Thank You CDs for relief efforts

For everyone who has contributed to relief efforts for the earthquake/tsunami in Japan, I offer complimentary BreathPlay + Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas compact discs this week.

Please send me a note with a description of your donation to Mercy Corps, the Red Cross or other NGO or non-profit organization + your mailing address by Friday, 25 March 2011. I will put both CDs in the post for you because many of the musicians and artists I work with have been affected by the disaster and I am grateful for your help.

This morning, I received a day-to-day account from shakuhachi musician Christopher Yohmei Blasdel who lives in Tokyo. His writing has many insights that resonate with me such as:

Amongst the logorrhea of commentary on the television, however, there are a few revealing snippets of the tragedy’s true scope and what the nation is really going through. The enlightenment comes not from the newscasters, but from the survivors themselves.

A man was interviewed by NHK as he picked through the rubble of his home:

• Who are you looking for?
• My Father.
• His body?
• No, not the body, it probably won’t be found, I just want something to remember him by.

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被災地の
無情の雪よ
母探し

Hisaichi no
Mujou no yuki yo!
Haha sagashi

The disaster area.
In the heartless snow
A search for a mother.

+

It seemed to me that people in New Orleans looted for mainly two reasons; as an angry reaction against oppression and years of economic and social alienation or as an attempt at survival. The first scenario was demonstrated by people walking into the ruined department stores and grabbing whatever they found, believing they had the inalienable right to take stuff that wasn’t locked or guarded. The second scenario is more understandable; think mothers stealing loaves of bread for their children.

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In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit my knowledge of nuclear power plants comes mostly from watching The Simpsons…

In addition, Yohmei posts photographs of his Tokyo flat the day of the earthquake. Especially poignant is his interaction with a young housewife at the supermarket over the dilemma of buying bottled water when there were only four bottles left on the shelf.

Take a moment this weekend to read this sentient musician’s account of the earthquake, tsunami and aftermath in Japan.

I am honored to be his friend and to offer the BreathPlay CD we made together + the Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas CD for all those who have donated to relief efforts. Thank you.

 

Go to Hong Kong and Shanghai

This year the Dragon 100 Young Chinese Leaders Forum will be held in Hong Kong and Shanghai from 15-22 August 2010. The theme Exploring Shanghai and World Expo — Building our Future provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to network with future Chinese leaders. I was a delegate in 2006, for In the Footprints of the Dragons — A Study Tour on the Silk Road (Report PDF).

The Dragon 100 is an annual program launched in 2002. This year the 100 lucky nominees from around the world go to Hong Kong and Shanghai (!) to meet with government officials, academics, and professionals. Delegates, age 18-35, gather to discuss world issues, explore their Chinese heritage, and reflect upon contemporary China. Additionally, they visit major socio-economic and cultural development projects. Most exciting are action plans garnered from seminars and discussions with university students and young professionals. These ideas provide innovative ways to improve the world through a focus on China.

Being selected by the Dragon Foundation | 龍傳基金 was an incredible honor. I continue to keep in touch with many delegates plus my artistic philosophy and music will forever be influenced by my experience on the 2006 Leadership Forum in Hong Kong and Xi’an.

Nominate an outstanding young Chinese leader by June 15, 2010.

• Dragon 100 Young Chinese Leaders Forum Poster (PDF)
• Dragon 100 Young Chinese Leaders Forum Nomination Form (PDF)

Questions?
Contact The Dragon Foundation | 龍傳基金
T (852) 2811-2779
F (852) 2811-2669
E dragon100 AT dragonfoundation DOT net

 

Good-Bye Farewell

The Farewell Exhibition at the Columbia City Gallery is finished, so I post the introduction panel text. In addition, I include a link to Ying Zhou’s work Small Dance below, so you can watch her video.

“A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.” Richard Bach

Thinking about personal moments of leave-taking, I invite six artists + an artist duo to reflect with me on the meanings of good-bye. How do sounds and objects represent farewell? What are the everyday and magical feelings associated with departure? Where does imagination meet reality when we embark on a journey?

The elegant and playful works of MalPina Chan, Diem Chau, Paul Kikuchi, Annie Han + Daniel Mihalyo: LEAD PENCIL STUDIO, Tiffany Lin, June Sekiguchi, and Ying Zhou surprise and comfort me as I feel Winter become Spring.

Go ahead. Linger here awhile before you depart, knowing you can always return.

Ying Zhou is a Beijing-raised/Seattle-based dance artist. She recently performed For These Unclosings, a dance solo directed by new media artist Susie Lee. Zhou’s video works are supported by 4Culture and Seattle’s Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs. Her works have been shown in Brazil, China, and Japan as well as local festivals and venues.

Some people leave to search for one place and find themselves in too many places. When Zhou relocated from Beijing to study geography in the United States, she found herself in multiple locations. Now a dancer and mother, Zhou feels her body stretched and floating, tensed and relaxed. The video work Small Dance juxtaposes Zhou’s physical body with landscapes of Beijing, Yunnan, and Issaquah. When somebody leaves, there continue to be traces of all the places they have been and wish to go.

 

Pinpoints of Memory

The Farewell Exhibition ends at the Columbia City Gallery on March 07. Here is the inspiration behind Diem Chau’s art work Object Memory.

original dress used for inspiration

Diem Chau combines everyday mediums such as paper and thread with simple means such as stitching to create delicate vignettes of memory, gesture, and form. Her work has been featured in exhibitions in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Seattle. In addition, Chau’s work graces the pages of Harpers, Fiberarts, Readymade, and American Craft Magazine. Honors include an Artist Trust Fellowship. She holds a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts.

With Object Memory, Chau continues her fascination with combining everyday mediums, such as paper and thread, to create tangible and textural vignettes of exile. A few years ago, Chau returned to her native Vietnam. She was surprised when a hand-me-down dress she wore as a child was returned to her. Stitching the form of this dress into paper, Chau reveals holes of separation that provide a glimpse into pinpoints of memory.

 

FAREWELL Preview Video No. 2

Check out Zebra Visual’s Video No. 2 of FAREWELL: A Fantastical Contemplation on America’s Relationship with China. Donald Byrd and Spectrum Dance Theatre are featured in this preview from an open rehearsal at The Moore Theatre last week.

Somehow my name was left off the music credits in the video, but you can hear my audio ideas. To align myself with Donald’s ideas of the documentary aspect of the production, I’ve included excerpts from news broadcasts. I’ve also mixed in some whacked out er-hu and Chinese percussion to make the Beethoven and Chinese music sound less precious.

FAREWELL premieres Thursday through Saturday, February 18-20, 2010, at The Moore Theatre in partnership with the Seattle Theatre Group.