August 17, 2017—Arts Etc.

Visual Arts

The City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture present two timely new group shows culled from the collection of the city of Seattle on the top floor of King St. Station downtown. “Borderlands” in the work of nine installations tackles the theme of nationalism and whether it creates a sense of belonging or alienation? “And She Persisted: Voices of Women Artists” shows the work of women artists who continue to refine and interpret traditions from their homelands of origin while at the same time putting their art in service of action. Includes the work of Carina del Rosario, Anida Yoeu Ali, Satpreet Kahlon and many others. On view through Oct. 29.  Fridays from 11am – 2pm. Saturdays from noon – 6pm. Sundays from 11am – 2pm. First Thursdays on Sept. 7 and Oct. 5 from 5 – 8pm. 303 South Jackson St. on the top floor downtown across from Chinatown/ID link rail/bus tunnel. Go to http://www.seattle.gov/arts/borderlands for details.

With the title “POWER”, this year’s Seattle Design Festival kicks off with a Block Party in Occidental Park in Pioneer Square on Sept. 9 & 10 from 10am – 6pm. It features touchable, interactive art installations by artists and designers for you to explore. There will be 80+ events and installations in dozens of venues across the greater Seattle area all month. Closing party takes place Sept. 22 from 8 – 11pm at Karass Creative at 201 1^st Ave. #210. For full details, go to designinpublic.org.

Tara Tamaribuchi’s installation work is popping up all over. “Craft Abstracts” at Thomas East Storefront is just one of eight new installations by artists in the South Lake Union area as part of its acclaimed “Storefronts” program. The theme of the current exhibition is “Honoring Life and Humanity in the Urban Wilderness”. Presented by Shunpike whose “Storefronts” program activates neighborhoods and streets by matching artists with vacant retail space. 206-905-1026×103 or go to www.storefrontseattle.com. Tamaribuchi’s newest installation piece entitled “Camouflage Net Project” is on view through Dec. 31, 2017 as part of the Seattle Center Sculpture Walk. The piece, a canopy of camouflage netting made with kimono fabric, tents the underside of a glass-covered walkway just south of the Pacific Northwest Ballet. It is the artist’s response to the 75^th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, which incarcerated her family and community in prison camps throughout WWII. The piece was inspired by  Nisei  (second generation Japanese Americans) who made tens of thousands of camouflage nets for the US Army at Santa Anita Assembly Center, and Manzanar and Gila River internment camps. The artist’s intention was to connect her handiwork to that of her incarcerated community, while using traditional kimono fabric to send pride of heritage back in time to them. As camouflage protects people and objects and blends them into their surroundings, this work represents a discrimination filter for today, through which we see the true nature of people as interconnected with each other and the world. Part of the Seattle Center Sculpture Walk  as presented by the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture and Seattle Center. For more information, go to taratamaribuchi.com. 

The exhibit entitled “Extraordinary Playscapes” examines the art, history, science and importance of play, while telling the story behind some of the most incredible playspaces in the world. The Donnie Chin International Children’s Park is featured in this exhibit at the Center for Architecture & Design. This is a public space for exhibits, programs and conversations that explore design’s role in shaping cities. On view  through Sept. 2, 2017. Hours are Tues. – Thurs. From 10am – 6pm, Fridays from 10am – 5pm and Saturdays from 1pm – 5pm. 1010 Western Ave. 206-667-9184 or go to cfadseattle.org.

The work of ceramic sculptor Gunyoung Kim’s figures will keep you entranced with their sharp facial expressions. Through  Sept. 2 at Gallery I/M/A. 123 South Jackson St. Go to galleryima.com for details.

Through August 12 is Woodside/Braseth Gallery’s summer group show entitled “The Collector’s Eye” which includes the work of Paul Horiuchi, George Tsutakawa and many other Northwest favorites. 1201 Western Ave. or go to woodsidebrasethgallery.com for details.

“Untold Passage” is a group show curated by Jacob Lawrence Gallery director Emily Zimmerman. She urged artists participating “to recover both the unwritten histories of immigrant communities and to express the unquantifiable aspects of those experiences.” The show features work by Zhi Lin (also showing at Tacoma Art Museum), Mary Ann Peters, Rodrigo Valenzuela and  the collaborative duo xyx (using the poetry of Stacey Tran, Becky Nguyen, Ocean Vuong and Javier Zamora). The gallery is on the UW Seattle campus at E. Stevens Way #132. Free. Ends August 18, 2017. Go to jacoblawrencegallery.hotglue.me for details.

The artist-run gallery SOIL presents a group show introducing seven new members entitled “Seven Bodies” in which notions of the body are interwoven through the interdisciplinary works on display. Includes the work of Philippe Hyo Sung Kim, Markel Uriu, Ko Kirk Yamahira and others. On view  through August. 112 – 3^rd Ave. S. 206-264-8061.

The work of Qin Tan is included in a group show of artists who do work on paper simply entitled “On Paper” on view through Sept. 2. At the Harris Harvey Gallery at 1111 – 1^st Ave. Go to harrisharveygallery.com for details.

Work by Kyungmin Park and Patti Warashina is included in an invitational group exhibition  entitled “Bodies + Beings” on view  through Sept. 2, 2017. Abmeyer + Wood Fine  Art at 1210 2^nd Ave. in Seattle. 206-628-9501 or email [email protected]

It’s a match made in culinary/art heaven. Artist/photographer/writer Dean Wong often hangs out at Tai Tung Restaurant in the CID. Now the restaurant has returned the favor with an ongoing presentation of his iconic photographs entitled “Made In Chinatown USA.” Sit at the counter deep into your chow mein and looks at images of the neighborhood on the wall. 655 South King St.  Ongoing.

“Rhythm Formation” is the title of a new show by multi-media artist Qin Tan at the Asian Pacific Cultural Center Gallery in Tacoma. Tacoma artist Qin Tan paints abstract structures and formations that channel energy from memories and environments. Through  August. 4851 South Tacoma Way. 253-383-3900.

Davidson Galleries presents a group show entitled “Masters Of The Reduction Woodcut” featuring work by Zha Sai, Srijai Kuntawang and many others.  Remains  on view through Sept. 2, 2017. Coming in September will be a show by Mio Asahi. 313 Occidental Ave.  S. Open Tues. – Sun.  from 10am – 5:30pm. 206-624-7684 or go to www.davidsongalleries.com.

“Searching for Home” is a site-specific installation by Humaira Abid featuring personal narratives, stories and portraits of refugees in the Northwest woven into socio-cultural themes of immigration, women and families. It is her first solo exhibition in the U.S. In her work, she tackles issues of culture, gender and relationships both in her Pakistani homeland and her adopted U.S. home. Sept. 22, 2017 – March 25, 2018. Bellevue Arts Museum. 510 Bellevue Way N.E. Closed Mon. & Tues. Wed. – Sun. 11am – 5pm. Free Frist Fridays from 11am – 8pm. 425-519-0770.

On view Nov. 11 – Dec. 23 will be work by Wong Ping, an animated film artist from Hong Kong. His work has been exhibited internationally in Manchester, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Berlin and Paris. He received Perspective’s “40 Under 40” Award. Interstitial art space is at 6007 – 12^th Ave. S. on the 3^rd floor. Open Saturdays from 12 – 7pm.

Textiles by  Japanese textile artist Mieko Mintz are on view through August 20, 2017. Mintz makes one-of-a–kind garments made of vintage sari, hand stitched kantha cloth.  Pleinair Paintings by Rob Vetter and sculpture by Tomoko Suzuki are part of a new show that remains on view through August 27. Vetter has dedicated himself to landscape painting for over 20 years. His vision of landscapes all over the Northwest are often compact visions that measure as small as 2”x4”. Suzuki’s chubby porcelain figures are visual manifestations of Boddhisattvas struggling and suffering to advance enlightenment and inspiring others to do the same. As the artist notes, we’re all wallowing in a muddy pond of earthy desires. KOBO  at Higo at 604 South Jackson. 206-381-3000  or [email protected]. There is another branch of KOBO on Capitol Hill at 814 E. Roy St. 206-726-0704.

“Wanderlust” is a group show that is a vibrant exploration of the magnetic desire to experience the world and feel the magic of being somewhere else. Includes the work of Bui Cong Khanh, Chi Yuen, Lauren Iida, Deborah Kapoor and Hoanh Phong. Through Sept. 3, 2017. Closed Mondays. Artxchange Gallery at 512 First Ave. S. in Pioneer Square. 206-839-0377 or  [email protected].

“Target” is a new show by Aaliyah Gupta in which the artist builds upon a body of work in response to geopolitical events occurring across the globe – collaging, cutting, painting and drawing evocative imagery using duralar.  On view  through August. CORE Gallery. Wed. – Sat. from noon to 6pm. 117 Prefontaine Place S. 206-467-4444 or go to www.coregallery.org.

Japanese Swiss painter/sculptor/photographer Leiko Ikemura makes her U.S. debut at James Harris Gallery Sept. 7 – Oct. 14. She left Japan in her 20’s to study in Spain and moved to Switzerland in 1979. She currently lives in Germany. Her work depicts an obscure female subject placed in a mystical landscape. She uses her work to address questions of gender, war and religion.  604 – 2^nd Ave. 206-903-6220 or  [email protected].

In December of last year, a painting depicting Gordon Hirabayashi’s legacy by Roger Shimomura was installed at Hirabayashi Place. The piece faces the front lobby window and will greet visitors as they enter explaining his life and legacy. 442 South Main St. in downtown Seattle.

New and recent shows /activities at the Wing include the following – “Come Out and Play: Adventures in the Neighborhood” is a new show that  remains on view through Jan. 7, 2018. This KidPLACE exhibit uncovers the many ways you can play right in our neighborhood. “Teardrops that Wound: The Absurdity of War” is a group show that looks at how art can deflate war’s destructive weight by exposing its absurdity. Contemporary Asian Pacific American artists pull back the curtain and invite visitors to examine war from another angle. Curated by SuJ’n Chon.  “Year of Remembrance: Glimpses of a Forever Foreigner” with poems by Lawrence Matsuda and art by Roger Shimomura is a small but potently meaningful show now extended until April 23, 2018 . “We Are the Ocean: An Indigenous Response to Climate Change” explores how indigenous communities are responding to the ways climate change is affecting waters and lives. Through Nov. 12, 2017. “Do You Know Bruce?” is a major new show on the personal, intimate story of martial arts artist and film star Bruce Lee and the significance of Seattle in his life. The Wing is the only museum in the world, outside of Hong Kong, to present an exhibition about Bruce Lee’s life. The Lee family has plans to eventually open a permanent museum on Bruce Lee’s life and legacy in the Chinatown-ID neighborhood. A new installment of the Bruce Lee exhibit entitled “Day in the Life of Bruce Lee: So You Know Bruce? opened on Sat., Oct. 1, 2016. The new installment explores what it took to become “Bruce Lee”.  It delves into his daily work habits, routines and strategies to his written & visual art, reading, and personal time spent with family and friends.  Toddler Story Time set for Thursdays at 11am always has events centered around a kid’s book and an art activity afterwards. On Thurs., August 17 from 5 – 7:30pm, come to the Canton Alley Party with food, music and visual art in the historic alley. Also on Sat., August 19 from 10 – 5:30pm, enjoy free admission and a Family Fun Day. Some events include dynamic storytelling duo Eth-Noh-Tec and a screening of the 1999 classic film, “Pokemon: The First Movie.  The Japanese American Heritage Trail Tours take place on Sat., August 26. Walk from the Central District to the CID and Japantown and learn about the neighborhood. Free. Produced with the National Park Service with HAI,  Japanese Neighborhood Festival.  Sat., Sept. 23 from 2 – 4pm there will be a free presentation with Japanese American former internees as they reflect on their experience and how it relates to the Muslim American experience. Done in conjunction with the “Year of Remembrance: Glimpses of a Forever Foreigner” exhibit. A new addition to The Wing’s daily Historic Hotel Tour is “APT 507” which is the story of Au Shee, one Chinese immigrant woman who helped build Seattle’s Chinatown. Her living room is interactive with objects meant to be felt, opened  and experienced.  Starting in 2017, The Wing offers a “Grilled Things And Chicken Wings Tour” (grilled, deep fried and everything in-between) – Sept. 1, 8 & 15 from 4:30pm – 7pm. Book your tours at winglinke.org/tours. Members get a 15% discount. More activities for teens include these – “Second Life” explores sustainability through art by working with trash and making treasured art pieces. For ages  10 – 14.  “Finding Voices: Art Portfolios and More” is for teens ages 15 – 19. Learn how to create and polish up your art portfolios.  The Museum is located at 719  South King St. (206) 623-5124 or  visit www.wingluke.org. Closed Mondays. Tuesday – Sunday from 10am – 5pm. First Thursday of each month is free from 10am – 8pm. Third Saturday of each month is free from 10am – 8pm.

