"Twilight World of Screens? Really? Women, Art, and Agency in Late Heian Japan" at Pitt, September 26.

The University of Pittsburgh's History of Art & Architecture will host Yale University's Dr. Mimi Yiengpruksawan and her talk "Twilight World of Screens? Really? Women, Art, and Agency in Late Heian Japan" on September 26.

For decades it has been a commonplace that the Buddhist art practices of the Kyoto elite in the 11th and 12th centuries were for the most part the preserve of a man’s world of statesmanship, faith, and patronage. Among the most influential of such patrons were Fujiwara no Michinaga, his son Yorimichi, and their circle of gentlemen friends. A close look at primary records of the period, such as the diaries of Michinaga and his associates, tells a different story and allows another picture of their world to come into view. We see that, in that world, women of the Fujiwara and Minamoto houses—Fujiwara no Senshi (Akiko), Fujiwara no Shōshi (Akiko), Fujiwara no Kanshi (Hiroko), and Minamoto no Rinshi (Tomoko) in particular—were the equals of these men if not their superiors in Buddhist arts patronage of their day. In this lecture Professor Yiengpruksawan provides evidence for this claim and then considers the role of modern analysis and interpretation of the Tale of Genji—a haunting story of love and loss written by Murasaki Shikibu during her years in service to Michinaga’s daughter Shōshi—as having skewed and even obscured our picture of women at the Heian court. Her hope is that, by drawing attention to the primary textual and visual records, and stepping away from generalizations about the lives of Heian women based on modern and often gendered commentary, we can break free of assertions that, compliant and servile, the Heian woman lived in what Ivan Morris once called “a twilight world of screens.” That Heian woman, it must be said, is not to be found in the actual historical and visual record, which delivers instead a woman of great vision and agency in the emergence of traditional Japanese culture, holding her own in a complex world of politics, and flourishing there.

It starts at 4:00 pm in room 202 of the Frick Fine Arts Building (map) and is free and open to the public.

New Chinese movie The Last Wish (伟大的愿望) in Pittsburgh, from September 20.

The new Chinese movie The Last Wish (伟大的愿望) will play in Pittsburgh from September 20.

A high school student suffering from muscular dystrophy is told that he does not have much time left. He is determined to complete a wish before dying: becoming a real man. When his two good friends, Xu Hao and Zhang Zheng Yang hear of this news, they spare no effort for their good friend's last dying wish.

It will play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and tickets are available online. The theater is located at 300 West Waterfront Dr. in the Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead (map), across the Monongahela River from Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, and the rest of Pittsburgh.

1989 Japanese film Tetsuo: The Iron Man (鉄男 Tetsuo) at Row House Cinema, October 13 - 17.

The 1989 Japanese film Tetsuo: The Iron Man (鉄男 Tetsuo) will play at the Row House Cinema from October 13 - 17. A 1992 New York Times review shares the story:

Early in Shinya Tsukamoto's film "Tetsuo: The Iron Man," a character identified only as a metals fetishist (Mr. Tsukamoto) scours a junkyard, slices open his thigh and sticks a piece of scrap metal into the wound. Gasping in ecstatic agony, he lurches into the street where he is nearly run over by a car driven by a white-collar worker called the Salaryman (Tomoroh Taguchi).

While shaving the next morning, the Salaryman notices a metal spike growing in one cheek. It is the first sign of his gradual transformation from a human being into a walking metal scrapheap of rusty metal plates, dangling cables and a rotating metal drill that extends from his groin.

. . .

"Iron Man" makes little sense as a story, but it is driven by a perverse sense of humor. As the Salaryman's transformation proceeds, it becomes increasingly hard for him to differentiate between his waking state and nightmares in which he is attacked by machinery.

Tickets and showtime information is not yet available. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

Poetry Reading : Takako Arai, September 18 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host a poetry reading with Takako Arai on September 18.

Please join us for a poetry reading by Takako Arai at the Humanities Center (Cathedral of Learning Rm 602) on September 18 at 4pm. Ms. Arai will read a selection of her poems in Japanese and with English translation. She is in the U.S. as part of The University of Iowa’s prestigious creative writing residency, the International Writers Program. Arai is known for writing socially engaged poetry. She writes in particular about the lives of working women as they are affected by such forces as globalization, economic decline, and the 2011 triple disaster in northeastern Japan.

Takako Arai was born in 1966 in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture to a family engaged in textile manufacturing, a traditional industry in Kiryu.

The event starts at 4:00 pm in 602 Cathedral of Learning (map) and is free and open to the public.

Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival (匹茲堡龍舟節), October 5 at North Park.

The annual Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival (匹茲堡龍舟節) will take place on October 5 at North Park.

The Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival is not only a fun day at beautiful North Park Lake, it's an amazing opportunity for friends, family, and co-workers to form community teams for friendly competition in genuine dragon boats! The 40 ft canoes are a sight to behold on their own, let alone when they're being paddled in sync by 20 people! The races are an excellent team bonding experience! And it's all for a great cause! Pittsburgh Hearts of Steel a Dragon Boat Racing Team for BCS (Breast Cancer Survivors) uses all proceeds to promote awareness and the benefits of the sport of dragon boating racing for breast cancer survivors. If you, or someone you love, has been affected by the disease, this is an awesome way to "do something about it"! There are also cultural demonstrations, food and marketplace activities that are free to the public! Join us to race, or join us to watch, it's a great day! More information on how to sign up a team can be found at:
www.pghdragonboatfestival.org

The event starts at 8:30 am and runs until 3:00 pm, with cultural demonstrations running from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. It will be held at and around the Boathouse at North Park Lake in the North Hills (map) and is free and open to the public.

Science on the Screen: Akira at Row House Cinema, September 19.

Row House Cinema will host CMU's Molly Wright Steenson to accompany the September 19th screening of Akira (アキラ).

Akira’s future has finally become present day! The 1988 film predicts life in Tokyo in 2019. Join us for a discussion with Professor Molly Wright Steenson from Carnegie Mellon University, who will be exploring the potential of Akira’s science fictions becoming reality. Sit back and enjoy watching the film with all that you’ve learned in mind!

The evening begins at 9:15 pm and tickets are available online. Akira is one of four movies playing from September 13 through 19 as part of Row House Cinema's Anime Film Series. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

Chinese calligraphy workshop downtown, October 12.

"Chinese calligrapher," by David Boté Estrada (Creative Commons).

The downtown branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will host a Chinese calligraphy workshop on October 12.

A Chinese calligraphy expert will show us pictures of her home in China, give background on the art of calligraphy, and lead a Chinese calligraphy workshop for all ages! No registration is necessary for these sessions. Seating for all workshops is available to 20 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. You’ll want to come early to be sure you MAKE it on time.

The event runs from 2:30 to 4:30 pm. The Downtown & Business branch is located at 612 Smithfield St. (map).

Japanese/Chinese restaurant to replace China Palace in Shadyside.

Shadyside's China Palace closed in July after nearly 30 years in business, and handwritten signage went up to announce a Japanese / Chinese restaurant will fill the space at 5440 Walnut St. Below that sign, and slightly obscured by the fold, is another note that says both the China Palace and Mt. Everest cuisine will be available; Mt. Everest sushi is the name of a restaurant in Oakland.

"We Are Here: Asian Pacific Islander American Artists in Pittsburgh" part of Gallery Crawl in Cultural District, September 27.

by @pattytran.art

The exhibition "We Are Here: Asian Pacific Islander American Artists in Pittsburgh" at the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council is part of this month's Gallery Crawl through the Cultural District on September 27.

Although Asian Pacific Islander Americans (APIA) have been present in Pittsburgh since the 1870s and represent an ever-growing community in the city and in the country at-large, APIA’s continue to struggle for representation. This exhibition aims to provide visibility for this community: for the first time in Pittsburgh’s history, every exhibiting artist in "We Are Here" identifies as APIA. While some of these artists create work directly informed by their race, family backgrounds, and sociopolitical history, all possess an identity created in the context of omission and discrimination.

By giving a physical space for viewers to look at and engage with these artists’ work, we hope to set a precedent for the local art scene, educate the larger public, develop dialogue, and voice that "We Are Here," we have been here, and we will continue to create.

All art will be for sale. The event is free but online RSVP is required. It runs from 5:30 to 8:00 pm on the 12th in the GPAC Big Room on the 7th floor of 810 Penn Ave. (map).

"Sonic and Visual Trajectories: Taiwan's Pop Music in Chinese-Speaking Asia," September 26 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Marc Moskowitz and his talk "Sonic and Visual Trajectories: Taiwan's Pop Music in Chinese-Speaking Asia" on September 26.

Taiwan's popular music has shaped China's music and culture to a surprising degree. The roots of Taiwan's music industry can be found in the 1930s Jazz era in Shanghai. Sixty years later, Taiwan was the hub of the Chinese-language pop music industry--a sonic movement that shaped CHinese understandings of music, gender, and individuality in the contemporary age. Today, music videos and mash-ups that are posted to YouTube (and its Chinese counterparts Youku and Tudou) demonstrate cultural proximity between China and Taiwan that reveals both shared cultural understandings and ongoing regional tensions that arise out of their distinctive pasts.

The talk starts at 5:00 pm in 144 Cathedral of Learning and is free and open to the public.