Opening reception for new Shohei Katayama exhibition, April 29 at Mattress Factory.

The Mattress Factory will host an opening reception for an upcoming Shohei Katayama exhibition on April 29.

Join us for the opening of a new exhibition by artist-in-residence Shohei Katayama. Shohei Katayama is a Japanese American artist who explores the space between light and dark, life and death, beauty and danger, nature and man. Utilizing his art as a catalyst for environmental conversations, his work examines the underlying patterns and forces of nature by showcasing unseen relationships in ecology. Katayama uses materials that embodies the philosophy associated with ecological examination. Through his work, Katayama demonstrates the entanglements that are present between such systems and illustrates the disruptions that can occur when individual components are manipulated.

The Opening Reception is a free event that will feature a walk-through of the new exhibition and an opportunity to meet the artist. Drinks and non-alcoholic refreshments will be available.

Registration for the Opening Reception is strongly encouraged here.

Please check in at the Museum’s Main Building at 505 Jacksonia Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15212.

It runs from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the Main Building, located at 505 Jacksonia Street in the Mexican War Streets section of the North Side (map).

Lauren Yee's Young Americans at O'Reilly Theater, from April 26.

Pittsburgh Public Theater will present Lauren Yee's play Young Americans the O'Reilly Theater from April 26 through May 14.

WORLD PREMIERE BY ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST EXCITING NEW VOICES Journey between two eras and two generations as celebrated playwright Lauren Yee sets the stage for us to road trip there and back in her hilarious, heartfelt new play. On parallel treks, Joe drives from D.C. to Portland trying to win the heart of his unfamiliar new fiancé Jenny and, twenty years later, drives the same roads back to have one last adventure with their adopted daughter Lucy before delivering her to college. With some unexpected detours along the way, immigrants Jenny and Joe traverse the strange territory of their new country while their daughter Lucy pieces together their bittersweet family history in this beautiful new comedy about the lengths we will go for the people we love. A world premiere co-production with Portland Center Stage.

Tickets are now available online. The O'Reilly Theater is located at 621 Penn Ave. in downtown's Cultural District (map).

CMU's Awareness of Roots in Chinese Culture presents Empresses in the Palace (后宫甄嬛传), April 1, for this year's Spring Theatre.

Carnegie Mellon University's Awareness of Roots in Chinese Culture (CMU ARCC) will Empresses in the Palace (后宫甄嬛传) on April 1, this year's installment of its annual Spring Theatre performance.

This year's production, Empresses in the Palace (后宫甄嬛传) will present the life story of Zhen Huan and her transition from an innocent talented young adult into a stone-hearted woman, in the Palace of Qing Dynasty. We tell this story through acting interweaved with traditional dance, martial arts, and musical performances.

Tickets are now available online, and the first 50 ticket purchases will also receive free boba. The performance starts at 7:30 pm in the Cohon University Center Rangos Ballroom (map).

Translucid - Opaque: a shakuhachi recital presented by Devon Osamu Tipp, April 15 at Vestige Concept Gallery

Vestige Concept Gallery in Lawrenceville will host "Translucid - Opaque: a shakuhachi recital presented by Devon Osamu Tipp" on April 15.

Please join us for an evening of traditional and modern music for shakuhachi, the Japanese bamboo end blown flute! Featuring works by: Chatori SHimizu
Emmanuel Berrido
Mark Micchelli
Devon Osamu Tipp
Vicente Alexim
& Kinko-ryu

The event starts at 7:00 pm and the suggested donation is $15. RSVP is encouraged at dvntshaku at gmail.com. Vestige Concept Gallery is located at 5417 Butler St. in Lawrenceville (map).

Slam Poetry with Asia Samson, March 23 at Pitt-Johnstown.

The University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown Program Board will present Slam Poetry with Asia Samson on March 23.