“Voices of Nisei Veterans – Permanent Exhibition and Collections”  is composed of rare collections preserved by the Nisei Veterans Committee and tells the story of Japanese American veterans before, during and after WW II. Access is by pre-arranged tour only. For reservations or information, email [email protected] or [email protected]. Jointly sponsored by the NVC Memorial Hall and The Wing. 1212 South King St.

“Infinity Mirrors” is a show by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama spanning over five decades and one she is most known for. “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors” will focus on her original series done in 1965 in which she displayed a vast expanse of red-spotted, white tubers in a room lined with mirrors, creating a jarring illusion of infinite space and move on throughout her whole career developing this concept. Remains on view through Sept. 10, 2017. Although this show is SOLD OUT, on-site tickets will be available each day when the museum opens on a first-come, first-served basis so get in line early if you want to see this show. If you’re a museum member or planning to become a SAM member, there is good news. Member Sunday & Monday nights take place from 4 – 9pm. Just bypass the general ticketing line and visit the Membership Services Desk where you can get tickets from 3pm on for access later  the same evening. If you want to visit a different day, as a member you can head straight to the Membership Services Desk again as members receive priority access every day. Also on view through Oct. 22, 2017 is “Common Pleasures: Art of Urban Life in Edo Japan.” This show highlights works from this period that celebrate the common people and their joys. Pure Amusements: Chinese Scholar Culture and Emulators” presents Chinese works ranging from prints to sculpture and furnishings to ceramics drawn from SAM’s collection that explore the life of leisure. This exhibit is ongoing.  Related events for the Yayoi Kusama show include the following – “Drop-in Studio: Infinite Reflections” is a series featuring demonstrations by local artists who will explore themes and ideas found in “Infinity Mirrors” and how it connects to their own work and processes. A great opportunity for visitors to have a hands-on art making experience. These workshops take place every Sunday through  Sept. 20 from 11am – 2pm. On Sept. 3 & 10, Regina Schilling is the artist. Seattle Art Museum is at 1300 First Ave. downtown. 206-654-3100.

“Detritus” is the title of a show of trippy, nature-inspired sketches and installations with live plants by Markel Uriu at Method Gallery through Sept. 20. The artist describes the work as “concepts in Buddhism and Wabi Sabi of impermanence, decay, and a resulting wealth of growth.” 106 Third Ave. S. 206-713-7819. Open Fri./Sat. Go to methodgallery.com for details.

Dr. Vikram ditya Prakash gives a talk on August 24 entitled “Dis(re)putable Provenances” which explores the work of Amie Siegel currently on view about French modernist furniture from its origins in Chandigarh, India and the significance of that origin and how it affects the prices and reputation. Also artist Lois Yoshida teaches classes on ink and brush painting. Her “Intermediate Class to Ink & Brush Painting” happens August 22 – 25. Try [email protected]. Frye Art Museum at 704 Terry Ave. (206) 622-9250 or go to fryeartmuseum.org for details.

Tacoma-based artist Fumiko Kimura has a show of new work that investigates how science and art meet at the molecular level in the way sumi ink changes when it hits the surface of the washi paper. Includes 16 new experiments demonstrating this process. August 24 – Sept. 24. At the Kittredge Gallery on the campus of the University of Puget Sound. Opening reception is on Wed., Sept. 6 from 5 – 7pm. The artist will give a talk about her work in mid-September. 1500 N. Warner St. in Tacoma. Regular hours are M – F from 10am – 5pm and Saturdays from noon – 5pm. 253-879-3100.

Local installation artist Satpreet Kahlon has been selected to exhibit as part of the 2017-2018 Gallery4Culture Season. From Nov. 2 – Dec. 7, 2017, she will show a series of labor-intensive sculptures and video installations the rise in demand for “handmade” objects and how the term actively erases the labor, oppression, and high societal cost of importing mass-produced goods bade by brown hands in developing nations. Deadline for the next round of selections for shows at 4Culture is Mon., Jan. 8, 2018.

Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park is now closed for what is projected to be a renovation and extension that will take several years.

The exclusive West Coast premiere of “Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor” comes to Pacific Science Center on view through Sept. 4, 2017. This one-of-a-kind exhibition is a joint project between PSC and The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. It is limited to a two-city tour. These warriors tell the story of the First Emperor of China and the literal formation of the China that we know today. Also “Mysteries of China” is a new IMAX documentary film that tells the story of the warriors and how they were accidentally discovered by farmers digging  a well in 1974 in Xian. This film opens on March 10, 2017.  200 Second Ave. at Seattle Center. 206-443-2001.

The 2017 Neddy Artist Award finalists included UW graduate Tuan Nguyen in the Painting category and Che Sehyun, a Korean/Indigenous artist in the Open Medium category. Sehyun was a previous 2016 Artist Trust Fellowship recipient as well. Congratulations to both who received awards.

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art has a group show entitled “Women in Photography” on view through Oct. 1, 2017. Includes the work of Seattle photographer Megumi Arai & others. 550 Winslow Way E. 206-451-4013 or go to biartmuseum.org. Free admission. Open daily from 10am – 6pm.

“Familiar Faces & New Voices: Surveying Northwest Art” opens May 13, 2017 and stays on view through the summer of 2019. This group show is a chronological walk through of Northwest art history, illustrated with the works of noted artists from each time period as well as lesser-known but just as important figures. Different works will be displayed throughout the run of this show. Includes the work of Patti Warashina, Joseph Park, Alan Lau and many others. “In Search of the Lost History of Chinese Migrants and the Transcontinental Railroads” is the title of a new exhibition by UW Professor and internationally acclaimed artist Zhi Lin who looks at the thousands of Chinese men who came to America to work on the railroads and mine for gold. He travelled extensively to historic sites and painted at these locations to evoke the contributions of Chinese to the history of the American west. This multi-media work on view  through Feb. 4, 2018. Writer/Professor Shawn Wong of the UW English department has contributed an essay to the exhibition catalog. Artist Zhi Lin will lead an historic walking tour at an historic Chinese American site on September 21 with the Tacoma Historical Society on this Free Third Thursday event. Other Free Third Thursday events include a Q & A and art-making with Zhi Lin on Nov. 16 and a community panel on immigration and exclusion on Feb. 15, 2018.  Tacoma Art Museum at 1701 Pacific Ave. 253-272-4258 or email [email protected] or go to www.TacomaArtMuseum.org.

The Bellingham National 2017 Juried Art Exhibition selected by Seattle Art Museum Curator of  Modern & Contemporary Art, Catherine Manchanda is on view through Sept. 10, 2017. It includes paintings, sculpture, photographs & other media by 28 artists from across the country. Lightcatcher Building at 250 Flora St.. 360-650-3900  or whatcommuseum.org.

“Still Working on Garbage Paintings + Learning to Paint and Draw” is the title of Portland artist Robert Dozono’s latest show at Blackfish Gallery. For years, the artist has been transforming trash collected from river fishing trips into subtle large scale images. Bucolic riverscapes from a distance reveal upon closer inspection, individual pieces of discarded consumer waste. In the other series in this show, the artist returns to what first captivated him about painting – “working outdoors, looking at objects in front of me.” These new images come from careful observation of the effects on nature of space, light and time. Sept.  5 – 29. Hours are Tu. – Sat. from 11am – 5pm.Opening Sept. 7 from 6 – 9pm. 420 NW 9^th Ave. 503-224-2634 or http://www.blackfish.com.

Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center presents “American Obon: Dancing in Joy And Remembrance”  on view through Oct. 15, 2017. The Rev. Yoshio Iwanaga introduced this tradition to many Nikkei communities along the West Coast in the 1930s and this multi-media exhibit celebrates his pioneering activities. “Oregon Nikkei: Reflections of an American Community – Japanese American Life in Oregon” is an ongoing exhibit. “Tuna Canyon Detention Station Exhibition” opens Oct. 15, 2017 and remains on view through Jan. 7, 2018. This show tells the story of a little-known temporary detention facility set up during WWII  in Southern California to hold enemy aliens considered risks to national security. Over 2000 Japanese, German, Italian and Japanese Peruvians were detained here. It has now been turned into a golf course. 121 NW Second Ave. in Portland. 503-224-1458 or go to www.oregonnikkeir.org.

Portland Japanese Garden collaborates with architect Kengo Kuma on the launch of a major expansion opening April 2, 2017. The Cultural Village expansion provides additional space and will enhance its ability to immerse visitors in traditional Japanese arts and culture. Three new Japanese gardens will be added as part of this. The garden will host major art exhibitions this year with related lectures, demonstrations and activities. “KABUKI: A Revolution in Color and Design” looks at Japan’s most flamboyant performance art through elaborate kimonos and is on view from through Sept. 3., 2017.  “Mirrors of the Mind: The Noh Masks of Otsuki Koukun” is a display of hand-carved masks by a master artisan and elegant brocade costumes from the traditional silk looms of Orinasu-kan in Kyoto set for fall. Also in development is the International Institute for Japanese Garden Arts & Culture  which will offer classes in traditional garden arts such as tea ceremony and calligraphy. This opens to the public in 2018. For more information, go to japanesegarden.com.

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria presents “Mirror With Memory”, a photo history of the Japanese Canadian community mirrored through the creative lens of the Hayashi/Kitamura/Matsubuchi Photo Studio which operated in Cumberland BC from 1912 – 1942. The images of people in the community speak to the vital contributions of Japanese Canadians to British Columbia’s social fabric. The exhibit is shown in a year which marks the 75^th anniversary of the uprooting and exile of over 22,000 Japanese Canadians from the coast of this province. The exhibit is on view through Sept. 4, 2017. “with wings like clouds hung from the sky” is an exhibit by Karen Tam on view through Sept. 4, 2017. An artist named Lee Nam was a Chinese immigrant to British Columbia at the turn of the 20^th century. He is known solely through the journals of noted Canadian painter Emily Carr. Montreal-based artist Karen Tam draws on archival research to speculate on the artistic influence and exchange between Carr and Nam. Tam re-imagines Lee Nam’s painting studio in Victoria’s Chinatown to evoke the presence of this unknown artist. 1040 Moss St. in Victoria, BC Canada. 1-250-384-4171.

On December 7, 1941 Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, launching America into war. In Canada, this action resulted in the confiscation of nearly 1,200 Japanese-Canadian owned fishing boats by Canadian officials on the British Columbia coast, which were eventually sold off to canneries and other non-Japanese fishermen. The exhibition entitled “The Lost Fleet” looks at the world of Japanese Canadian fishermen in BC and how deep-seated racism played a major part in the seizure, and sale, of Japanese Canadian property and the internment of an entire people. Curator Duncan MacLeod states   that “the history of Japanese Canadian fishermen is inextricably linked to the history of Vancouver. The city was a gateway in the Pacific for all immigrants looking to forge a brighter future for themselves.” The exhibition will showcase a series of photographs as well as several models of Japanese Canadian built fishing vessels in its collection, made by model shipbuilder, Doug Allen.  These models replicate some of the fishing boats seized during the war that have  since been lost to history. On view  through March 25, 2018. Vancouver Maritime Museum at 1905 Ogden Avenue in Vanier Park in Vancouver, BC Canada. Open Tues. – Sat. from 10am – 5pm and Sundays from noon – 5pm. Also open late on Thursday nights until 8pm. Go to https://www.vancouvermaritimemuseum.com/exhibit/lost-fleet-exhibition for more details.

The UBC Museum of Anthropology presents the following –   On view until Oct. 9, 2017 is “Traces of Words: Art and Calligraphy from Asia”, a survey of writing throughout Asia over a span of different time periods. Curated by Fuyubi Nakamura who describes the show “as the powerful duality that emerges when the written word becomes a medium or canvas.” 6393 NW Marine Dr.  in Vancouver BC. 604-822-5087 or  moa.ubc.ca.

Vancouver Art Gallery’s new public artwork by Hong Kong artist Tsang Kin-Wah will be shown at two locations through Oct. 15, 2017. These large scale compositions transform English texts to form intricate floral and animal patterns. The words are from discriminatory language that appeared in Vancouver during the 1887 anti-Chinese riots, the mid-1980’s immigration influx from Hong Kong and most recently, the heated exchanges around the foreign buyers and the local housing market. “Onsite/Offsite:Tsang Kin-Wah will be placed in the heart of downtown Vancouver at 1100 W. Georgia St. as well as on the Howe Street façade of the Gallery itself. Nov. 9, 2017 – April 15, 2018 will feature an offsite installation by New Delhi-based artist Asim Waqif which combines architecture with a strong contextual reference to contemporary urban design and the politics of occupying, intervening and using public space. The artist will repurpose debris generated from demolition sites in Vancouver, employing materials from abandoned and derelict buildings to make a new installation. Vancouver Art Gallery is  at 750 Hornby St. in Vancouver, BC Canada. 604-662-4719.

