artists Marlena Myles and Tanáǧidaŋ Tó Wiŋ are turning to Dakota tradition to mark the fall season on Saturday. At the Battle Creek Regional Park Bluff Corridor, Indigenous artists will celebrate Éya, the “wind of the west” believed to usher in cooler autumn air. The Éya Autumn Wind Celebration will feature storytelling at 1 p.m., a guided tree walk at 3 p.m., an Indigenous market, tea sampling, and free yard signs and Native seeds for your garden. Visitors can also join hands-on activities such as cattail weaving, botanical cyanotype printmaking, coloring and augmented reality art. Native food trucks Trickster Tacos and Yumyum Truck will be on site.

Dance to the drums of Colombia’s Pacific coast

Afro-Colombian singer-songwriter Nidia Góngora will bring the marimba and drums of currulao — the traditional music of Colombia’s Pacific coast — to a concert with Minnesota-based dance group Colombia Live at the Cedar Cultural Center on Sunday. Born in Timbiqui, Colombia, she fuses the folk sounds of her homeland with electronic dance music. After performing with the band Canalón de Timbiquí, she released her debut solo album “Pacífico Maravilla” in April 2025. The album reflects her roots and the stories of her community, featuring contributions from local composers and young musicians in Timbiquí.