Nov
14
6:00 PM18:00
Sep
12
to Dec 13
Inside Chinatown
EXTENDED THROUGH DECEMBER 13
Inside Chinatown features photography by eleven Chinatown community members who used photography to not only share the experiences, challenges, and successes found in their community, but also to author their own history of what it means to work and live in Boston’s Chinatown.
The exhibition is a culmination of six months of coursework where participants K.C., Qianying Guan, B.K., Barney Ko, Yingyan Liang, Kim Sit, Angela Soo Hoo, Heman Tang, Justine Wang, and Warren Wong learned about the neighborhood’s history and culture as well as the history of US Chinatowns, studied photography with New York-based photographer Katie Salisbury, and captured the stories they found to be important to Chinese American workers and residents in Chinatown.
This partnership project developed in collaboration with Loan Dao, PhD formerly of UMass, Boston and the Pao Arts Center. The Inside Chinatown project community coursework was funded in part by Mass Humanities, which receives support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Sep
10
6:00 PM18:00
2018-2019 Yu-Wen Wu, Leavings/Belongings
Yu-Wen Wu is a Boston-based interdisciplinary artist. Born in Taipei, Wu came to the United States at the age of seven. Her work is informed by this bicultural upbringing—the eastern and western influences in life and art.
Wu’s current work explores the issues of Displacement, Assimilation and Individual and National Identity. Through video, installation, drawing and sculpture she challenges our impressions of accuracy and storytelling. Compositing imagery, she draws together the natural world and social movement, on both a personal and global scale. She approached her own experiences of immigration and other culturally specific happenings by presenting them as a series of inevitable occurrences.
She is the recipient of numerous awards, exhibiting museums and galleries nationally and internationally, and in many public and private collections.
While in residency at the BCNC Pao Arts Center, Wu continued her work on Leavings/Belongings. Inspired by the tradition of storytelling while making, the project engaged participants from various public, immigrant and refugee communities in the making of symbolic “bundles.” These anomalously-shaped, cloth-wrapped bundles may represent what is left behind, and what may be carried in migration—survival, hope, dreams. Through the act of making together, participants shared their family’s and their own immigration journeys, generating dialogue that bridge across experiences, generations, and ethnicity. Throughout the project, Wu recorded these narratives, photographing the participants and their bundles. This project culminated in a multimedia installation at the Pao Arts Center and other public spaces.
Sep
6
7:00 PM19:00
Chinatown Presents: When Body Becomes Voice - An Evening of Dance
Our first Chinatown Presents performance of the season will kick-off with an evening of dance. We will be presenting classical and contemporary works from local artists in Boston questioning: How can we embody our identity through dance? Featuring works by Chhandika Dance group, Prakriti dance, Jennifer Lin and Yosi Karahashi, we will question how different cultures use dance to tell their stories.
Suggestion donation: $10
About the Artists
The Chhandam Institute of Kathak Dance (Chhandika) is dedicated to Kathak dance. Based in Massachusetts, Chhandika is affiliated with the Chhandam Chitresh Das Dance Company in San Francisco as well as the Nritya Bharati Institute in Kolkata, India. Chhandika provides a stimulating, supportive and multi-cultural environment in which to explore the physical, intellectual and spiritual benefits of Kathak dance as a student, professional practitioner or curious observer.
Prakriti Dance is an innovative performing company that showcases the Indian classical dance form Bharata Natyam. Founded by Co-Artistic Directors Kasi Aysola and Madhvi Venkatesh, Prakriti Dance takes the ancient movement vocabulary of yesteryears and interprets modern day themes bringing relevance and context to the ever evolving Indian art. Drawing inspirations from nature, philosophy, poetry, and other genres of art, Prakriti Dance weaves a multi-layered tapestry to transcend cultural boundaries and communicate the human experience.
Jennifer Lin is a classically trained contemporary dancemaker and teaching artist of Euro-American and Korean descent. Her work intersects between dance, culture, and identity. Her mission is to investigate the nature of art and dance in the human experience and inspire creative inquiry in others.
Yosi Karahashi left Japan to study flamenco in Spain at the legendary flamenco school Amor de Dios in Madrid. She started her professional career performing in many tablaos around Spain and other countries such as Japan, Morocco, Portugal, France, Cyprus and Canada. Yosi moved to Boston in 2012, and since then has been a very active teacher and performer, collaborating with many participants of the Greater Boston dance scene.
Sponsors
Chinatown Presents is funded in part by a grant from the Boston Cultural Council, a local agency which is funded by the Mass Cultural Council, and administered by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture.
Aug
8
4:00 PM16:00
Leavings/Belongings: Final Drop-in Bundle Making
Join Artist-in-Residence Yu-Wen Wu in the Leavings/Belongings project at the Pao Art Center.
Inspired by the tradition of storytelling while making, the bundle-making project engages women from various immigrant and refugee communities in the making of symbolic “bundles.” Through the act of making together, participants can share stories. These anomalously shaped cloth wrapped bundles may represent what is left behind, and what may be carried in migration – survival, hope, dreams. Throughout these sessions, these bundles will be exhibited collectively in public spaces to generate conversation, dialogue, and bridges across experiences, generations, and ethnicity. The bundles will contribute to the project Leavings/Belongings.
The final workshop will be held from 4-6pm on Thursday, August 8th.
Materials are provided. Feel free to contribute to the project by bringing fabric meaningful to your personal or your family's journey.
About the Artist
Yu-Wen Wu is a Boston-based interdisciplinary artist. Born in Taipei, Wu came to the United States at the age of seven. Her work is informed by this bi-cultural upbringing — the eastern and western influences in life and art.
Wu’s current work explores the issues of Displacement, Assimilation and Individual and National Identity. Through video, installation, drawing and sculpture she challenges our impressions of accuracy and storytelling. Compositing imagery, she draws together the natural world and social movement, on both a personal and global scale. She approached her own experiences of immigration and other culturally specific happenings by presenting them as a series of inevitable occurrences.
Feb
22
to Feb 24
Shango---My Heart is a Red Journey of Thunder and Light
Photo credit: Kenny Chung
An engaging art and performance installation of transportation, transformation and healing that examines the migration of the river religions of Africa and the diaspora of syncretic Yoruba beliefs through the many cultures and homelands of the Americas, as seen through the eyes and consciousness of the deity Shango.