On view through Sept. 3, 2017 is “Kimono Culture”  guest-curated by Hitomi Harama which illuminates the philosophy of kimono, the art of kimono, and the environmental aspects of kimono. An ongoing exhibit is “Taiken: Japanese Canadians Since 1877” which shows the hardships of pioneers through photographs and artifacts. Nikkei National Museum. 6688 Southoaks Cres in Burnaby. 604-777-7000 or go to nikkeiplace.org

Asian Art Museum, San Francisco has the following – Opening June 23, 2017 is “Flower Power”, a group show that uncovers the hidden meanings of flowers in Asian Art.  “The Sculptural Turn – Japanese Ceramics From  The Kempner And Stein Collection” remains on view through Nov. 26, 2017.  This group  show showcases the work of fourteen Japanese clay artists who studied in universities or came to ceramics after exploring other fields. This show is significant for showing work by artists who did not come from the traditional master/student relationship but also for featuring work by women in a field usually dominated by men. “A Journey Into The Great Unknown” is on view through Oct. 29, 2017 and includes a collaboration between two Pakistani American women. Visual artist Shahzia Sikander works with playwright Ayad Akhtar. Sikander’s etchings compliment Akhtar’s colophons that explore the theme of Mi’raj, the mystical night journey of the Prophet Mohammad. On going are two installations. In front of the museum is “Dragon Fortune” by Taiwanese artist Hung Yi which meshes together Taiwanese folk art, Japanese textile design and pop art kids cartoons. In the lobby is “Collected Letters” by Liu Jianhua, a cutting edge installation of porcelain letters and fragments of Chinese characters suspended in mid-air. 200 Larkin St. 415-581-3500.

“Noguchi’s Playscapes” is an exhibition that gathers his designs for several playgrounds, stand-alone play structures and other works that, while serious in subject, employ playful elements to engage the viewer. Through Nov. 26, 2017. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) at 151 Third St. Go to [email protected] or call 415-357-4000.

“Polished to Perfection: Japanese Cloisonne – From the Collection of Donald K. Gerber & Sueann E. Sherry” on view through Feb. 4, 2018. A group show of “Chinese Snuff Bottles from Southern California Collectors” on view through Oct. 1, 2017. “Japanese Painting: A Walk in Nature” through Sept. 10, 2017.“Unexpected Light: Works by Young II Ahn” through Jan. 21, 2018. LACMA or Los Angeles County  Museum of Art. 5905 Wilshire Blvd. 323-857-6010.

The Japanese American National Museum has the following shows  – On view until August 20, 2017 will be “New Frontiers: The Many Worlds of George Takei” which looks at the life and career of Star Trek’s Mr. Sulu. 100 N. Central Ave. 213-625-0414 or go to www.janm.org/

Denver Art Museum is planning a major exhibition from their collection entitled “Linking Asia: Art, Trade, and Devotion” which will look at cross-regional and cross-cultural influences in Asian art. The works come from over 20 countries and spans 2,000 years. The show opens Dec. 17, 2017 and remains on view through April 1, 2018. 100 W. 14^th Ave. Parkway in Denver, CO. Call 720-865-5000 or go to www.denverartmuseum.org.

Yoko Ono installation entitled “Four Works for Washington and the World” on view through Sept. 17, 2017. A new Ai Weiwei project which includes a large-scale lego installation “TRACE”  originally  commissioned in 2014 for a project on Alcatraz Island includes 176 portraits of individuals the artist considers activists, prisoners of conscience or advocates of free speech and a 700-foot graphic work  entitled “The Plain Version of the Animal That Looks Like a Llama But Is Really An Alpaca.”  Opens June 28 at the  Hirshhorn in Washington DC.  Open daily except for Christmas from 10am – 5:30pm. National Mall  at the corner of 7^th St. SW & Independence Ave.  202-633-1000 or go to [email protected].

The Asia Society Museum in New York presents the following – “Masterpieces from the Asia Society Museum Collection” through July 20, 2018. Opening Sept. 8 and on view through Jan. 21, 2018 is “After Darkness – Southeast Asian Art in The Wake of History.” “In Focus: An Assembly of Gods” is on view from Sept. 26 – March 25, 2018. 725 Park Ave. New York City, New York. 212-327-9721 or go to www.asiasociety.org for more details.

“Comme des Garcons – Art of the In-Between” looks at the work of Japanese fashion designer Rei Kawakubo with approximately 150 examples of her work from the 1980s to her more recent designs. Through Sept. 4, 2017.  Metropolitan  Museum of Art. 1000 Fifth Ave. in New York City. 1-800-662-3397 or go to www.metmuseum.org.

“Ian Cheng: Emissaries” looks at the complete series of video installations presented sequentially in three parts  by this young artist through Sept. 25, 2017. MoMA PS1 on Long Island City, New York. 22-25 Jackson Ave. Hours are Th. – Mon. from noon – 6pm. 718-784-2084 or [email protected].

In the 16^th century, four Japanese boys were sent to the princely and papal courts of Europe. It was the first global age of religion, commerce and politics. Photographer/architect Hisroshi Sugimoto looks at the sites these early Japanese youths saw and captures it in the exhibition entitled “Gates of Paradise.” Shown in two parts. Part 1 opens Oct. 20, 2017 and remains on view through Nov. 17, 2017. Part 2 is on view from Nov. 21, 2017 – Jan. 7, 2018. At The Japan Society. 333 E. 47^th St. 212-715-1258 or go to japansociety.org.

Anna Sui  became the first living American fashion designer to be the focus of a retrospective when an exhibition of her work opened in May at London’s Fashion & Textile Museum. This Chinese American designer from Detroit came to the fore in the 1990’s with her “grunge” collection. Her signature style always combines a clash of references from various eras, such as vintage, glamour and cutting edge. The exhibition remains on view through October, 2017.

“Good Fences Make Good Neighbors” is the title of Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei’s latest project which will build over 100 fences around New York City. Inspired by the international migration crisis and political turmoil facing the US government’s policy on immigration. Commissioned by the Public Art Fund.

“Self-Interned, 1942” tells the story of American artist Isamu Noguchi who voluntarily went to Poston War Relocation Center where Japanese Americans were interned during WW II with the idea to improve conditions with art and design. He made small pieces of driftwood sculpture. His efforts came to naught and he petitioned to be released.  His time spent here however may have proven to be a catalyst for future work. On view through January 7, 2018. Noguchi Museum in New York. 718-204-7088 or go to nogiuchi.org for details.

“The World Is Sound” is an intriguing exhibit curated by Risha Lee to absorb art not only with the eyes but the ears. Music washes over the viewer on the staircase up to the sixth floor. Contemporary audio and visual installations also add to fill up the sound next to objects from the Tibetan collection.  Through January 8, 2018. Rubin Museum  of Art in New York. 150 West 17^th St. 212-620-5000 or email [email protected].

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago presents the first full-length career retrospective of Japanese pop culture artist Takashi Murakami entitled “The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg.” On view through  Sept. 24, 2017.  220 E. Chicago Ave. 312-280-2660 or email [email protected].

To celebrate the 10^th anniversary of The Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the city of Philadelphia plans a year long series of public art installation as activities. The celebration will include an outdoor installation by artist Cai Guo-Qiang Sept. 14 – Oct. 8. The artist plans to light up the Parkway with “Fireflies” which will consist of twenty-seven luminous kinetic sculptures in the form of free pedicabs that will move through the area. Participants can experience the Parkway by riding inside the sculptures as passengers. Qiang has previously done work in the city back in December of 2009 with his “Fallen Blossoms” explosion project at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Fabric Workshop.

The Art Institute of Chicago presents the following. “Batik Textiles of Java” explores the richly patterned wax-resist textiles known as batiks, their  flourishing in the Indonesian island of Java, and their inspirations and functions. On view through  Sept. 17, 2017. 111 South Michigan Ave. 312-443-3600.

Berlin-based Japanese installation artist Chiharu Shiota just had a solo installation entitled “Infinity Lines” at the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia. She views her massive installations as “drawings in space” This particular piece was comprised of a labyrinthine network of  red yarn intertwined with household objects and the stories they tell. 601 Turner Blvd. 912-525-7191.

An Te Liu has recycled materials such as t-shirts, air purifiers and sponges in his past work. In his current show entitled “Transmission” he recasts the plastic foam packaging designed to cushion electronics and other goods into sleek, elegant sculpture.  Was on view at Anat Ebgi Gallery in early July. Go to www.anatebgi.com for details. Excerpted from the Los Angeles Times.

Architectural firm XL-Muse in their interior design for a branch of the Chinese bookstore chain Zhongshuge in Hangzhou have created a wormhole space lined with shelves of books. Excerpted from Melville House.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) has a new feature called “Send Me” which allows anyone to text a request to see something from their vast collection at any time. Give a topic and text 572-51 and you will receive a picture of art in return. Try ‘Send Me SFMOMA.” When you text the # with the words “send me” followed by a key word, a color or even an emoji, you’ll receive a related artwork/image and caption via text message. Go to sfmoma.org for details.

The Paris-based museum, the Centre Pompidou will open an off-shoot branch in Shanghai with more than 20 exhibitions drawn from the holdings of the Beaubourg Gallery due to be shown in the spaced called Le Centre Pompidou Shanghai. It will occupy a wing of the New West Bund Art Museum designed by UK architect David Chipperfield. The Pompidou satellite opens in early 2019. Excerpted from The Art Newspaper.

Performing Arts

When playwright Laureen Yee’s father, a driving force in the Yee Family Association goes missing, she must plunge down the rabbit hole of San Francisco’s Chinatown to find him. “King of the Yees” is an epic joyride across cultural, national and familial borders to discover what it truly means to be a Yee. Directed by Desdemona Chiang.  On stage Sept. 8 – Oct. 1,  2017. ACT Theatre. 700  Union St. 206-292-7676  or [email protected].

Local singer/songwriter Tomo Nakayama has an album release party/performance for his new release entitled “Pieces of Sky” on Sat., Sept. 9, 2017 at 8pm. Opening are Led to Sea and Mr. & Mrs. Muffins. Fremont Abbey Arts at 4272 Fremont Ave. N. in Seattle’s  upper Fremont neighborhood. Call 206-414-8325 from 11am – 3pm for details.

Degenerate Art Ensemble premiere a new performance piece as a duo along with Mizu Desierto from Portland on Sept. 23 & 24 at The Grocery. For tickets and information, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/degenerate-art-ensemble-and-mizu-desierto-at:the-grocery-tickets-37014916612.

The Kitsap Forest Theater presents  “Tarzan – The Stage Musical” with music by Phil Collins and book by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang. Local Seattle actress/singer Lani Smith is in the cast. Performances on four weekends at 2pm. Dates are  August  19 & 20. The theatre is a 15 minute drive from the Bremerton Ferry dock. For tickets, call 206-521-6001 or go to forestheater.com or get them at the door. 3000 Seabeck  Highway in Bremerton. Go to www.ForestTheater.com for details.

Meet South Korea’s first astronaut who launched off into space back in 2008. She talks about her experience in space on Sat., August 26 at 1pm with Q&A to follow. The Magnolia Branch of the Seattle Public Library at 2801 – 34^th Ave. W. 206-386-4225.

Kogut Butoh presents “Wandering & Wondering”, a yearly event that brings members of the Seattle Butoh dance community to interact with gardens around the region.  Look for DAIPANbutoh to do live performances in area gardens throughout the summer accompanied by a soundscape of percussion, woodwinds and strings. On August 26, catch them at Bellevue Botanical Garden from 1 – 2pm. 12001 Main St. in Bellevue.

The internationally beloved classic Puccini opera “Madame Butterfly” like Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Mikado” has come into criticism these days for racist stereotypes. Seattle Opera’s rendition of the brief romance between an American and the geisha he leaves behind comes with educational opportunities for dialogue on this complex subject. There will be an exhibit in the lobby about the trials of American imperialism in Asian countries. Another forum is “Asian American Partners Inspire New Understanding of Madame Butterfly” August 5 – 19 at 9am and 3pm. Performances August  16, 18 &19, 2017. Evenings at 7:30pm Sundays at 2pm. In Italian  with English subtitles. 206-389-7676 or go to seattleopera.org/butterfly. If you are under 40, snag a half-off discount by going to seattleopera.org/under40. 321 Mercer  St. Seattle Opera also brings a return appearance of “An American Dream”  to Washington Hall September 7 – 17 at Washington Hall. This community-based chamber opera played to sold-out audiences in 2015. It is inspired by true stories from our region’s history and set during WW II, this opera explores the lives of two Puget Sound women: a Japanese American forced to leave her home and a German Jewish immigrant preoccupied by those who left behind. There will be a video to view presented by DENSHO and a post-show Q&A presented by the Seattle JACL after each performance. Thursdays and  Fridays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. If you use the promo code DREAMPRESALE and get your tickets early, you may be eligible for a community discount. Go to seattleopera.org/americandream or call 206-389-7676. Washington Hall is located at 153 – 14^th Ave. There will be several post-show discussion panels after some performances. More information is available at seattleopera.org/americandream.

“Hai! Japantown x Mahouto Market takes place  on Sat., August 26 at Nagomi Tea House from noon to 8pm. This special pop-up shopping event with local Seattle businesses helps promote Seattle’s Japantown. Here you will find Seattle and Northwest artists who are inspired by Japanese culture. Handmade  arts & crafts on sale. 519 – 6^th Ave. S.