Since 2009, The Asia Project has toured over 2000 colleges with an acoustic music poetry act that has amazed audiences all over the country. On the microphone is Asia Samson: writer, poet and part-time ninja. He has been seen on HBO Def Poetry Jam and has shared the stage with such artists as Janelle Monae, Jill Scott, DMX, Mos Def, Dead Prez and KRS-One. Accompanying him on the guitar is his brother-in-law Jollan who uses music to create an atmosphere that brings poetry to emotional levels you would never expect. They have been featured on HBO Def Poetry, Button Poetry, TEDx, NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest, SoFar Sounds, Story Conference, and Entrepreneur’s Organization. They have worked with companies such as the US Military, Nokia, Disney, To Write Love On Her Arms and AEvolve. They have broken college-booking records for the most booked poetry act in the college market garnering them the awards of APCA College Performer of the Year and thrice APCA Spoken Word Artist of the Year.

The event starts at 8:00 pm in the Student Union at UPJ.

Poet Paul Tran at Pitt, March 28.

The University of Pittsburgh's Writing Program will have several events around visiting poet Paul Tran on March 28, open to the Pitt community. From their official site:

Paul Tran is the author of the debut poetry collection, All the Flowers Kneeling, published by Penguin. Their work appears in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Best American Poetry, and elsewhere. They earned their BA in History from Brown University and MFA in Poetry from Washington University in St. Louis. Winner of the Discovery/Boston Review Poetry Prize, as well as fellowships from the Poetry Foundation, Stanford University, and the National Endowment for the Arts, Paul is an Assistant Professor of English and Asian American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Events on the 28th include:

All events are open to members of the Pitt community

• 12pm Lunch and Q&A in CL 501
• 2pm Craft Workshop in CL B50
• 6pm Reading and book signing CL B50

Please reach out to Diana K Nguyen with any questions at dianakhoi@pitt.edu

The Unexpected Reader: an AAPI Writing Workshop, March 13 and 20.

JADED and WritePittsburgh will present "The Unexpected Reader: an AAPI Writing Workshop" on March 13 and 20.

In How to Read Now, Elaine Castillo presents the “unexpected reader” as the reader who “is not remotely imagined — maybe not even imaginable” by writers and publishers. As Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) readers and writers, how do we enter into a place that has historically excluded our stories? How do we create a referential world that holds in tension our differences?

The first class will be dedicated to reading to write better while contending with what may be keeping us from the page. We will work together to learn how to be porous and available to finding inspiration. 

The second class will be about translation — translation across language, translation across form. This class will coincide with artist (and co-founder of JADED) Anny Chen’s show at Bunker Projects, where we will write alongside her work.

The class will culminate into a zine launch and a reading (date and location TBD).

March 13th - Atithi Studios

March 20th - Bunker Projects

The class is only open to AAPI-identifying writers and will be capped at 12-15 students. Priority will go to students who can attend both classes. 

*Classes will be masked and vaxxed.*

The Instructor:

Elina Zhang is an Asian-American writer and organizer based in Pittsburgh, PA, where she received a Creative Nonfiction Writing MFA from the University of Pittsburgh. She was a 2023 Roots. Words. Wounds Fellow and a 2022 Periplus Fellow. She is also a member of the JADED Asian American artists collective.

Registration can be made online, and as the description says priority goes to those who can attend both sessions.

In Person Reading & Conversation: "Dust Child" by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai (w/ Cameron Barnett), April 8 at White Whale Books & Coffee.

White Whale Books & Coffee will present "In Person Reading & Conversation: 'Dust Child' by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai (w/ Cameron Barnett)" on April 8.

We're BIG fans of award-winning Vietnamese poet and internationally bestselling novelist Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai—The Mountains Sing was one of our favorite books of 2020 (and one of our customers' faves, too!). And we're very excited to welcome her to Pittsburgh on her national tour for her latest novel, Dust Child (out 3/14). She'll be joined in conversation by Chatham University's Emerging Black Writer-In-Residence and local author Cameron Barnett (The Drowning Boy's Guide to Water, Autumn House Press). We're grateful to the Chatham University MFA in Creative Writing for co-sponsoring this event.

