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There's Going To Be A Huge George Takei Exhibit At The Japanese American National Museum
George Takei (Photo via Facebook)
Actor George Takei is donating items from his days playing Mr. Sulu on Star Trek as well as his personal life to the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the exhibit, titled New Frontiers: The Many Worlds of George Takei, will open on March 12, 2017. Takei, 79, is an outspoken LGBT activist as well as a delightful person to follow on Twitter and Facebook. He has a long history with the museum: he is a founder and sits on the board of trustees as Chairman Emeritus, and even married his partner Brad Altman there in 2008.
This is the largest collection donated to the museum by any single person, according to a release. Items include the Olympic torch Takei carried for the 1984 Olympic games, campaign materials from the time he ran for City Council in 1973, and various Star Trek ephemera. There will also be "one-of-a-kind artworks made by his legions of fans," as well as a sculpture Takei's father created while his family was confined to an internment camp in Arkansas during WWII. Other objects include a walking stick Takei used as he climbed Mount Fuji and the key to the city of Roanoke, Virginia, a place Takei visited in 2015 after Mayor Davie Bowers referred to Japanese people as being "sequestered" during WWII in statements opposing allowing Syrian refugees into Virginia.
Should you stop by the museum now, you can check out Tatau: Marks of Polynesia, which explores Samoan tattoos, and Common Ground: The Heart of the Community Ongoing, which includes numerous of artifacts chronicling Japanese American history over the past 130 years.
The Japanese American National Museum is located at 100 North Central Avenue in Little Tokyo.
Related: Video: George Takei Protests Nuclear Testing In 1971
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