Kawabe SummerFest! 2017 is a free event which features a street fair with delicious food, live music, dancing, children’s activities and raffles. Set for  Sunday, August 27. 221 – 18^th Ave. 206-322-4550.

“Eclipsed!” is an old-timey theatrical radio  variety show which includes a guest  musical appearance by Pratidhwani plus play excerpts and slam poets. August 28 at ACT Theatre.

Composer/percussionist Paul Kikuchi participates in an end-of-summer series of musical improvisations/meditation hosted by Seattle French horn player/composer Tom Varner on Tuesday, August 31 at 8pm. Wayward Music Series at the Chapel Performance Space at Good Shepherd Center on the 4^th floor at 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N. in Wallingford. Go to [email protected] for details.

For a few years now, actress/playwright/performance artist Sara Porkalob has been cracking people up with her piece based on her eccentric family with a myriad of characters in “Dragon Lady.” Now she presents her most comprehensive version ever in an Intiman Theatre production directed by Andrew Russell. This version is a musical with a live band. In it, Porkalob portrays multiple family members from three generations in a plot that includes gangsters, murders and hilarity. Set to be on stage at the Jones Playhouse at the University of Washington from Sept. 5 – Oct. 1, 2017. Go to http://www.intiman.org/dragon-lady/  or email [email protected] for details.

Seattle Repertory Theatre presents its groundbreaking participatory theatre program entitled “PUBLIC WORKS SEATTLE” in which they employ the services of five Seattle-area community organizations in a massive  musical production of Homer’s “The Odyssey” that hits the stage at Bagley Wright Theatre Sept. 8 – 10, 2017 for four performances. Over the past 18 months, community members have been doing  workshops which culminated in auditions. Nearly 90 community members will perform with four professional actors and 9 regional cameo groups as directed by Seattle Rep Associate Artistic Director Marya Sea Kaminski.  Adaptation/music/new  lyrics by Todd Almond. Original concept &  direction by Lear deBessonet. Tickets are free to the public but seating  is limited. Available online  on Aug.  21, 2017 or by  calling Seattle Rep Box Office at 206-443-2222.

The Steve Griggs Ensemble will premiere a new program honoring John T. Williams in stories and music on August 30 at 6pm at the Williams Memorial Totem Pole at the corner of 5^th Ave. and Broad St. It explores the 2010 shooting of the indigenous carver by a Seattle police officer. Free. The group will also perform free concerts on Saturdays at 1pm  all with Northwest themes. All shows at amphitheater of Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park. Concerts are on August 19 (“Listen to Seattle –about the Duwamish Tribe & River with James Rasmussen) and August 26  is “A Cup of Brazil” about the Detroit saxophonist Joe Brazil who taught at UW and played with John Coltrane in Seattle. Sept. 9 is”Blues for John T. Williams.”  Sept. 16 “Sound in Stone” featuring poetry by sculptor James Washington as sung by Bernie Jacobs. Sept. 23 is “Panama Hotel Jazz” about Japanese American internment during WWII. Go to http://www.stevegriggsmusic.com for details. 2100 S. Jackson St.

Mabuhay Majesty is a new full-length play by local playwright Robert Francis Flor. It will be staged at the Rainier Arts Center on Fri., Sept. 29 & Sat., Sept. 30 at 7pm. The play is set in the early 1960’s Seattle when two Filipino American teenagers are encouraged by their parents to participate in the Seattle Filipino Community Queen Contest, a tradition the girls reject as old fashioned and humiliating. The play explores the confict traditional societies face when transistioning into modern society and examines the adaptation of immigrants to life in America. Directed by Eloisa Cardona with a cast that includes Manny Golez, Linda Rigor, Laurie Rocello Torres, Roxie Torres, Ezra Sarmiento and Matt Dela Cruz. Sponsored by the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. 3515 South Alaska St. For details email [email protected].

August 26-27 Seattle Center Festal presents the annual Tibet Fest at Seattle Center Armory and Fisher Rooftop. Free. Help make a sand mandala, learn about herbal medicine. Also food and music and  cultural arts & crafts displays from this vibrant culture. Go to washingtontibet.org for details.

Luise Greger Women in Music Celebration 2017 is a chance to hear women performers playing the music of women composers. Takes place Aug. 25 at 7pm at Noorlag Salon in Oak Harbor, Aug. 26 at 7pm at Henny Home in Langley and Aug. 27 at 2pm at Ballard Homestead in Seattle. Soprano Fumi Tagata performs with other musicians. Go to www.islandconsort.org or call 360-320-2362 for details.

eSeTeatro with ACTLab present “The Construction Zone”, readings of four new plays by contemporary Latino and Latin American authors. Each of these four plays have been selected from the body of work of leading contemporary Latino and Latin American playwrights that have been produced nationally and internationally. Performed and directed by local professional artists, each reading will be followed by a post-show discussion. One of these plays will get a full production in the 2018 season. September 8 is “Hushabye by Tanya Saracho as directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton. September 15 is “Modern Slave” by Elaine Romero as directed by  Kathy Hsieh. September 22 is “The Journey of the Saint (El Viaje De La Santa)” by Cesar de Maria as directed and translated by Rose Cano. September 29 is “Querencia (an imagined autobiography of forbidden fruits) by Benjamin Benne as directed by Pilar O’Connell. Of particular interest to Examiner readers is “Modern Slave” by Elaine Romero. A woman finds a hand-scrawled note from a Chinese sweatshop worker in the lining of her designer coat. She sets off on a passionate journey to free him. This quest takes her down a rabbit hole of globalization and into the complicated world of modern slavery hidden in plain sight. Kathy Hsieh, actress and co-founder of SIS Productions directs. Tickets start at $10. 700 Union St. 206-292-7676 or go to www.acttheatre.org for details.

Seattle Symphony and Conductor Ludovic Morlot have issued the schedule for their 2017-2018 season. Some highlights include the following – “Celebrate Asia” this time around is conducted by DaYe Lin with  sitar player Nishat Khan and Seattle erhu virtuoso Warren Chang. Kazuki Yamada will make a Seattle debut as guest conductor. A two-concert festival of Prokofiev features rising star pianists Nathan Lee, Charlie Albright and Conrad Tao with violinists Sophie Lee & William Hagen. Subscription packages available now and single tickets on sale August 5, 2017. Go to www.seattlesymphony.org for details.

The Meany Center For The Performing Arts has released their 2017/2018  schedule. Some of the many highlights include the following – The popular return of the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre Of Taiwan led by founder Lin Hwai Min with a new work entitled “Formosa – (beautiful island)” which uses gesture, script, song and other elements from the landscape and history of his native Taiwan. Thurs. – Sat. on March 22 – 24, 2018 at 8pm. The Juilliard String Quartet with Joseph Lin in the lead violin chair performs on Thurs., Nov. 9 2017 at 7:30pm. Calidore String Quartet with David Finckel and Wu Han perform on Tues., April 24 , 2018 at 7:30pm. “Feathers Of Fire – A Persian Epic” updates the classic shadow play traditions of Asia & the Near East with cinematic “live animation” shadow-casting actors and puppets along with projected imagery in the magical tale of star-crossed lovers from the 10^th century Persian epic “Shahnameh (The Book of Kings)” set for Wed., March 14, 2018 at 8pm. With  an original score by Loga Ramin Torkian & Azam Ali. All concerts at Meany Center located on the Seattle campus of the University of Washington. Series tickets  on sale now. Single tickets go on sale on August 1, 2017.  You can order online at meanycenter.org or call 206-543-4880 or visit the ticket office at 41^st Street between  University Way NE & Brooklyn Ave. NE. tickets available via FAX too at 206-685-4141.

Exciting news for lovers of  world music and classic Indian percussion. Noted Indian tabla master/composer Zakir Hussain will be the the “Visiting Artist” for the UW Ethnomusicology program this year and will appear in concert on campus on Nov. 19, 2017.

Sara Porkalob will  star in “Howl’s Moving Castle: A New Musical by Diana Wynne Jones” set for Book-It Repertory Theatre’s 2017-2018 season set for Nov. 29 – Dec. 30, 2017. It will be adapted and directed by Myra Platt. Music and lyrics by actor/musician/composer  Justin Huertas. Many will be familiar with Studio Ghibli’s film adaptation of this story originally written by Jones. 300 Harrison St. at Seattle Center. 206-216-0833 or email [email protected].

“Persuasion” is a new musical based on Jane Austen’s novel. Novelist, playwright and screenwriter Harold Taw wrote the book and Chris Jeffries supplied the music & lyrics. It had a staged reading at The 5^th Avenue Theatre’s Next Fest Festival of New Work and a workshop reading at Texas Musical Theatre Workshop. It will have its world premiere at Taproot Theatre through  August 19. 204 N. 85^th St. in Seattle. 206-781-9707.

Crossroads Bellevue, the Eastside’s live music venue presents free live performances every weekend. On the 2^nd Saturday of every month at 5:30pm is 2^nd Saturday Family Night with free kid-friendly music performances. On the 3^rd Saturday of every month at 6:30pm is Northwest Folklife which presents diverse, family-friendly cultural arts performances. To see the schedule, go to crossroadsbellevue.com. 15600 NE 8^th in Bellevue. 425-644-1111.

Playwright Laureen Yee has a Seattle World Premiere of her play “The Great Leap” set for March 23 – April 22, 2018 at Seattle Repertory Theatre. The company shares this world premiere with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts Theatre Company. The plot revolves around Beijing University basketball coach Wen Chang and Manford, a young rough-around-the edges basketball talent from San Francisco’s Chinatown and how their worlds intersect. At the Leo K. Theatre. 155 Mercer St. Box Office # is 206-443-2222.

Bruddah Waltah known in the Islands as the “Godfather of Hawaiian Reggae” performs during Uwajimaya’s Polynesian Festival, two days of live performances, hula, Hawaiian style food, shave ice, eating contests and more. Catch Bruddah Waltah on Sat., August 19 at the Renton store and again on Sun., August 20 at the Beaverton store in Oregon. Go to www.uwajimaya.com for details.

Third Angle New Music presents a series entitled “Japanese Music Now” at 7:30pm on Tuesday – Sept. 19, Wed. – Sept 20 and Thurs. – Sept. 21. Explore the peace of the Portland Japanese Garden while you listen to contemporary Japanese music performed by musicians throughout the landscape. The world premiere of a newly commissioned work by composer Dai Fujikura highlights an assortment of compositions by Toshi Ichiyanagi, Sato Kosugi and Komiji Sakai. 611 SW Kingston. Single tickets go on sale August 1, 2017. Go to app.arts-people.com or email [email protected] for more information.

A Filipino Music Festival takes place on August 26 at 7pm with some of the biggest names in Filipino music including Joey Albert, Nonoy Zuniga, Fe de los Reyes, Eva Caparas and Jet Montelibano. 21 and  older. Spirit Mountain Casino at 27100 SW Salmon River Highway in Grand Ronde, Oregon. 1-800-760-7977 or visit www.spiritmountain.com  for details.

PICA presents a series of performance works during early September in various venues around Portland.  Takahiro Yamamoto performs “Direct Path To Detour, Single Focus” Sept. 8, 9 &15&16 at 6:30pm. The dancer seeks to evoke mental and physical stats that arise at the intersection of multiple value systems, social pressure, expectation, personal experiences and body memory. Yamamoto is originally from Shizuoka, Japan and now based in Portland. At Pica at West End at 415 SW 10^th Ave. #300. Dohee Lee – Puri Arts showcases a one-woman performance of “Shaman”. Using wireless sensors to control technology and seamlessly integrate sound, film and animation with her exquisite live performance of dance singing and percussion, this performer creates a special world of sound and movement.  Lee was born on Jeju Island, Korea and trained at the master level in music and dance traditions of Korean shamanism. Since 1998, she has been based in Oakland, CA, creating a new art form and has since developed into a genre-defying composer, choreographer and performer. Fri., Sept. 8 and Sat.,Sept. 9 at 6:30pm. Portland’5:Winningstad Theatre at 1111 SW Broadway. Inuit singer/performer/throat-singer  Taya Tagaq performs “Retribution” Sept. 15 & 16 at Lincoln Hall, PSU Performance Hall at 1620 SW Park Ave. at 8:30pm. You can reach PICA at 503-242-1419 or go to [email protected].

“Allegiance”, the Broadway musical inspired by actor George Takei’s childhood in internment camp during WWII will come to Los Angeles Feb. 21 – April 1, 2018 with previews from Feb. 21 – 25. East West Players and the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center will co-sponsor the production set for the JACCC’s Aratani Theatre in Little Tokyo. No word yet on whether the production will include the original cast but George Takei will reprise his role. For updates, visit East West Players website.

Tenor singer Mario Chang makes his Santa Fe Opera debut in the role of Edgardo in Donizetties Lucia de Lammermoor as directed by Ron Daniels.

