Highlights IDEA Odyssey Gallery presents “Balik/Ibalik”, an exhibit of new photographs by Carina A. del Rosario. In this new work, the artist documents her recent trip to the Philippines after a 22 year absence and explores the intersections of language, culture, family and place. Opening reception is Thurs., Feb. 2 from 5 – 8pm. On [...]
War, unfortunately, never seems to be in short supply; and, lately, movies about war have also been plentiful. One of the most prolific is the 68-minute documentary “Kash: The Legend and Legacy of Shiro Kashino.” In it, filmmaker Vincent Matsudaira profiles men who served in the 100th Battalion 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War [...]
Periodically, something comes along to remind us of the fact that there is still a great deal of ignorance surrounding this part in our history, the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. It almost seems like being willfully ignorant since, it seems to me that there has been so much study, so much investigation and [...]
Highlights Seattle’s Annual Lunar New Year Festival takes place Sat., Jan. 28 from 11am – 4pm at Hing Hay Park at Maynard Ave. S. & S. King St. With Dragon and Lion Dancers and a food walk with $2 Tasting Menu at participating restaurants. Also a children’s costume parade contest. Go to SeattleChinatownID.com for details. [...]
Post colonialism, ethnic partition, racial strife and religious fundamentalism are all heavy issues examined in movies featured at the Children’s Film Festival Seattle. Perhaps it’s because kids tend to be innocent of prejudice, a learned behavior, that they seem to handle differences more gracefully than adults; or, at least in they do in these films. [...]
In 1920’s Seattle, two young sign painters shared a passion for art. As Japanese immigrants, they were denied U.S. citizenship and segregated from white society, but overcame those barriers to become respected members of Seattle’s fledgling arts community and achieve national recognition as artists. “Painting Seattle: Kamekichi Tokita and Kenjiro Nomura” on view through February [...]
“North South East West” is the latest collection of pieces put together by June Sekiguchi. Drawing from the experiences of various artists, this show strives to juxtapose the various stories of migration, identity and the cross-cultural experience of local Artists. “I see it was more of a curatorial statement that brings people in from all [...]
Strolling into a museum, we see old and new art, ancient and contemporary. Juxtapose the two, then singular impressions reveal themselves for an audience. In the “Luminous: The Art of Asia” exhibit, a Seated Guanyin from the Chinese Song Period (960-1279), carefree, one leg raised on the pedestal and the other leg dangling shows off-beat [...]
Like a lot of married couples, Locho and Yama both work outside the home while rearing a child. But unlike most married couples, their work is literally outside — in the sprawling grasslands of Dzachukha, 15,000 feet above sea level in eastern Tibet. The area is nicknamed “5 most” by the Chinese because it’s the [...]
The artist, Sopheap Pich, was born in the small rice-farming town of Koh Kralaw in northwestern Cambodia in 1971. His parents and his ancestors were farmers. Through a long turbulent history, agriculture has been the major industry to support the lives of people. Rice is one of the major export items along with timber, garments, [...]
Highlights O(PA)PERA is a live music installation co-created by composer/musician/performer Byron Au Yong and director/installation artist Roger Benington. Tackling the big issues of earthquakes and tsunami’s that re-shape the Pacific Rim and its’ inhabitants and the aftershocks of a global economy in crisis, musicians/performers (Au Yong, Jeremiah Cawley, Tiffany Lin & Tari Nelson-Zagar) gather in [...]
Highlights As Arts Editor at the Examiner, I help assign stories on the arts but the wide-ranging coverage of all the arts is made possible by dozens of hard-working knowledgeable volunteer writers who rally behind their passion and love of the arts with well-written stories issue after issue. We couldn’t do it without them. I [...]
The western idiom that “there is no honor among thieves”* crosses cultures to infiltrate this English-subtitled Japanese film about modern-day “yakuza.” Although they’re supposed to live by a code of honor, the professional gangsters in this movie turn out to be as dishonorable as any run of the mill mobster. Director Takeshi Kitano (aka [...]
The opportunity to travel abroad and connect with exceptional colleagues in one’s profession is a dream for most, but two local museum curators experienced this honor first-hand. Zoe Donnell, Curatorial Coordinator for Tacoma Art Museum, and Catherine Roche, Seattle Art Museum’s Interim Assistant Curator for Japanese and Korean Art, both earned a place as participants [...]
