Hiraku Morilla, 40, has been the director of the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection since 2014, curating exhibitions and events about the American artist in the museum’s facilities in Yamanashi Prefecture. Morilla advocates for the LGBTQ+ community through his work, combating discrimination and the stigmatization of HIV.
1. Can you tell us about your cultural background? I’m Japanese and Nuyorican (New York Puerto Rican). Expressing both Asian and Latino cultural identities at once has always felt disjointed — they’re so far apart that embodying both never feels seamless.
2. How was your experience growing up in the Bronx? I was surrounded by rhythm and style. The way we spoke had cadence. The way we moved had rhythm. Manhattan was right there, but it felt like a different universe. We walked through metal detectors every morning at school. That’s what it looks like when a system abandons the community.