Seattle trumpeter Cuong Vu and Jazz Studies instructor at UW has released a new recording recorded live on the Seattle UW campus. Entitled “Ballet: The Music of Michael Gibbs” (Rarenoise) by the Cuong Vu 4tet, the recording features special guest, guitarist Bill Frisell. The music was performed as part of a larger orchestral two-night set of shows on campus. Frisell studied with the composer early in his career.

A new opera “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” had a world premiere at the Santa Fe Opera recently with an enthusiastic opening reception from the crowd. The part of Kobun Chino  Otogawa, Jobs’s spiritual advisor was filled by Chinese bass singer, Wei Wu. This is a co-production with the Seattle Opera and the San Francisco Opera. It will be part of Seattle Opera’s 2018/19 season. Tickets will be on sale in early 2018 for the Seattle venue.

Nonesuch Records have released a new album of Bach works entitled “Bach Trios” with  cellist Yo Yo Ma, mandolinist Chris Thile and bassist Edgar Meyer. The album is comprised of works by J. S. Bach originally written for keyboard instruments. The three have worked together before on “The Goat Rodeo Sessions” with Stuart Duncan which netted them two Grammy Awards.

Prosecutors in Seoul have dropped alleged embezzlement charges against Myun Whun Chung, former music director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. Under his leadership, he brought the Orchestra to world prominence. The investigation was brought forth by a former chief executive of the orchestra The dropping of the case may be connected to a recent regime change in South Korea. Meanwhile, Chung is now planning to start a new orchestra in the country for younger musicians aged 19 – 28. In addition Chung is forming a One Korea Orchestra in the hope that musicians from the North will be allowed to join. Concerts are planned in Seoul in August. Excerpted from Slipped Disc.

K-Pop super star G-Dragon has embarked on a world tour which he kicked off in Seattle in July. His work blends hip hop with EDM, R&B and pop.

Classical pianist George Li has been awarded the Arthur Waser Foderpreis  2017 which nets him a cash prize and a debut with the Lucerne Symphony. The Paris-based Warner Classics label has signed him to a recording contract and will issue his debut recording entitled “Live At The Marllinsky” in Oct., 2017. Excerpted from Slipped Disc.

“The Plain of Jars” is a new chamber opera by Keith Patchel inspired by Fred Branfman’s “Voices from The Plain of Jars.” The opera opens at New York University’s Impact Festival with Xi Yang as Gaia And Clara Francesca as Manipulate CIA Agent. From 1964 to 1969 the U.S. military dropped more than two million tons of munitions over the Laotian Plain of Jars. To this day, land mines planted in Laos are a present danger to civilian lives. The score is a collage of synthesizer, keyboard and computer samples, many of them taken from local ethnic and tribal music. The press release states, “It recalls the story of limitless American ambition to create a war for the sake of war.” “The Plain of Jars” had performances July 27, 28 & 29 at NYU’s Blackbox Theatre. Excerpted from Arts Journal.

California-based jazz drummer Akira Tana and his group Otonowa have released a second benefit album entitled “Stars Across The Ocean” (Sons of Sound) for the communities struck by the 2011 Great Eastern Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan. The group toured the area hit hardest by the disaster and played for local citizens earlier. For details, go to sonofsound.com.

The Newport Jazz Festival adds a new musical wrinkle to its line-up this year with “A Bridge Together” connecting Jazz, African beats and Indian Carnatic music. This pre-Newport event features dance segments by 17-year old twins, Riya and Sara Kapoor, accompanied by a Carnatic Music Orchestra. Guruswati Bhise is the conductor and choreographer for this segment. The Jazz Quartet  is led by guitarist Rez Abbasi. The West African compositions directed by noted West African choreographer and dancer Maguette Camara will round out the evening.

Jay-Z’s label, Roc Nation has signed Korean pop artist Jay Park, Park is a record producer, rapper, dancer and former member of the boyband 2PM.  Park hails from Edmonds, Washington. He was once part of Seattle-based b-boy crew Art of Movement (AOM). After high school, he moved to Korea and became a superstar.

“Four Nights of Dream” takes four stories from Japanese author Natsume Soseki’s book “Ten Nights of Dream” and turns it into a contemporary chamber opera using New York vocalists and Tokyo instrumentalists on Sept. 13, 15 & 16 at 7:30pm. Other programming is a continuation of the series  “NOH-NOW” which looks at how contemporary artists continue to draw inspiration from Japan’s ancient Noh traditions. Performances by  various groups Oct. 13 7 14, Nov. 3, 4 & 5, Dec. 7,8 & 9  and Jan. 11, 12, 13 & 14. Japan Society in New York. 333 E. 47^th St. 212-715-1258 or go to japansociety.org for details.

Film & Media

“Gook” directed, written and staring Justin Chon recently screened at the Seattle International Film Festival. Now it returns for its regular run. The film tells the story of two Korean American brothers who own a struggling shoe store in L.A.’s Koreatown and their unlikely friendship with a street-wise 11 year old African American girl and the chaos that swirls around them all after the riots following the Rodney King verdict. Opens August 25 at the Regal Meridian 16 downtown. 1501 – 7^th Ave. 844-462-7342.

The folks at SIFF continue their trail-blazing schedule of new and provocative films with the following. At the SIFF Uptown –Opening August 18 is “In This Corner of The World”, an animated feature-length film directed by Sunao Katabuchi who previously worked on projects with Takahata and Miyazaki at Ghibli Studios. This film, based on a popular manga by Fumiyo Kono tells the story of a young girl who lives to draw and her life in Kure and Hiroshima before, during and after WWII. This film features beautifully rendered, hand-drawn figures and hand-painted watercolor backdrops. At the SIFF Film Center is the following. A new print of the classic “Taipei Story” by the late Edward Yang, one of the important directors of Taiwan’s New Wave Cinema gets a rare screening from August 19 – 20. Before returning to Taiwan to began his film career, Yang studied locally at UW. “Propaganda in Film 2” is part of the SIFF Education Series and explores the contemporary relevance of four films from France, China, India and Great Britian  which were designed or had the effect of influencing public opinion for a specific purpose. Screens on four Wednesdays Oct. 25 – Nov. 15. Go to siff.org for details.

The Northwest Film Forum continues its adventuresome programming as a film and community center for Capitol Hill with the following events. Seattle artist Etsuko Ichikawa will be co-curating with NWFF, a collection of short films by NOddln, a Tokyo-based filmmakers collective set for August 18, 2017.  This is a rare opportunity to see what short documentary films with a political bent have been produced since the tsunami and nuclear disaster. There will be a 4 – 6pm pre-screening discussion with the film collective and the screening takes place from 7 – 10pm.  “Harmonium”  by Kenji Fukuda looks at how an old acquaintance recently released from prison inserts himself into the  lives of a factory worker and his supposedly normal family wrecking havoc along the way. A Cannes Award-winner staring Tadanobu Asano as the human monkey wrench. Northwest Film Forum at 1515 – 12^th Ave. 206 – 329 – 2629.

“Pop Aye” is a film by Kirsten Tan and is a co-production of Thailand & Singapore. A successful Bangkok architect in a mid-life crisis is reunited with an elephant he knew growing up. Together they embark on a road trip to the man’s childhood home in the countryside. Along the way as the bond between man and animal deepens, they meet an unusual cast of characters. A hit at  the Sundance and Rotterdam Film Festivals. “Pop Aye” screens through  August 17. A Pork Filled Productions Fundraiser screening of sci-fi classic film, “Attack The Block 9” directed by Joe Cornish takes place on Sat., August 26 at 8pm. This funny, frightening action/adventure film pits a teen street gang against an invasion of savage alien monsters. Stars John Boyega and Jodie Whittaker. Tickets are $15 plus unlimited popcorn.  A portion of all ticket sales will help fund Prok Filled Productions play readying festival “Unleased! – New Pulp Stories for the 21^st Century” which will feature exciting new genre plays by playwrights of color. For details, email [email protected]. Pork Filled Productions is a theater company whose mission is to develop new work and by producing plays that reflect the diversity of Asian American stories and imaginations. All screenings at  Grand Illusion Cinema in the University District. 1403 N.E. 50^th St. 206-523-3935.

Available on Netflix now is “Daughters of Destiny: The Journey of Shanti Bhavan” directed by Academy Award-winner Vanessa Roth and scored by A. R. Rahman. This four-part docuseries depicts how Bhavan’s revolutionary educational model empowers five young women to break the cyle of poverty. Go to www.shantibhavenchildren.org for details.

Screenings of some of  classic films from Ghibli Studio will be taking place throughout the year. “Castle in the Sky” plays August 27 (English dubbed) and August 28 (English subtitled) both at 12:55pm.

“Lupin The 3^rd – The Castle of Cagliostro” was co-written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and made its feature film debut in 1979. It will be screened on Thursday, September 14 (English dubbed) and September 19 (English subtitled) both at 12:55pm.. “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind screens September 24 (English dubbed) and September 25 (English dubtitled) both at 12:55pm. “Spirited Away” screens October 29 (English dubbed) and October 30 (English subtitled) both at 12:55pm. “Howl’s Moving Castle plays November 26 (English dubbed) and November 27 (English dubbed) both at 12:55pm. Tickets can be purchased online starting Friday, August 18. All screenings locally at the Varsity Theatre in the  University District. For full details on screenings in your area, go to www.FathomEvents.com for details.

Tasveer announces their 12^th Annual Tasveer South Asian Film Festival with a special focus on Nepal set for Oct. 6 – 15, 2017 screening at various sites around the Puget Sound. Over 45 films will be shown with 10 from Nepal alone. Tickets go on sale on Sept. 6, 2017. Go to tasveer.org for complete details.

FILM MOVEMENT celebrates its 15^th Anniversary with a spate of home entertainment  DVD releases of recent films, some of which played the recent Seattle International Film Festival. August sees the release of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “After The Storm.” Other releases include Yang Zhang’s Tibetan-set epic Western-style action drama, “Soul On A String” as well as a blu-ray release of Takeshi Kitano’s classic crime drama, “Hana-Bi (Fireworks).”

“Green Gold” is a new documentary film by John D. Liu in which he documents large-scale ecosystem restoration projects in China, Africa, South America and the Middle East, highlighting the benefits for people and the planet of undertaking these events globally. Available  for screening online.

Studio Ghibli which produces many award-wining animation films already has a museum in Tokyo but plans are underway now for a “Ghibli Park” with an opening date set for 2020. Attractions will be modeled after such film characters as Totoro, Laputa and Naussica. There will be a Howl’s Moving Castle and of course,  there will be a Cat Bus monorail to take visitors around the park.

American TV viewers in love with K-Pop and K-Drama just got a big boost. Kocowa will offer U.S. audiences access to Korean TV programs from all three major Korean broadcasters as soon as six hours after they’ve aired in Korea. The service will compete directly with DramaFever, the Korean entertainment streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Excerpted from Artsjournal.

The Written Arts

Elliott Bay Book Company presents a series of readings and events. All readings at the bookstore unless noted otherwise. Fifty years ago, urban rebellions erupted in Detroit and other cities across America as social movements advanced all over the world. Scott Kurashige, author of “The Fifty Year Rebellion: How the U.S. Political Crisis Began in Detroit: (UC Press) and Michael Hardt, author with Antonio Negri of “Multitude: War And Democracy in the New Age of Empire”  (Penguin) address and analyze the structural crisis provoked by the 1960’s and draw lessons for our nation’s future. This reading is co-sponsored by Seattle Public Library and takes place on Wed., August 16 at 7pm.  S. Shankar who directs the Creative Writing department at the University of Hawai’i will read from his new novel entitled “Ghost in the Tamarind” (UH Press) which tells the story of a couple who struggle against colonialism and the prejudices in their own communities that threaten to destroy them. Set amidst several crucial eras in India’s history. On Tues., Sept. 12 at 6:30pm at the Capitol Hill Branch of the Seattle Public Library at 425 Harvard Ave. E. Co-presented by Seattle Public Library. 206-684-4715 or go to www.spl.org.  Barbara Johns talks with Tom Ikeda of Densho about her book, “The Hope of Another Spring” (UW Press) detailing the life of a Northwest  Japanese American artist and his diary and sketches on internment camp life on Sept. 13 at 7pm. Co-sponsored by Densho, EB and the Seattle Public Library. Both of the above events take place  at the  Central Public Library at 1000 Fourth Ave. downtown.  “Words on Water: Shashi Tharoor & Friends” appear on Tues., Sept. 19. Due to the renovation of Seattle Asian Art Museum, this annual roundtable of South Asian writers takes place this year on the East Side at Bellevue Arts Museum instead. Co-hosted by the Gardner Center For Asian Arts & Ideas with Elliott Bay Book Co. and Teamwork Arts.  Tharoor is a noted author, politician and international civil servant (at the United Nations). His most recent book is “An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India (Aleph). Names of the other South Asian writers to appear have not yet been announced. For details go to sponsor websites www.elliottbaybook.com,  www.seattleartmuseum.org or www.bellevuearts.org. The Bellevue Arts Museum is located at 510 Bellevue Way NE.  Local author Bharti Kirchner is interviewed by mystery writer Curt Colbert about her new detective novel “Season of Sacrifice : A Maya Mallick Mystery” (Severn House Publishers) at the bookstore on Sept. 20 at 7pm. On Oct. 10, Rakesh Satyal reads from “No One Can Pronounce My Name” (Picador), her comic novel about loneliness in the mid-west and immigrant outsiders who struggle to fit in with not only society-at-large but their  own families.   Khizr Khan is remembered for his stirring speech at the National Democratic Convention speaking as a parent of a Muslim American son killed in action in the Middle East. He will be speaking on Dec. 8, 2017. Khan is the author of two new books.  “This Is Our Constitution”  (Knopf Books for Young Readers) written for young adults  to familiarize them with the US Constitution and “An American Family” (Penguin/Random House) which is a memoir.  Seattle-raised poet/writer Paisley Rekdal makes a welcome return on the heels of two new published books – a volume of poetry entitled “Imaginary Vessels” which is nominated for a Washington State Book Award and “The Broken Country”, a meditation in prose of the ramifications of the Vietnam war on America’s culture and psyche. She reads at the bookstore on Nov. 16, 2017. Elliott Bay Book Company is at 1521 Tenth Ave. in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. 206-624-6600.

