This multimedia collaboration between the Bruce Lee Foundation, top collectors of Bruce Lee memorabilia, and a team of artistic innovators showcases state-of-the-art engagement to magnify the vision and values of a Chinese American icon who grew into an international superstar, along the way transcending race, geography, and culture.
The groundbreaking exhibition We Are Bruce Lee: Under the Sky, One Family represents the long-awaited homecoming of San Francisco Chinatown’s native son, a legendary figure who was born in Chinatown’s own Chinese Hospital in 1940.
This multimedia collaboration between the Bruce Lee Foundation, top collectors of Bruce Lee memorabilia, and a team of artistic innovators showcases state-of-the-art engagement to magnify the vision and values of a Chinese American icon who grew into an international superstar, along the way transcending race, geography, and culture.
This unprecedented exhibition offers unique perspectives of Bruce beyond martial arts and acting—as a visionary, athlete, thinker, and unifier who fought discrimination with uncanny strength, unwavering resilience, and profound engagement with a multicultural society. It chronicles his pioneering journey from a kid from Hong Kong to a global entrepreneur and his immortal influence on fans and followers across generations, backgrounds, and all walks of life.
Collectors Jeff Chinn, Robert Gomez, Ken Hao, and Perry Lee present a trove of rarely seen artifacts, historic photos, handwritten letters, memorabilia, video, film, artwork, and graphical displays. These curated pieces reveal Bruce’s personal philosophies on life and society—offering relevant lessons in present day, a time currently fraught with xenophobia, racism, and social injustice.
Key selections from the artifacts on exhibit include:
- 35mm celluloid prints from each of Bruce’s movies installed in glowing light boxes;
- A custom-designed installation featuring original artifacts depicting Bruce as Kato from the TV show The Green Hornet including an original October 1966 issue of TV Guide, the first feature of an Asian American on a nationally distributed magazine cover;
- Bruce’s personal weight bench and dumbbell set;
- Rare photos of Bruce in costume on the sets of his many films; and
- An original copy of The Tao of Jeet Kune Do, Bruce’s publication on his martial arts philosophy
We Are Bruce Lee also features an multimedia art gallery curated by Melonie and Melorra Green, Co-executive Directors at San Francisco’s African American Art & Culture Complex, that showcases Bruce ’s influence on the Black community from the perspective of some of the Bay Area ’s premier Black artists and other creatives of color. Art pieces on display include:
- A documentary video by Mandeep Sethi and The Mighty Delrokz revealing Bruce’s influence on hip-hop, breakdancing, and martial arts;
- Four separate site-specific murals from world-renown Bay Area artists APEX, K-Dub, Agana, and Josue to provide an immersive feel;
- RTYSTK‘s recreation of Bruce’s fight scene with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s character in Game of Death;
- Handmade paper cut artworks by Stacy Mootoo;
- Demetri Broxton‘s handmade boxing robe embroidered with glass beads and cowry shells;
- An altar piece honoring Bruce created by Kaya Fortune that connects ancestral worship practices across Asian and African cultures;
- Artist William Rhodes’s interactive quilt celebrating Bruce’s intergenerational and cross-community impact; and
- Paintings by Tarika Lewis and Omiiroo inspired by Bruce Lee
Through We Are Bruce Lee, CHSA aims to revitalize the Chinatown neighborhood in which Bruce was born; strengthen the Chinese American and AAPI communities; and combat racism and hate by bringing diverse audiences together in solidarity.
As Bruce himself stated, “Under the sky, under the heavens, there is but one family.”