Quế Mai will do a short reading from the book, talk about her research and writing process and perform her poetry in Vietnamese and English. She will also take your questions. She can't wait to see you, and is happy to sign and personalize your books.

"Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai will win many more readers with her powerful and deeply empathetic second novel. From the horrors of war and its enduring afterlife for men and women, lovers and children, soldiers and civilians, she weaves a heartbreaking tale of lost ideals, human devotion, and hard-won redemption. Dust Child establishes Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai as one of our finest observers of the devastating consequences of war, and proves, once more, her ability to captivate readers and lure them into Viet Nam’s rich and poignant history."—Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Sympathizer and The Committed

Contending with Monsters of Our Own Making with Jade Song, April 1 with City of Asylum.

City of Asylum will present "Contending with Monsters of Our Own Making with Jade Song" on April 1.

In this reading, novelist, writer, and art director Jade Song shares her visceral debut novel, Chlorine. This chilling and addictive work blurs the line between a literary coming-of-age narrative and a dark unsettling horror tale, creating a shrewd commentary on the trials of growing up in a society that puts monstrous pressure on young women and their bodies.

The novel centers on Ren Yu, a zealous swimmer whose daily life starts and ends with the pool. Her teammates are her only friends. Her coach, her guiding light. She aches to be in the water, dreaming of chlorine and imagining the chemicalized liquid will turn her into a mermaid—the creature of her obsessions. Pressure heaps upon Ren from every direction, from the boundary pushing of her overbearing and inappropriate coach, to the insistence of her parents that she get a scholarship and attend an Ivy League school. She finds ways to cope, though they are each as destructive and debaucherous as the last, plummeting her into a world of body dysmorphia and horror. All the while, the dream of a mermaid’s life remains: a life of dragging and drowning, of bringing would-be colonizers to their doom. A life of freedom and control.

Filled to the brim with shudder-inducing and intoxicating prose, Chlorine is a powerful, relevant novel of immigration, sapphic longing, and fierce, defiant becoming.

You can purchase your own copy of Jade’s book, Chlorine, at City of Asylum Bookstore.

The talk runs from 3:00 to 4:30, both in person at Alphabet City on the North Side (map) and online. Registration is required.

Kuniko Yamamoto and "Origami Tales" in Pittsburgh, May 19 - 21.

Kuniko Yamamoto and "Origami Tales" will be in Pittsburgh from May 19 to 21 as part of the EQT Children's Festival.

Welcome to the infinite world of Origami! In Japanese, ori- means "to fold" and -gami means "paper". Using origami, music and audience participation, storyteller Kuniko Yamamoto provides a magical entry into Japanese culture. In her show Origami Tales, mythological character masks and puppets, amazing flowers and a dragon – all made from origami – set the stage while Kuniko shares heartfelt stories from ancient Japan. Expect boundless imagination out of simple paper folding and an uplifting world of storytelling.

The performances will take place at the Trust Arts Education Center in the Cultural District (map). Tickets are available online.

Dr. Patrick Galbraith speaking about otaku culture, erotica manga at Pitt and CMU, February 21 and 22.

Dr. Patrick Galbraith will give two talks next week about otaku culture and erotica manga at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, respectively. He will speak on "Anime at War and Peace: On the Otaku Turn" on February 21 at Pitt, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm in 5201 Posvar Hall, as part of this term's Asia Pop Lecture Series. He will then speak at CMU on February 22, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm in Posner Grand Room 340, on "Erotic Comics in Japan: An Introduction to Eromanga."

Poet Paul Tran at Pitt, March 28.