The Seattle poetry landmark bookstore Open Books continues to shine and prosper under new owner Billie Swift. Besides being one of the few bookstores in the country to stock poetry and nothing but poetry, they have a hot line-up of readings year around as well. August 31 brings noted poet Hoa Nguyen doing a free reading at 7pm. She will also conduct a writing workshop using “Tarot as Entity Matrix” at 4pm. Call the bookstore to pre-register & pay for the workshop.  Sept. 26 brings new-to-Seattle poet Ryo Yamaguchi who reads from “The Refusal of Suitors” (Noemi Press) and Mark Tardi from Poland where he reaches at the University of Lodz. He has translated contemporary Polish poetry. He is the author of “The Circus of Trust” and other books. Sept. 29 the store hosts Meghan McClure and Michael Schmeltzer who have collaborated on a work of creative non-fiction entitled “A Single Throat Opens” (Black Lawrence Press). All readings at 7pm. 2414 N. 45^th St. in  Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood. 206-633-0811.

Poetry Northwest, one of the oldest literary magazines in the area celebrates recent issues of their magazine with a group reading by a few contributing writers including Alan Chong Lau. Tues., Sept. 12 at 7pm. Phinney Books at 7405 Greenwood Ave. N. 206-297-2665.

The University Book Store has these events planned at their various branches. Barbara Johns, Northwest art historian talks about her book about a Seattle Japanese artist and his WWII internment camp diary of art and writing in “The Hope of Another Spring” (UW Press) on Thurs., Sept. 21 at 7pm in the Tacoma branch located at 1754 Pacific Ave. in downtown Tacoma.  253-692-4300 or [email protected].   On Sept. 23 at 2pm, catch author June Jo Lee as she talks about her children’s book entitled “Chef Roy Choi And the Street Food Remix” (Readers to Eaters) at the University District branch. Again at the same branch, catch N.Y. Times best-selling graphic novelist Ben Hatke as he’s interviewed by fellow graphic novelist/artist Kazu Kibuishi about his new graphic novel. Tues., Sept. 26 at 7pm.  Julie Kim has a book launch for her debut children’s book entitled “Where’s Halmoni?” (Sasquatch Books) on Thurs., Oct. 5 at 7pm. 4326 University Way NE. 206-634-3400 or [email protected].

The Hugo House Literary Series has the following. All readings are at Hugo House unless otherwise noted. Rowan Hisayo Buchanan reads from her debut book entitled  “Harmless Like You” (Norton) on September 8 at 7pm at Hugo House. The novel looks at how pain shape-shifts down generations of a family and the harm it can cause to each member of that family.  Local Korean American poets Arlene Kim and EJ Koh join Marci Calbretta Cancio-Bello in her book launch for “Hour of the Ox” (University of Pittsburgh – Pitt Poetry Series) which won the 2015 Donald Hall Prize in Poetry. Cancio-Bello also teaches a one-day workshop on Sept. 9 entitled “How to Sequence a Prize-winnning Poetry Manuscript.”  Solmaz Sharif’s collection “Look” (Graywolf) was nominated for the National Book Award. She reads with Sonora Jha who is the current Hugo House Writer-in-Residence, Joy Mills and Meghan Daum under the theme of “Sequels”. The reading is at Fred Wildlife  Refuge at 7:30pm at128 Belmont Ave. E. 21 & over only.  “Two Countries: US Daughters and Sons of Immigrant Parents” is a new anthology edited by Tina Schumann that gets a book launch on Nov. 26 at 7pm. Free. Seven local contributors will read including Shin Yu Pai, Michael Schmeltzer and others. Valerie Hsiung reads from her third full-length collection “efg” along with local poets Don Mee Choi, Jane Wong and Amaranth Borsuk on Nov. 1. 1021 Columbia St. 206-322-7030 or try [email protected].

Third Place Books has the following readings at various Puget Sound bookstore locations. Best-selling young adult sci-fi author Marie Lu reads from her new novel entitled “Warcross” (G.P. Putnam’s Sons for Young Readers) in which a teenage hacker inadvertently becomes a player in an online game with higher stakes when the game’s inventor asks her to become a spy. Sept. 20 at 7pm at the Lake Forest Park location. 17171 Bothell Way  NE #A101 in Lake Forest Park, WA. 206-366-3333.   Graphic novelist Nidhi Chanani talks about her new book entitled “Pashmina” (FirstSecond Books) in which an Indian American high school girl struggles to fit in at her school  and then discovers more about her family’s history with the help of her mother’s magical pashmina. Oct. 28 at 4pm at the Seward Park location of Third Place Books.5041 Wilson Ave. S. 206-474-2200.

Northwest author Jamie Ford (“Hotel on the Corner of Bitter And Sweet”) tours Washington State on behalf of his new novel entitled “Love And Other Consolation Prizes” (Ballantine), a story based on actual events about a half-Chinese orphan who is raffled off to a good home at the World’s Fair in Seattle at the turn of the century. He reads on September 14 at Auntie’s Bookstore at 402 S. Main in Spokane at 7pm. On Sept. 15 at the Wheelock Branch of Tacoma Public Library at 6:30pm. Call 253-617-7811 for details. September 16 he will be at Third Place Books at 7pm. 17171 Bothell Way NE in Lake Forest Park, WA. Call 206-366-3316 for details. He reads on September 23 in the series “West Sound Reads” at 2:30pm at South Kitsap High School in Port Orchard, WA. Call 360-475-9170 for details.

Seattle author Bharti Kirchner shows her versatility by tackling a new genre. She embarks on a new mystery series with an Indian-American detective. The first in the series is entitled “Season of Sacrifice: A Maya Mallick Mystery” (Severn House Publishers). She reads and does a book signing on Sept. 20 at 7pm at Elliott Bay Book Company on Capitol Hill at 206-624-6600. She does it again on Oct. 10 at 7pm at the University Book Store in Seattle’s University District. 206-634-3400 or go to ubookstore.com.

The superb local husband & wife translating team of Bruce and  Ju-chan Fulton  continue their trail-blazing in contemporary Korean literature  with a new translation of  Ch’ae Manshik. They talk about and read from “Sunset – A Ch’ae Manshik Reader” (Columbia) on August 21 at 8pm. This is a wonderful introduction to the selected talents of a satiric writer who was one of the major voices of modern Korean literature. Montlake Library  at 2401 – 24^th E. 206-684-4720.

Northwest art historian Barbara Johns talks about “the Hope of Another Spring” (UW Press), her book on a Northwest Japanese American artist and his diary and drawings about life in an internment camp during WWII.  Sept. 20 at 7pm at sponsored by Friends of Mukai at Vashon Land Trust Building. Go to friendsofmukai.org for details.

Seattle area author Dori Jones Yang releases her newest children’s historical novel entitled “The Forbidden Temptation of Baseball” on August 15. Based on history, the book focuses on the 1870’s Chinese Educational Mission when the Emperor and Chinese Government sent 120 boys to the U.S. to learn about industry and technology in American schools and universities. Though the boys were forbidden to play baseball out of a fear that it would make them too Americanized, some could not resist. The author feels there is a strong lack in  children’s books that address the theme of transitioning from Chinese to American culture and vice versa. She will do bookstore signings on Sat., August 26 from 4 – 6pm at Brick & Mortar Books at 7430 164^th Ave. NE in Redmond Town Center and again on Sunday, Sept. 10 from 4 – 6pm at Island Books at 3014 – 78^th Ave. S.E. on Mercer Island.

Noted novelist, filmmaker & Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki (“A Tale For The Time Being”) will be part of the Hugo House 2017-2018 line-up for the series “Word Works: Writers on Writing.” She will speak on the craft and art of writing on Feb. 23, 2018.  EJ Koh joins Joshua Ferris and Melissa Febos as part of the Hugo Literary Series on March 23, 2018 at 7:30pm. Go to hugohouse.org for details.

The July/August 2017 issue of Poetry Magazine is a special issue devoted to “Asian American Poets” produced in association with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and launched their Smithsonian Asian American Literature Festival that was held July 27 – 29 in Washington, D.C. Guest edited by Lawrence-Minh Bui Davis, Timothy Yu and Tarfia Faizullah. For more information on the Center, go to smithsonianapa.org/lit. For more information on Poetry Magazine, go to poetryfoundation.org.

Seattle poet E. J. Koh’s debut collection won the 2016 Pleiades Press Editor’s Prize. Entitled “A Lesser Love” (Pleiades Press), there will be a book launch party event at Hugo House on Sept. 23, 2017. Koh will read from the new book and there will be a book-signing and refreshments. 1021 Columbia St. 206-322-7030.

Hugo House has announced their line-up of writers appearing for the 2017-2018 Hugo Literary Series, part of which will coincide with the institution’s move to a new and permanent home on the same site of their old location. Don Mee Choi as part of the Bagley Wright Lecture Series will speak on the topic, “Translation is a Mode=Translation is an Anti-Neocolonial Mode on Oct. 18 at 7pm at 1021 Columbia St. . Under the topic, “Area Protected by Neighborhood Watch” on Nov. 10, 2017 Iranian American novelist Porochista Khakpour will join Jericho Brown and Rachel Kessler with musicians at Fred Wildlife Refuge at 128 Belmont Ave. E. 21 & over only for this venue.  The series closer with the topic “There Goes the Neighborhood” features Bangladeshi American poet Tarfia Faizullah with Jami Attenberg and others  is on May 11, 2018 at the new Hugo House auditorium at their new, improved, original location of 1634 – 11^th Ave. All events at 7:30pm. For details, go to hugohouse.org or call 206-453-1937.

Noted local photographer/writer Dean Wong is one of the winners of the Before Columbus Foundation’s Thirty-Eighth Annual American Book Awards for his book of photographs/stories entitled “Seeking the Light: Four Decades in Chinatown” (Chin Music). Writer Shawna Yang Ryan also won for her novel about Taiwan entitled “Green Island” (Knopf). All winners will be formally recognized on October 22, 2017 at the SF Jazz Center in San Francisco from 12 – 2:30pm. Free and open to the public. Congratulation Dean on an honor richly deserved!

The Seattle Public Library has announced their Washington State Book Award Finalists for books published in 2016. In “Books For Adult Categories”, Sci-fi author Ted Chiang was nominated for “Stories of Your Life and Others.” In the category of “Poetry”, Don Mee Choi was nominated for “Hardly War”, Paisley Rekdal was nominated for “Imaginary Vessels” and Michael Schmeltzer was nominated for “Blood Song.” In the “Books For Youth Categories” under the “Picture Book” format, David Jacobson’s “Are You an Echo? The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko” translated by Sally Ito and Michiko Tsuboi and illustrated by Toshikado Hajiri was nominated and in the “Books for Early Readers” category, Liz Wong’s “Quackers” was nominated.

Former Seattle-based writer/poet Anna Maria Hong has won the Cleveland State University Poetry Center’s First Book Poetry Competition and her “The Glass Age” will be published. In addition, her novella will be  published by Sidebrow Books. Publication dates for both will be in 2018. She will be visiting Seattle to read from her books in 2018.

Noted poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil reads on May 21, 2018 at 7:30pm at McCaw Hall as part of Seattle Arts & Lectures Poetry Series. She was born in Chicago to a Filipina mother an South Indian father. She earned her BA and MFA from Ohio State University. She is the author of “Miracle Fruit”, “At The Drive-In Volcano” and “Lucky Fish.” Forthcoming in 2018 is a new book of illustrated nature essays entitled “World of Wonder” and a new book of poetry, “Oceanic.”