Highlights The North American Post’s Nagomi Teahouse Space has in a few short months, become an exciting new venue presenting Asian American arts and culture. Famed mystery novelist Naomi Hirahara, known for her unique character, Kibei landscaper/detective Mas Hirai will talk about how she created her protagonist and the inspiration behind her books. Sat. Dec. [...]
Despite its detailed coverage of a tumultuous China at the turn of the century, “Empire of Silver” is really a love story. While epic events like the Boxer Rebellion unfolded during the last days of the Qing Dynasty, this film’s focus is about boy meeting girl, boy falling in love with girl; then, boy having [...]
While the basic story of Japanese picture brides in the first decades of the 20th Century is well-known, what exactly their experience was like and how they felt is far less familiar. Author Julie Otsuka takes on the challenge of speaking their voices and in doing so, she vividly revives their spirits into her [...]
After beginning his acting career in 1996, actor Ray Tagavilla has been performing on Seattle stages for over a decade. Born in the Philippines, Tagavilla earned a BA degree in Drama at the University of Washington and has portrayed classical and contemporary roles for a dozen Seattle theatre companies. He has deployed skills onstage including [...]
Visual Arts The work of Jason Hirata and Rumi Koshino is included in a group show at SOIL entitled “11 Most Dangerous Toys of 2011” curated by Klara Glosova. Opening reception is Dec. 1 from 6 – 8 p.m. SOIL Gallery at 112 – 3rd Ave. S., Seattle. Cambodian-born artist Soheap Pich immigrated to the [...]
Following the recent production of Michael Golamco’s play “Year Zero” by SIS Productions, the Cambodian American immigrant experience is again on stage. “Red Earth, Gold Gate, Shadow Sky” is a collaboration between sculptor and designer Sopheap Pich, playwright and UW Drama School professor Mark Jenkins, and artist Don Fels. The play was originally conceived by [...]
Self-described as a multi-dimensional “composer, pianist, artistic director, and public intellectual,” Jon Jang is also an innovator. As a child, Jang played electric keyboard when most kids in his former hometown of Palo Alto, Calif., played guitar and drums. He was the only kid he knew that could simultaneously play the melody and accompaniment of [...]
Anyone who’s watched a “Harold & Kumar” movie knows the two dope-smoking characters are not model minorities. But in real life, Kal Penn (Kumar) is a former White House staffer and John Cho (Harold), a father. And, both have brains as corroborated by our interview below. Q: Kal, as the breakthrough actor for Indian [...]
Highlights Cambodian-born artist Sopheap Pich immigrated to the US with his family to escape the Khmer Rouge and attended art school here, earning an MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After a few years of meaningless jobs less than conducive to making art, he returned to his home country where he [...]
For the uninformed diner, ordering Chinese food might mean requesting chow mein or fried rice—and asking to hold the MSG. But that would be so limiting, when “authentic” Chinese cuisine consists of many diverse dishes containing a variety of ingredients that vary from region to region. Further, the restaurants serving those meals might be located [...]
Playwrights are hungry for opportunities to present their work, and this autumn, the SIS Writers Group hopes that its audiences are “Insatiable!” Sponsored by SIS Productions, the SIS Writers Group is in its sixth year of fostering the development of local Asian American playwrights. This year, three new full-length plays and three new one-acts will [...]
To be honest, Monique Truong’s long-awaited second novel “Bitter In The Mouth” is so full of surprises that it’s difficult to review without spoilers. This novel of a young girl growing up in Boiling Springs, North Carolina in the 1970s and 80s offers much more than a plot synopsis can reveal. But let’s start [...]
“Not many people know about ‘ikebana,’” said Megumi Schacher as I enter her home studio in the verdant Brier neighborhood. One of her two cats languishes in a chair near an arrangement of tall irises and other foliage in a shallow container. A large collection of vessels lines the multiple shelves along one wall. “When [...]
Looking at a Lenore Chinn painting is like spying on a stranger through a peephole. While her subjects have nothing to hide, their visible preoccupation with personal thoughts seems almost too intimate for the observer. That Chinn is able to capture such ephemeral expressions reveals the precision of her paintings. In “Bok Kai Temple,” a [...]
Terroryaki! Jennifer Chung Cooks Up Fast Food and Phantom Fiction Brush, Ink, Mind: The Practice of Chinese Calligraphy and Painting A Spirited Musician Keeps Traditional Korean Music Alive After the Martini Shot: Mika Tajima at SAM Take Me America: A play explores the asylum experience through the eyes of a fictional Chinese poet and [...]