The University of Pittsburgh's Writing Program will have several events around visiting poet Paul Tran on March 28, open to the Pitt community. From their official site:

Paul Tran is the author of the debut poetry collection, All the Flowers Kneeling, published by Penguin. Their work appears in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Best American Poetry, and elsewhere. They earned their BA in History from Brown University and MFA in Poetry from Washington University in St. Louis. Winner of the Discovery/Boston Review Poetry Prize, as well as fellowships from the Poetry Foundation, Stanford University, and the National Endowment for the Arts, Paul is an Assistant Professor of English and Asian American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Events on the 28th include:

All events are open to members of the Pitt community

• 12pm Lunch and Q&A in CL 501
• 2pm Craft Workshop in CL B50
• 6pm Reading and book signing CL B50

Please reach out to Diana K Nguyen with any questions at dianakhoi@pitt.edu

Bad Activist: Story, Song, and Spectacle with the "Vietnamese Lady Gaga" at Pittsburgh Humanities Festival, March 25.

The Pittsburgh Humanities Festival announced its line-up today and will feature "Bad Activist: Story, Song, and Spectacle with the 'Vietnamese Lady Gaga'" on March 25.

Bad Activist is a multimedia musical performance dramatizing the true story of singer-songwriter/activist Mai Khoi (dubbed “the Vietnamese Lady Gaga”) and her journey from pop stardom to purpose. Performed by Khoi herself, it incorporates storytelling, live video, archival footage, and original animation in a bold evocation of her past, present and future hopes.

Year of the Rabbit Lunar New Year Celebration and AAPI Art Show, February 3 - 19 at Radiant Hall in McKees Rocks.

JADED will present its Year of the Rabbit Lunar New Year Celebration and AAPI Art Show at Radiant Hall in McKees Rocks (map), starting with an opening reception on February 3 from 7:00 to 10:00 pm and running through the 19th.

🐉 JADED PGH @jadedpgh invites Pittsburgh-area AAPI artists to submit art for the Year of the Rabbit🐰 Lunar New Year Celebratory Art Show. 🔥

🐰🌕🥣In East Asian folklore, the rabbit/hare is deeply connected with the moon deity, pounding out the elixir of life, immortality, and in some areas, mochi, from its mortar and pestle. We are excited for the year of the Water Rabbit, a new year of drawing closer to community. 💖 🙌🏾🐇

👉🏾 Visual, written, audiovisual, spoken word, and performance work must be ready to hang, display, or perform. 🖊️ Submit your name, artist statement, image of work, title of work, date, medium, dimensions, discription, and price to jadedpgh@gmail.com by JAN 28. 👈🏾
Submitting multiple works is encouraged.

YEAR OF THE RABBIT 🐰 LUNAR NEW YEAR 🧧🌕 & AAPI ART SHOW

✨ RADIANT HALL STUDIOS ✨ @radianthall MCKEES ROCKS
FEB 3-19

✨ OPENING RECEPTION ✨
& EVENING OF APPI PERFORMANCES, SPOKEN WORD, & OPEN MIC 🎤
FRI FEB 3, 7-10 PM

Japanese puppet performance AKUTAGAWA in Pittsburgh, February 5; puppeteer panel discussion on February 7.

Pittsburgh CAPA will host two performances of AKUTAGAWA on February 5, followed by a puppeteer panel discussion on February 7. A synopsis of the performance, from the Japan America Society of Pennsylvania:

AKUTAGAWA is a stage portrait of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, father of the modern Japanese short novel and author of In a Grove, the basis of Akira Kurosawa’s landmark 1950 film Rashomon. Told through the traditional puppetry style kuruma ningyo blended with dynamic video images, AKUTAGAWA is an amalgam of five of his famous short stories—including Rashomon, Hell Screen (Jigokuhen), The Dragon, Toshishun and Kappa. The show explores the author’s artistic insight and fragile emotional state. This production is made through an international collaboration between puppeteers Koryu Nishikawa V (Tokyo) and Tom Lee (Chicago), with live music by Yukio Tsuji (New York).