“NAIL – Being A Creative Person In Today’s World” is a new Seattle-based magazine celebrating the ideas and perspectives of creative professionals. The inaugural  Summer 2017 issue explores the meaning of leadership and how to fight back against negotiation bullies in the “Trump” era. Included in this issue is an article by publisher Ted Leonhardt entitled “True Leadership: Inclusion, Kindness, And Love From A Powerful, Humble, Confident Man – Frank Fujii” that examines the positive example that the late teacher had on a high school class. For more details about “NAIL” go to [email protected]

The Spring 2017 issue of “Viewpoint – Telling the Story of Diversity at the University of Washington” had a tributes page to late UW civic leaders who made a difference in the communities in which they served – Frank Fujii, Alan Sugiyama and Michael Castillano

One finds it hard to keep up with the steady stream of new titles coming out even in the limited categories of works by or about Asian Americans and new titles on Asia but here’s a recent sampling. Please contact me if anyone is interested in reviewing any of the below titles for the International Examiner. Thanks! –

“Elsa – An Unauthorized Autobiography” (Black Radish) by Angela Veronica Wong unfolds the story of a fictional 18^th –century French demimondaine and mistress of Louis XV. The story is a poetic meditation on gender identity and the precarious survival of women in a patriarchal society.

“Muslim Melancholia” (Red Mountain Press) by Samina Hadi-Tabassum is a new collection of poems that deals with the passage of an Indian woman from India to the graffitied streets of Chicago and beyond and offers a powerful witness to what it means to be a woman, a Muslim and an American.

Bamboo Ridge – A Journal of Hawai’I Literature & Arts has been around since 1979 serving as a creative force for literary activity in the islands. Their latest issue #110 has a special artist portfolio on the installation artist Marques Hanalei Marzan. Guest-edited by Donald Carreira Ching and Misty-Lynn Sanico.

“Occident” (Called Back Books) is the debut book of poetry by Bay Area poet/editor Gillian Olivia Blythe Hamel. The poems serve as a rumination of language and the space between place & experience and incident & accident.

“Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows” (Morrow) by Balli Kaur Jaswal is a comic novel of a close-knit Punjabi community in London and the scandal that ensues when a group of proper Sikh widows taking a creative writing class discover erotica.

“The Broken Country – On Trauma, A Crime, and the Continuing Legacy of Vietnam” (University of Georgia Press) by Seattle-raised author Paisley Rekdal looks at the consequences of the Vietnam War for Vietnamese, Americans and herself. A violent incident on the author’s campus serves as a springboard for examining the long-term cultural and psychological effects of the war.

TU Books is the young adult imprint of children’s book publisher Lee & Low Books. Two new titles from this imprint are the following – “Rebel Seoul” by Axie Oh looks at a post-war East Asia in 2199. When a young soldier falls in love, he begins to question his loyalty to an oppressive regime that creates weapons out of humans. “Ahimsa” by Supriya Kelkar looks at the non-violent resistance movement of Gandhi in the 1940’s through the eyes of a young girl who steps into the struggle when her mother is jailed.

Indonesian writer Eka Kuriniawan who burst upon our shores with recent translations of “Beauty is a Wound” and “Man Tiger” is back with “Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash” (New Directions). The book is about a lower-class Javanese teenager obsessed by sex until he witnesses a savage rape that renders him impotent. The novel is peppered with fights, car chases and mysterious women.

“What We Must Remember” (Bamboo Ridge Press) is a collection of linked poems by writers in Hawai’i including Christy Passion, Ann Inoshita, Juliet S. Kono and Jean Yamasaki Toyama. The groups revisits the 1937 kidnapping and murder of Native Hawaiian prize fighter Joseph Kahahawai known as the “Massie Case”.

“My Night in the Planetarium” (Triangle Square) by Innosanto Nagara tells the story of the author’s father, the radical power of art and the history of Indonesia as seen through the eyes of a child.

“Moon Princess” (Chicken House) by Barbara Laban is a mystery-adventure novel set in China about a girl whose mother who has disappeared, and the invisible animal friends who help her follow the clues.

“Memoirs of a Polar Bear” (New Directions) by Yoko Tawada as translated by Susan Benofsky tells the story of three generations of talented writers and performers who happen to be polar bears. Originally from Japan, this author has lived in Germany since her twenties. She writes in both Japanese and German and is a recipient of the Akutagawa Prize.

In “Birds  Art  Life – A Year of Observation” (Scribner),  noted children’s writer Kyo Maclear takes her sensitive writer’s eye and focuses on a memoir of a time spent on long walks and careful observation of the winged creatures that share our world.

Vancouver,WA. Author Curtis Chen is back with his follow up to “Waypoint Kangaroo” entitled “Kangaroo Too” (Thomas Dunne Books), another unique outer space adventure filled with intrigue and the mysterious ways of people interacting with outer space.

“Ths Number Does Not Exist” (BOA Editions) by Mangalesh Dabral is the first translation from the Hindi by this noted Indian poet who opens a window on the disillusionments of post-independence India and its dislocated citizenry.

“Mad Country” (Soho) by Samrat Upadhyay is a collection of short stories that reaffirms the writer’s position as one of the most important chroniclers of globalization  and exile that we have today. Set in Nepal.

“Want” (Simon & Schuster) by Cindy Pon is a sci-fi thriller set in a near-future Taipei plagued by pollution.

“Kika Kila – How The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed The Sound of Modern Music” (University of North Carolina Press) by John W. Troutman is a definitive history of the Hawaiian steel guitar and its place in the broader history of American music.

“Eating Korea – Reports on a Culinary Renaissance” (An Anthony Bourdain Book) by Graham Holliday looks at the cuisine and how it is key to understanding a nation’s changing culture.

“The Emperor’s Riddle” (Aladdin) by Kat Zhang is a young adult novel. When Mia Chen’s family trip to China turns into a mystery when her favorite aunt disappears, the girl and her brother look for clues amidst rumors of an ancient treasure.

“Chemistry” (Knopf) is the debut novel by Weike Wang. When a graduate student in chemistry finds herself overwhelmed by family and society’s expectations, she leaves behind a promising future to find out what it is she really wants in life.

“The Way Home Looks Now” (Scholastic) by Wendy Wan-Long Shang is a story about family, loss, healing, friendship and the role baseball plays in all of it for a young boy.

“Pei Pei The Monkey King” (Tin Fish Press) by Hong Kong poet Wawa now living in Hawai’I as translated by Henry Wei Leung uses these impish creatures to comment on the ironies of the human condition.

“The Hope of Another Spring – Takuichi Fujii, Artist  And Wartime Witness” (UW Press) by Barbara Johns looks at the illustrated wartime diary of a Seattle Japanese American artist and how it opens another window into that troubled time of Japanese American internment and Northwest history.

“A Transpacific Poetics” (Litmus) by Lisa Samuels & Sawako Nakayasu due out in July, 2017 is a collection that mixes poetry and poetics, criss-crossing transpacific spaces to touch down in Hawai’I, Guam, the P.I., Chile, Australia, Korea, Aotaroa, Thailand, Japan and California. The poly-lingual works in this anthology conceive ocean as consequence, map, identity,  visibility, invisibility layered over by histories of colonization in the globalized present.

“Letters To Memory” (Coffee House Press) is award-winning novelist Karen Tei Yamashita’s memoir of Japanese American internment during WWII and its repercussions for her family. Handwritten letters, pictures, and paintings bring the past to life. Due out September, 2017.

“Harmless Like You” (Norton) marks the fictional debut of Rowan Hisayo Buchanan in a book about multiracial identity, motherhood, familial bonds and the struggle to be an artist.

Indonesian American activist/author/artist Innosanto Nagara has written and illustrated two interesting picture board books for children on Seven Stories Press that inspires them to get involved in issues and community. “A is for Activist”  encourages kids to participate in protesting what is unjust. “Counting on Community” encourages the little ones to learn meaningful change by doing positive things in the community in which they are part of.

“Goodbye, Vitamin”(Henry Holt) by Rachel Khong, veteran food writer/editor of Lucky Peach Magazine & Books fame makes her fictional debut with this book. It tells the story of a woman in mid-life crisis from a break-up summoned home to care for an eccentric father slipping into dementia and a mother who is lucidly erratic. Rich with irony and humor, the story charts a journey of love, loss and finding one’s place in the world.

“A Twenty Minute Silence Followed By Applause”  (Sarabande) is an essay by Shawn Wen which is a thoughtful  meditation on the work and genius of French mime artist Marcel Marceau.

Ch’ae Manshik is one of modern Korea’s most accomplished writers but his work is scarcely represented in English translation because of the challenges posed by his distinctive voice and colloquial style. Local Seattle translators Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton remedy that situation with a deft translation of his various styles and genres in “Sunset – A Ch’ae Manshik Reader” (Columbia University Press). Here you will find a choice selection of his work in the novella form, short fiction, essay, travel writing, theatre and even children’s stories. A dark humor and quick wit bubbles through each sentence.

“Still Out of Place” (Bamboo Ridge), a book of poems by Christy Passion opens a window to blue-collar life in the Hawaiian Islands with unflinching honesty and pain and yes, a hard-won beauty.

“Tropical Renditions – Making Musical Scenes in Filipino America” (Duke) by Christine Bacareza Balance looks at the music and performing arts to reveal dimensions of Filipino American history and cultural expressions.

“Lotus” (Henry Holt) is the debut novel by Lijia Zhang and was inspired by the secret life of the author’s grandmother and follows a young prostitute caught between past traditions and modern life in urban China.

“The Maids” (New Directions) by Junichiro Tanizaki as translated by Michael P. Cronin complements his classic novel, “The Makioka Sisters” but bears witness not to the masters of the house but instead gives voice to a chorus of servants.

Tara Books, children’s book publisher from India is out once again with two beautifully designed volumes. “A Village Is a Busy Place” by Rohima Chitrakar & V. Geetha is a brilliantly colored book that unfolds like a vertical mural illuminating the mosaic wheel of life contained in a single village. “This Truck Has Got To Be Special” by Rana, Kulaudor, Namaz & Khan shows you how truck drivers in India turn their vehicles into artistic creations that light up the landscape along India’s highways and byways.

“Sorry to Disrupt The Peace” (McSweeny’s) by Patty Yumi Cottrell is the story of a single woman who learns of her adoptive brother’s suicide and returns to her hometown to uncover the real reasons behind his death. Noted novelist Ed Lin calls it “a sort of Korean American noir, lean and wry and darkly compelling.”

“I Believe In A Thing Called Love” (FSG) by Maurene Goo tracks a Korean American teenage girl who’s a disaster in romance who comes up with the idea of using “K-Drama” as a map to true love with a boy she’s got a crush on with mixed results.

“Men Without Women” (Knopf) is a new translation of short stories by Haruki Murakami by Ted Goossen and Philip Gabriel that looks at men who find themselves alone. Originally published in Japan in 2014, it should serve to placate American fans until his most recent novel gets translated into English.

“Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh” (Lee & Low) by Uma Krishnaswami. A nine-year old girl wants to play softball for a girl’s team but the year is 1945 in Yuba City, CA. and her dad is from India and her mom is from Mexico and discriminatory laws still rule the land. How does she find a way to step up to the plate?

“The Best We Could Do” (Abrams Comicarts) bu Thi Bui is a graphic novel about the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family.

Akhil Sharma won the International Dublin Literary Award and the Folio Prize for his novel, “Family Life.” Here, he returns with a collection of darkly comic short stories in “A Life Of Adventure And Delight” (Norton).

“ME: A Novel”  (Akashic) by Tomoyuki Hoshino as translated by Charles De Wolf tells the unsettling story of a young man who suffers an identity crisis after getting tangled up in a telephone scam. With an afterword by esteemed Japanese writer Kenzaburo Oe.

Northwest writer Jamie Ford, author of “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” returns with another novel set in Seattle.  “Love And Other Consolation Prizes” (Ballantine) recounts the true story of a half-Chinese orphan who is  auctioned off in a raffle at Seattle’s World’s Fair and how his life unfolds as he struggles to keep family secrets of the past from surfacing.

“Lemongrass, Ginger and Mint – Vietnamese Cookbook” (Rockridge Press) by Linh Nguyen show you how to cook classic Vietnamese favorites at home.

L.A. poet and small press editor Chiwan Choi burst upon the scene with “The Flood”, a searing collection of poems involving family and creating a place in the world. With “The Yellow House” (CCM) he ups the ante with poems that smolder with a nuanced power. Go to copingmechanisms.net for details.

“Chow Chop Suey – Food And The Chinese American  Journey” (Columbia) by Anne Mendelson looks at the sweep of history that brought Chinese cooking to America.

The award-winning Japanese writer/playwright Abe Kobo has an early seimi-autobiographical novel entitled “Beasts Head For Home” (Columbia) newly translated by Richard F. Calichman. The story tells the tale of a Japanese youth in Manchuria at the end of WWII and his perilous journey home. In it , the character deals with issues of identity, belonging and the complexities of human behavior.

Jet Tila grew up in L.A.’s Thai Town and learned cooking from his Cantonese grandmother and working at his family’s famed Bangkok Market, the first Thai market to open in the U.S. He turns that expertise to good use in “101 Asian Dishes You Need To Cook Before You Die” (Page Street Publishing) using simplified techniques and easy to use & buy ingredients.

“The Windfall” (Crown) by Diksha Basu is a satire of a middle-class family in New Delhi who come into money and how it changes them.

