beauty x justice
Makoto & Haejin Shim Fujimura speak widely on the intersection of beauty and justice. Drawing on their backgrounds as a world-renowned contemporary artist (Mako) and lawyer, entrepreneur, and justice advocate (Haejin), they explore how beauty and justice are flip sides of the same coin with generative resonance for our fractured world today.
The Fujimuras have presented at universities, conferences, churches, and other forums around the globe to diverse audiences, such as the UK Parliament, victims and families of the Columbine shooting, adoptive and foster care mothers, the late Pope Francis, and educators of color.
2026 BOOK RELEASE
The Fujimuras’ co-authored book Beauty x Justice: Creating a Life of Abundance & Courage is now available from Brazos Press.
What if the pursuit of justice requires more than activism? What if it also demands beauty?
In a world marked by division and suffering, we face a critical challenge: how to pursue what is right without burning out or losing compassion along the way. Through stories from their global work in the arts, advocacy, and cultural renewal, the authors reveal that beauty isn’t a luxury – it’s essential to effective, lasting justice work. Beauty has the power to heal, and justice becomes most compelling when it is truly beautiful.
Beauty x Justice also has a free study guide for use by book discussion groups in church, educational, and private settings.
Equity In Action visiting scholars
Makoto & Haejin Shim Fujimura were 2024 – 25 Equity in Action Visiting Scholars for the University of Pennsylvania’s Office of Social Equity & Community. The Fujimuras gave four lectures on their collective work of beauty and justice. The final lecture was accompanied by an exhibition of Makoto Fujimura’s monumental altarpiece triptych “Transfiguration” in the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia. Thanks to the Office of Social Equity & Community, the Sachs Program for Arts Innovation, Penn Live Arts, and the Arthur Ross Gallery for their sponsorship of the exhibition.
PRESS:
“A moment of ‘timefulness’ at The Arts Lounge”, Penn Today, April 18, 2025.