In 2017, when Ooga Booga founder Wendy Yao was awarded the White Columns/Shoot the Lobster award—”presented annually to individuals who selflessly create a context for other artists’ ideas and seek to build communities around them”— Asher Penn wrote:
Ooga Booga has become a non-institutional hub within the Los Angeles area; a go-to place for its selection of books, multiples, fashion items, and accessories. Outside Los Angeles, Ooga Booga is an icon of independent entrepreneurship, participating in art and book fairs, opening temporary satellite stores, creating online resources for independent publishers, and organizing events in various venues.
PARIS LA is one of countless publications that Yao has supported over the years, facilitating introductions to future collaborators and providing a platform for imagination to take flight.
Ooga Booga’s Chinatown store is closing this weekend—Sunday, September 1 is the last day. Stop by and visit one last time. (The web shop is scheduled to continue operations.)
943 North Broadway, downtown Los Angeles.
From top: Wendy Yao, KCET; Ooga Booga, Chinatown, exterior and interior (2); Excursus III: Ooga Booga at ICA in Philadelphia, 2012, photograph by Alex Klein; Ooga Booga II at 356 Mission; sign in Chinatown, Los Angeles. Images courtesy and © Wendy Yao and the photographers.