“Pattan’s Pumpkin – A Traditional Flood Story from Southern India” (Candlewick) by Chitra Soundar and illustrated by Frane Lessaac is based on a traditional tale told by the Irula people. Forget Noah’s ark and delight in a family’s journey to safety down a river in a giant pumpkin.

“Meeting With My Brother” (Columbia) is a novella by Yi Mun-yol about when two brothers from North and South Korea have a reunion. Explores Korea’s partition and hope of reunification. Translated by noted American writer Heinz Insu Fenkl with Yoosup Chang.

“Wabi Sabi” (Bloomsbury) by Francesc Miralles as translated by Julie Wark tells the story of a Spaniard who receives an enigmatic postcard from a Japanese pen pal that puts him on a plane to Japan to decipher the message.

“Happy Dreams” (Amazon Crossing) by Jia Pingwa is a novel translated by Nicky Harman which comes out Oct. 1, 2017. It tells the story of two best friends who leave the country to the city with dreams of a better life.

Hiromi Kawakami’s novel,  “The Nakano Thrift Shop” (Europa) as translated by Allison Markin Powell looks at the staff and customers of a little thrift shop and examines their various relationships.

“When Dimple Met Rishi” (Simon Pulse) by Sandhya Menon is a young adult novel of two teenagers sent to summer school by their parents in hopes of matching them up. Their initial encounter is rocky but gradually they become more than friends.

“Scarborough” (Arsenal Pulp Press) by Catherine Hernandez. This novel follows the lives of three children who inhabit Toronto’s low-income east end. It explores the positive impact of neighborhood programming amongst the poor and its devastation when the very governments who established these programs come and go.

“Chef Roy Choi and The Street Food Remix” (Readers to Eaters) by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee and illustrated by Man One brings the story of L.A. homeboy Chef Roy Choi and his innovative ways of presenting, selling and combining cultural food traditions from his food truck to kids. Each page will appeal to children with the energy of graffiti artist Man One illustrations and who doesn’t like to eat?

Jade Chang’s “The Wangs Vs. The World” (Mariner) is a feel-good hilarious saga of a Chinese American family on the skids who band together and go on a road trip to find unity. Available in a new paperback edition.

“Starfish” (Simon Pulse” by Akemi Dawn Bowan (due out in September) is an emotionally resonant young adult novel about a biracial teen who struggles with social anxiety, a narcissist mother and rejection from art school only to find her own identity as a person on a journey to the West Coast.

Hye-Young Pyun’s “The  Hole” (Arcade) is a psychological thriller about a man awakening from a coma after a terrible car accident that caused his wife’s death.

“Hawaiian By Birth – Missionary Children, Bicultural Identity and U.S. Colonalism in the Pacific” (Nebraska) by Joy Schulz looks at how race, gender, sexuality, class and religion merge to advance U.S. imperialism in the Pacific.

“Home Fire” (riverhead Books) is a novel by Kamila Shamsie that tells the story of the choices people make for love and how secrets and family loyalty can tie lives together and also set them out of control.

“The Burning Girl” (Norton) by Claire Messud tells the tale of the friendship between two girls and a piercing story of adolescence and identity.

“The Forbidden Temptation of Baseball” (Spark Press) by Seattle author Dori Jones Yang is a young adult novel based on an episode from history when 120 boys were sent by the  Emperor of China to New England in the 1870’s. It captures the tension between love and hate that is culture shock.

“Miss Burma” (Grove Atlantic) is an historical novel by Charmaine Craig that tells the story of a family caught between war, revolution, desire and loss. Conveys the struggle of the Karen hill tribe people and their search for freedom in Burma.

“Maria Mahoi of The Islands” (New Star Books) by Jean Barman is an important document on the history of Indigenous Hawaiians in the early Northwest.

“Remembering 1942 And Other Chinese Stories” (Arcade) by Liu Zhenyun as translated by Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin showcases six of this Chinese author’s best short stories with a diverse cast of ordinary people struggling with obstacles that are bureaucratic, economic and personal.

“The Accusation – Forbidden Stories From Inside North Korea” (Grove Atlantic) by Bandi is a book of short stories of North Koreans enduring day to day challenges and threatened by starvation, betrayal and brutality Translated by the ever prolific Deborah Smith.

“A Life of Adventure And Delight” (Norton) is a new book of short stories by Akhil Sharma that evokes Chekov and Trevor. The author sees how the burdens of family and culture shape his character’s choices whether in India, New York or New Jersey.

Debbi Michiko Florence’s character Jasmine Toguchi explores such Japanese cultural customs as Girl’s Day and mochi making in her ongoing series that includes titles like “Super Sleuth” and “Mochi Queen” both on FSG books. Coming next in the series is “Drummer Girl”. For young adults with a bonus activity in every book.

“Shanghai Grand” (St. Martin’s) is a sprawling history of Shanghai by Tara Grescoe on the eve of WWII and the international cast of characters caught in a whirlpool of intrigue, conflict, love and history.

“Tell Me Everything You Don’t Remember-The Stroke That Changed My Life” (Ecco) by Christine Hyung-Oak Lee. A compelling memoir of a world turned upside down and how the writer tries to find order out of chaos.

“Where The Past Begins” (Ecco) is popular novelist Amy Tan’s (“The Joy Luck Club”) memoir which explores family history in a raw and personal fashion. Due out Oct. 10, 2017.

“101 Changemakers – Rebels  And Radicals Who Changed US History”  (Haymarket). Edited by Michele Bollinger & Dao X. Tran. This is a collection of profiles of Americans who made a difference and fought for social justice. Consider it a Howard Zinn-style history of America for middle school students.

“Manihi Moves A Mountain” (Creston) is a children’s story by Nancy Churnin with art by Danny Popovici is the true story of a man in India who carved out a 360 foot road through a mountain after his wife died due to a lack of medical attention. The road provided access to a larger town that had medical facilities and more daily supplies for villagers.

“Salivating Monstrous Plant” (Cordite Books) by poet Tanya Thaweeskuichai positions itself on a map of contemporary poetics stretching from Sydney to Singapore and Stockholm to Seattle.

Amani Al-khatahtbeh founded a website that gave a candid account of what it’s like to be a young Muslim woman in the wake of 9/11 and a Trump presidency. Now she tells her story of that journey in “Muslim Girl – A Coming of Age” (Simon & Schuster).

“The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star” (Redhook) by Vaseem Khan tells the story of Inspector Chopra who discovers in Bollywood, the  truth is often stranger than fiction. Part of an ongoing series on a detective and his baby elephant solving cases together.

“Reading With Patrick – A Teacher, a Student and a Life-changing Friendship” (Random House) by Michelle Kuo traces the life of a Harvard grad who joins “Teach For America” and finds herself in the Mississippi Delta. Her favorite student is an 8^th grader who wins a school-wide award as “most improved” only to learn later his is imprisoned for murder. But the story doesn’t end there. She returns to the Delta to continue his education in prison. Their relationship transforms the lives of both of them.

“The Devourers” (Del Ray) by Indra Das tells a tale of a college professor who encounters a stranger with a bizarre confession. He bears witness by transcribing the stranger’s tales. Laced with elements of folklore and fantasy, this book takes the reader to places familiar yet made new again.

“The Art of Confidence” (Kensington) by Wendy Lee tells the saga of a Chinese immigrant artist asked to paint a forgery of a masterpiece destined to earn millions for a Chelsea art dealer. This novel explores the fascination of great art and the lengths to which some are driven to create it and to possess it.

“Grand Canyon” (Roaring Brook Press) by Jason Chin is a picture book about a father and daughter who explore this area through its past and present. Profusely illustrated with informative text, the perfect book to introduce your children to the wonders of our natural world.

“Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment” (Simon & Schuster) by Robert Wright gives a personal account of how natural selection has led to delusion and unhappiness and how we can escape that fate through meditation and philosophy.

“The Secret Kingdom – Nek Chand, A Changing India, and a Hidden World of Art” (Candlewick Press) by Barb Rosenstock as illustrated by Claire A. Nivola tells the story of a famous folk artist who built a rock garden out of recycled materials and the villagers who saved it from destruction by government authorities. This inspiring tale illuminates the power of art for children.

“After Projects the Resound” (Black Radish) by Kimberly Alidio gives voice to a queer female Filipino poetic voice that finds language as a fragmented archive of crystalized vision.

Sujata Massey, known for her popular Japanese female detective series embarks on a new series and new character, a female lawyer-sleuth in 1920’s Bombay. The character was inspired by some of India’s earliest lawyers. “The Widows of Malabar Hill” (Soho Press, Inc.) comes out Jan., 2018.

In “Irradiated Cities” (Les Figues Press), Mariko Mori goes to cities across Japan devastated by war and disaster and listens to what people have to say. From it she weaves an album,  essays of witness and photos of fragments from each place.

“Book Uncle And Me” (Groundwood Books) by Uma Krishaswami is a heatwarming story of community activism, friendship and the love of books. When her retired teacher uncle sets up a free-lending library on the street only to be shut down by the mayor, a little girl finds she must organize her neighbors to take action. A book for young adults who enjoy reading.

“Saints And Misfits” (Simon & Schuster) is a young adult novel by S.K. Ali that tells the story of a Muslim high school girl who doesn’t fit in with her new family or at school until the possibility of love appears.

“Kurosawa’s Rashomon – a Vanished City, A Lost Brother And The Voice Inside His Iconic Films” (Pegasus) by Paul Anderer offers not only a look at the spiritual, philosophical and aesthetic evolution of this cinematic genius but a thoughtful analysis of his most seminal and influential film.

Kate DiCamillo’s story of hope entitled “La La La”  (Candlewick) is a children’s picture book buoyed by the dazzling art of illustrator Jaime Kim as the tale of a lonely girl singing to herself in the outdoors comes alive.

Poet Annie Kim’s “Into The Cyclorama” (Southern Indiana Review Press) won the Michael Waters Poetry Prize. In it she answers eloquently questions like “What art can we make out of violence?” or “What shape from loss?” And her poems show how the personal is refracted through the historical.

“A Rising Man” (Pegasus) by Abir Mukherjee is a historical crime novel set in the social and political tinderbox of 1919 Calcutta. When a colonial senior official is found dead with a note warning the British to leave India, a former Scotland Yard detective and a local Indian investigator must solve the crime before all hell breaks loose.

Literary alchemist Paul Yoon is back with a luminous collection of linked short stories entitled “The Mountain” (Simon & Schuster). Through the Hudson Valley to the Russian Far East, the characters are connected by traumatic pasts, newly vagrant lives and a quest for solace.

News/Opportunities

The Wing in partnership with Manhattan Tenement Museum encourages community members to share their own experiences in “Your Story, Our Story”, a digital story-telling exhibit. The focus for 2017 is to gather stories from civic life. Add your story today by visiting the website. For details, email [email protected].

Friends of Asian Art Association is an all-volunteer organization that connects its members and the community to educations, cultural and social events tied to Asia and its diverse art forms and culture. Enjoy year-round activities and meet new friends who share similar interests by becoming a member. All are welcome to the activities but members get special discounts and perks. Some upcoming program events include the following – September 27 brings “Explore India” with Shelly Krishnamurty, Ram Prasad and Nona Dhawan. On Sunday from 2 – 4pm at the Mountaineers Center in  Magnuson Park. October 19 from 1 – 3pm, Barry Broman will talk about “Up the Chindwin River to Nagaland” at the Phinney Center. Go to FriendsOfAsianArt.org or call (206) 522-5438 for details on all these events.

Asian Counseling And Referral Service’s (ACRS) Annual Benefit Gala entitled “A Culinary Journey – Eat-Give-Hope” takes place on Sat., Oct. 7, 2017 at 5:30pm.  An evening of inspiring stories and culinary delights custom designed by local Asian American/Pacific Islander chefs Rachel Yang (Joule/Revel/Trove/Revelry), Jinho Han  (Seven Beef) and David Kong (Perche No). RSVP by Monday, September  25, 2017. Purchase tickets at www.acrs.org/gala. At The Westin Bellevue at 600 Bellevue Way NE. For details, go to events@acrs,org or call 206-695-7551.

Saint Martin’s Gala International 2017 takes place on Sat., Nov. 4, 2017 at Saint Martin’s University in Lacy, WA. A black-tie gourment affair with a live auction benefiting student  scholarships. This year’s theme is China and will feature award-winning chef Ming Tsai. Reserve your table by calling 360-438-4366 or by going to www.stmartin.edu/Ming.

Calling all foodies! The Wing needs your help with our new exhibit, “What’s In Your Cup?-Community Brewed Culture”. This exhibit will showcase the history behind Asian Pacific American beverages and we want you to be part of it. For the chance to be featured in our exhibit, please submit a high resolution JPEG (720p or 1080p) of you enjoying your favorite APA beverage, as well as a sentence or two on why you love that drink to [email protected]. You can share this info. With us through email, dropbox, or the hashtag #WhatsInYourCup!

Go to 4Culture.org  to find out about funding and support for cultural work in King County.

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