Performance

Clockwise from bottom right: Krystal Banzon, Katie Hae Leo, Traci Kato-Kiriyama, Soomi Kim

Asian Arts Initiative is pleased to present our 2011 Artists Exchange exploring the theme of Home, far and near. Our Artists Exchange was started in 2002 with the original goal of supporting Asian American artists to explore or research topics and issues facing the Asian American community, and to create new work grounded and inspired by the learning exchange. As the Artists Exchange has evolved, we have also realized the importance of providing a collaborative space, especially for solo artists, and the opportunity for creative exchange. 

Through two nights of riveting showcases, and an open mic feature presentation, this year's featured artists Krystal Banzon, Kennedy Kabasares, Traci Kato-Kiriyama, Soomi Kim, Katie Hae Leo, Gein Wong, and Philly favorites Makoto Hirano and Anula Shetty will investigate diverse experiences of immigration, body, family, and home, far and near.


Night 1 | Friday, November 11, 7:30 p.m.
Featured artists: Anula Shetty, Gein Wong, and Soomi Kim.
(Doors open at 7:00 p.m. w/ pre-show performance in the gallery by Krystal Banzon)


Soomi Kim / Photo by Kenny Wong


Gein Wong

Local filmmaker Anula Shetty (a 2011 Recipient of the Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts) presents a new piece titled In Transit that incorporates monologue and video footage of train rides in Bombay and Philadelphia exploring through personal stories what it means to be “of the Diaspora” versus being at home in one’s original culture.

Toronto-based artist Gein Wong combines spoken word, music, dance, and video in Ocean Carving to tell the story of a Chinese woman who escapes the Communist regime in 1954 by swimming from the Mainland to Hong Kong. The story follows her family’s eventual immigration to North America and the evolution of the woman’s granddaughter’s views on life once she learns of her grandmother’s extraordinary journey.

Korean born, New York City-based actor and movement artist Soomi Kim uses her extensive training in gymnastics, martial arts, and dance to adapt Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s groundbreaking text Dictee for the stage. Kim’s choreographic storytelling chronicles Cha’s own personal history as well as Korea’s history during the early 1900s during the height of Japanese colonialism.
Night 2 | Saturday, November 12, 7:30 p.m.
Featured artists: Makoto Hirano, Katie Hae Leo, and Traci Kato-Kiriyama + Kennedy Kabasares.
(Doors open at 7:00 p.m. w/ pre-show performance in the gallery by Krystal Banzon)


Ben Camp and Makoto Hirano / Photo by Elena Camp


Award-winning Philadelphia-based theater and dance artist Makoto Hirano joins forces with Team Sunshine Performance Corporation to present a new movement-focused work called natural disasters, epic choices, and so many little red and green monopoly houses. The work – directed by Alex Torra and performed by Benjamin Camp and Hirano entirely without text – is the first of a two-part series tackling both the humor and sorrow of identity and the elusive sense of “home.”

Hailing from Rochester, Minnesota, playwright and poet Katie Hae Leo shares the newly generated N/A, a humorous and poignant exploration of the intersections between body, history, and homeland through the lens of being an adoptee. Weaving first person narrative with speculative myth-making, N/A strives to reunify the storyteller with both the homeland of her body and Korea itself.

Los Angeles-based artist and community organizer Traci Kato-Kiriyama and aerial artist Kennedy Kabasares use monologues, recorded interviews, and static trapeze (yes, a trapeze!) as elements in PULL to tell the story of a young woman's relationship with her mother, and how they deal with the death of her father. The very deliberate aerial choreography in play with the performance text reveal layers of distance, despair, hope, love and warmth—and why some stories are better told through trapeze!

Night 3 | Friday, November 18, 7:30 p.m.
Featuring the entire ensemble at Family Style Open Mic**
(Doors open at 6:45pm for pre-show reception w/ FREE food and drink for all open mic guests)

Following a week of intensive collaboration investigating diverse experiences of immigration, body, family, and “home, far and near,” the Artists Exchange collective of performers will share what they have learned and created together as the featured act at our Family Style Open Mic. You won’t want to miss the surprises we may have in store for you!



Home: Far and Near is supported in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Performance Network’s Performance Residency Program and Community Fund