"An Evening of Balinese Shadow Puppet Theater: Tales from the Ramayana," April 13 at Pitt.

via volunteerbali.org

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Music will present "An Evening of Balinese Shadow Puppet Theater: Tales from the Ramayana" on April 13.

An Evening of Balinese Shadow Puppet Theater: Tales from the Ramayana features a pre-performance lecture by Dr. Meghan Hynson, puppetry by Ida Bagus Anom Suryawan assisted by Ida Ayu Kumalayoni, and Gender Wayang Music performed by Meghan Hynson, Yang Shuo, Wangcaixuan Zhang, and Annie Valdes.

The event starts at 8:00 pm in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium (map) and tickets are available for purchase online.

2018 Chinese film Girls Always Happy (柔情史) at Carnegie Mellon, March 31.

The 2018 Chinese film Girls Always Happy (柔情史) will play at Carnegie Mellon University on March 31, one of two Chinese movies playing at this year's CMU International Film Festival.

Wu is in her mid-twenties and lives with her mother in a traditional one-story house in one of Beijing’s hutongs. Both consider themselves to be writers, but success has so far eluded them. Their unhealthily close relationship is characterised by reproaches and quibbling; only during meals do they appear to lay down their verbal weapons. The situation escalates when both Wu and her mother hit an emotional low. Often compared to the fellow mother-daughter film, LADYBIRD, GIRLS ALWAYS HAPPY is both a funny and dramatic depiction of a complicated parent-child relationship, elevated by the charming performances of the two leads: An Nai and director Yang Mingming herself.

The movie starts at 4:00 pm in McConomy Auditorium and tickets are available online.

Korean film Burning (버닝) free at Pitt, March 29.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures will present Burning (버닝) on March 29, the final installment of this year's Korean Film Festival. The official site summarizes Burning:

BURNING is the searing examination of an alienated young man, Jongsu (Ah-in Yoo), a frustrated introvert whose already difficult life is complicated by the appearance of two people into his orbit: first, Haemi (newcomer Jong-seo Jun), a spirited woman who offers romantic possibility, and then, Ben (Steven Yeun, THE WALKING DEAD, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU), a wealthy and sophisticated young man she returns from a trip with. When Jongsu learns of Ben’s mysterious hobby and Haemi suddenly disappears, his confusion and obsessions begin to mount, culminating in a stunning finale.

It will be shown in 332 Cathedral of Learning from 6:00 to 9:00 pm and is free and open to the public.

"Lecture: Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, Amateur Architecture Studio," March 30 in Oakland.

Huang Gongwang Museum, via Architectural Record.

Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu of Amateur Architecture Studio will present the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Gold Medal Keynote on March 30 in Oakland.

Hear Wang Shu, Dean of the Architecture School at China Academy of Art, and Lu Wenyu, his partner and co-founder of the Amateur Architecture Studio, present the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Gold Medal Keynote.

Their firm utilizes a knowledge of everyday techniques to adapt and transform materials for contemporary projects. A unique combination of traditional understanding, experimental building tactics, and intensive research defines the studio’s approach.

The lecture runs from 5:00 to 6:00 pm at the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland (map) and is free and open to the public.

Taiwanese film More Than Blue (比悲傷更悲傷的故事) to remain in Pittsburgh through March 27 (at least).

The 2018 Taiwanese film More Than Blue (比悲傷更悲傷的故事) will play remain in Pittsburgh through at least March 27. The Osaka Asian Film Festival provides a synopsis of the film, a remake of a 2009 Korean hit, which opened in Pittsburgh on March 15:

It seemed like fate when solitary student Zhang Zhe-kai met a rebellious girl named Song Yuan-yuan. These two lonely high school classmates find they become inseparable when they lose their family but their connection blossoms into a beautiful relationship, not quite lovers but very dependent upon each other. She names him “K” and chooses the name “Cream” for herself. They live together and go to college together and eventually get jobs together at the same record company. They are the perfect couple. Things come to a standstill when “K” is diagnosed with leukemia but he’s more concerned about Cream and wants to ensure her happiness before his time runs out by helping her find love little realising she may have already found it…

A glossy remake of the 2009 Korean film of the same name, it proves to be a real tearjerker thanks to the persuasive performances of lead actors Jasper Liu (“Take Me to the Moon” – OAFF 2018) and Ivy Yi-Han Chen who sell the idea of fidelity and timeless love.

The movie is playing 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.

2017 Chinese movie Youth (芳华) at Maridon Museum, March 28.

The 2017 Chinese coming-of-age drama Youth (芳华) will play at the Maridon Museum in Butler on March 28 as the next installment of this spring's film series.

"Practicing Ambivalence: Taiko, White Women, and Asian American Performance," April 4 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Humanities Center will host Dr. Angela Ahlgren and her talk "Practicing Ambivalence: Taiko, White Women, and Asian American Performance" on April 4.

Experimental Percussionist: Tatsuya Nakatani, April 2 in Lawrenceville.

NextPittsburgh shares news of a Tatsuya Nakatani performance on April 2 at Gardenalia in Lawrenceville. Nakatani, based in the US since 1994, describes his work thus:

Nakatani’s approach to music is visceral, non-linear and intuitively primitive, expressing an unusually strong spirit while resisting genre. He creates sound with both traditional and extended percussion techniques. Utilizing his adapted bowed gong, drums, cymbals, singing bowls, metal objects and bells, as well as various sticks, kitchen tools, and his breath he manifests an intense and organic music that represents a very personal sonic world. His approach is steeped in the sensibilities of free improvisation, experimental music, jazz, metal and noise, and yet retains the sense of space and quiet beauty found in traditional Japanese folk music. His percussive instruments can imitate the sound of a trumpet, a stringed instrument, an electronic device…to the extent that it becomes difficult to recognize the source of the sound. He has devoted himself to a musical aesthetic where rhythm gives way to pulse, often in a way that is not always audible or visible, in currents that incorporate silence and texture. Nakatani’s primary music activities include solo percussive performance, his Nakatani Gong Orchestra (NGO), and collaborations with musicians and dancers both in live performance and recordings

The performance, featuring the WRiSt Trio, runs from 8:00 to 10:00 pm at Gardenalia, a garden shop at 3709 Butler St. (map). The cost is $10.

Upwardly Mobile Women in Urban China, March 29 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will present Dr. Arienne Gaetano and her talk "Upwardly Mobile Women in Urban China" on March 29.

Oakland's TW Kitchen (台味廚坊) soft opening, March 24.

A new Taiwanese take-out restaurant, TW Kitchen (台味廚坊), is having a soft opening on Sunday, March 24, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm.

Come celebrate our soft opening and stop by to taste some FREE food samples from TW Kitchen, featuring various signature Taiwanese dishes. Suggestions and comments are highly encouraged. :)

大家好！請於當天下午3點到6點來與我們一起慶祝。我們將有免費的餐點試吃。先到先得，供完爲止。謝謝！

**First come, first serve. Only until supplies last.

It is located at 192 N. Craig St. (map).