AKUTAGAWA is supported by Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture) and The Osaka Community Foundation / anonymous fund No.22.

Tickets are available online at $28 for the general public and $18 for students or those under 18. The JASP says of the puppeteer panel discussion on the 7th:

Koryu Nishikawa V and Tom Lee will join Pittsburgh-based puppeteer David English in a panel discussing how puppetry can be a vehicle to express art and literature, as well as the cultural differences in the medium.

Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts is located at 111 9th Street downtown (map).

Dancing Peacock: An Asian Dance Performance by Yanlai Dance Academy, February 25.

Yanlai Dance Academy will present "Dancing Peacock: An Asian Dance Performance" on February 25.

Yanlai Dance Academy presents Dancing Peacock, an Asian dance performance. Dancing Peacock is Yanlai Dance Academy’s annual recital, featuring performances in styles and costumes from the mountain regions of Tibet, to the Dai minority group, and to the ancient caves of Dunhuang.

Yanlai Dance Academy is Pittsburgh’s leading dance studio in the art of Chinese dance. Founded in 2004 by Yanlai Wu, a graduate of Bejing Dance, Yanlai Dance Academy is the only studio in Pittsburgh that teaches Chinese dance. The studio also offers ballet, modern, K-Pop, and Pilates from ages 4 to adult.

The performance runs from 7:00 t0 10:00 pm and at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in downtown's Cultural District (map). Tickets are available online and range from $25 to $50.

"Intensional Particle and Mold 1 Installation," video installation by Hiroaki Umeda, through March 19 at Wood Street Galleries.

The work of Japanese artist and dancer Hiroaki Umeda will remain in Pittsburgh with his "Intensional Particle and Mold 1 Installation," a video installation on display at the Wood Street Galleries downtown through March 19.

In Intensional Particle Installation (Adapted Version), Umeda reinterprets particles in space as not static molecules but rather as 'active particles (or, mass points)'; and, visualizes, in space, the 'intensional force' that particles conceal.

Moon Rabbit Rave, Lunar New Year Bash, from JADED on January 21.

JADED, Pittsburgh’s first Asian American & Pacific Island (AAPI) artist collective, in collaboration with Stephanie Tsong will host Moon Rabbit Rave on January 21. This Lunar New Year's Bash at Cobra Lounge will feature local AAPI DJs, singers, artists, and more.

You all asked and so here we are throwing another JADED X FORMOSA party. Come dance the night away into the Lunar New Year with our amazing line up of ALL NEW AAPI heritage performers, dancers, and DJs!

Our Moon Rabbit Rave is inspired by the 2023 Lunar New Year Zodiac Element of the Water Rabbit. Based on cycles of the Moon, the lunar calendar starts in conjunction with the new moon. 

Every year there is a different zodiac animal sign combined with one of the five elements (metal, water, fire, wood, and earth) which predicts the year’s flow and rhythm. 

The rabbit in Eastern Asian cultures is a sign of longevity, peace, and prosperity. 

The water element will amplify psychic ability and negotiations in the new year.Come dress up in your best outfits to bring the best luck for the new year - rabbit themed of course and celebrate the Lunar New Year with us.

All of the money made that night will be solely going to pay all of Asian talent and creatives a competitive rate for their work!! Support AAPI ARTISTS by buying your ticket. 

DJs
FORMOSA (PGH)
Ciringe (NYC)

Performers
 Mai Khoi 
 MIMI Jong

Temporary tattoos and an interactive writing station
 Yang Zhen Lee

Video Visuals
Caroline Yoo and the Han Diaspora Group 

Poster by Ricky Chen

Tickets are $10 prepaid in advance at $10 at the door until 11 pm, and $15 after 11. Cobra Lounge is located at 4305 Main St. in Bloomfield (map). An introduction to Jaded, which kicked off its programming last year:

Named the 2022 People of the Year by Pittsburgh City Paper, JADED is Pittsburgh’s first Asian American & Pacific Island (AAPI) artist collective. Led by women and non-binary artists, Lena Chen, Bonnie Fan, Sara Tang, Caroline Yoo, and Elina Zhang, we create spaces for AAPI representation and empowerment. From large, public celebrations to intimate AAPI-only gatherings, JADED addresses the trauma of racial violence, reveals the hidden history of AAPI migration in the region, and offers mentorship and networking opportunities for our communities. Our upcoming socially engaged art initiative, KIN, supports women and queer AAPI folks through events and workshops uplifting the work of local filmmakers, writers, artists, and activists.

Founded by Anny Chen, Lena Chen, and Caroline Yoo, JADED has been featured in the Pittsburgh City Paper, 90.5 WESA, and The Pitt News. Our work has been supported by Carnegie Museum of Art, Office for Public Art, Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) Pittsburgh, Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) Pittsburgh, the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry and The Opportunity Fund. JADED was awarded Pittsburgh’s People of the Year in the Visual Arts Category at the Pittsburgh City Paper in 2022.

Tickets now available for Japanese puppet performances AKUTAGAWA, in Pittsburgh on February 5.

Pittsburgh CAPA will host two performances of AKUTAGAWA on February 5, followed by a puppeteer panel discussion on February 7. A synopsis of the performance, from the Japan America Society of Pennsylvania:

AKUTAGAWA is a stage portrait of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, father of the modern Japanese short novel and author of In a Grove, the basis of Akira Kurosawa’s landmark 1950 film Rashomon. Told through the traditional puppetry style kuruma ningyo blended with dynamic video images, AKUTAGAWA is an amalgam of five of his famous short stories—including Rashomon, Hell Screen (Jigokuhen), The Dragon, Toshishun and Kappa. The show explores the author’s artistic insight and fragile emotional state. This production is made through an international collaboration between puppeteers Koryu Nishikawa V (Tokyo) and Tom Lee (Chicago), with live music by Yukio Tsuji (New York).

AKUTAGAWA is supported by Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture) and The Osaka Community Foundation / anonymous fund No.22.

Tickets are now available online: $28 for the general public and $18 for students with valid student ID or those under 18. The JASP says of the puppeteer panel discussion on the 7th:

Koryu Nishikawa V and Tom Lee will join Pittsburgh-based puppeteer David English in a panel discussing how puppetry can be a vehicle to express art and literature, as well as the cultural differences in the medium.

Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts is located at 111 9th Street downtown (map).

Japanese puppet performance AKUTAGAWA in Pittsburgh, February 5; puppeteer panel discussion on February 7.

Pittsburgh CAPA will host two performances of AKUTAGAWA on February 5, followed by a puppeteer panel discussion on February 7. A synopsis of the performance, from the Japan America Society of Pennsylvania:

AKUTAGAWA is a stage portrait of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, father of the modern Japanese short novel and author of In a Grove, the basis of Akira Kurosawa’s landmark 1950 film Rashomon. Told through the traditional puppetry style kuruma ningyo blended with dynamic video images, AKUTAGAWA is an amalgam of five of his famous short stories—including Rashomon, Hell Screen (Jigokuhen), The Dragon, Toshishun and Kappa. The show explores the author’s artistic insight and fragile emotional state. This production is made through an international collaboration between puppeteers Koryu Nishikawa V (Tokyo) and Tom Lee (Chicago), with live music by Yukio Tsuji (New York).

AKUTAGAWA is supported by Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture) and The Osaka Community Foundation / anonymous fund No.22.

Tickets are not yet available, but those interested can pre-register to get more information later. The JASP says of the puppeteer panel discussion on the 7th:

Koryu Nishikawa V and Tom Lee will join Pittsburgh-based puppeteer David English in a panel discussing how puppetry can be a vehicle to express art and literature, as well as the cultural differences in the medium.

Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts is located at 111 9th Street downtown (map).