“The idea is to celebrate AAPI heritage month,” Daxue Xu, director of the gallery, said. “We want to show people how talented these artists are and how they contribute to the rich culture of America by using their own heritage.”

According to Xu, the featured artwork could be done in traditional cultural painting styles but have a message about something modern like environmental issues and immigration.

“Everything definitely reminds you of ancient tradition, but then is also closely related to current societal issues, or their own identity and their own life,” Xu said.

The featured artists include Michael Arcega, Arnold Chang, Hai-Hsin Huang, Yun-Fei Ji, Hung Liu, Masako Miki, Younhee Paik, Ren Light Pan, TT Takemoto, Rupy C. Tut, Kelly Wang, Xiaoze Xie, Stella Zhang and Zheng Chongbin. They represent cultures from across Asia, including China, India, Korea, Japan and the Philippines.

“We want to show the people in the Bay Area different cultures,” Xu said. “We all have certain things in common – like our humanity – so we (should) understand each other better. That’s how you avoid prejudice and hate.”

The exhibition features artists from around the world and educated in other countries, but also Bay Area artists such as Filipino-American Michael Acerga. The San Francisco resident came from Manila as a child and later received his Master’s of Fine Arts from Stanford University. Now, he’s an associate professor at San Francisco State University.

Acerga has two works featured in “All Together.” He has a piece about UFOs which is an exploration into the idea of immigration. His other piece is a collection of items gathered from his journeys in a traditional Pacific outrigger in North American waters. It is laid out for visitors to learn about “Nacirema” (“American” spelled backwards), which is an anthropological term for U.S. citizens.

“With this pseudo anthropological lens, I’m seeing these trophies of the Nacirema,” Acerga said. “I have been collecting since 2011. And I did a presentation that looks like a yard sale. That’s intentional, because the yard sale is a natural way that people display and swap their objects.”

He described the theme as an exploration of what it means to belong to America.

“We are exploring who we are as Americans,” Acerga said. “It’s about Americans who happen to be Asians.”

Another local artist featured, Xiaoze Xie, is an art professor at Stanford who was born in China. The Palo Alto resident uses porcelain to discuss the issue of censorship and more specifically, books banned in China.

“Art moves you,” Xie said. “It makes you think, it engages the mind. The most rewarding aspect of making art and teaching art is this whole complex process of thinking, exploring, making and interacting to generate conversation.”

Qualia is also hosting contemporary ink artist Yang Jiechang until June 28 in the solo exhibition “Beneath the Golden Antlers.” Qualia, at 229 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto, is open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and noon to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.