Yayoi Kusama in situ: A screening of KUSAMA: INFINITY, July 22 at Mattress Factory.

The Mattress Factory - Museum of Contemporary Art will host "Yayoi Kusama in situ: A screening of KUSAMA: INFINITY" on July 22.

This event will celebrate world renown artist Yayoi Kasuma with a screening of the biographical documentary Kusama: Infinity and educator-led tours of Kusama’s permanent installation at the Mattress Factory. Ticket price includes light refreshments, drink ticket, and entry to other exhibits in the main building.

The event runs from 6:30 to 8:30 pm and tickets are available online. The Mattress Factory is a contemporary art museum that features two permanent exhibitions from Kusama, located at 500 Sampsonia Way on the Northside (map).

Fundraiser continues for Pittsburgh Chinatown marker.

The online fundraising continues for a plaque to mark the site of Pittsburgh's Chinatown, which was granted state historical landmark status earlier this year. The Organization of Chinese Americans has raised $3,402 of the desired $7,000 so far: $5,000 will go toward the plaque itself with $2,000 going toward a celebration planned for the fall.

2020 Japanese animated movie Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] III. spring song (劇場版「Fate/stay night [Heaven's Feel]」III.spring song) in Pittsburgh, July 18 and 20.

TThe 2020 Japanese animated movie Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] III. spring song (劇場版「Fate/stay night [Heaven's Feel]」III.spring song) will play in Pittsburgh July 18 and 20. From the distributor:

The thrilling Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] trilogy comes to its incredible conclusion with the release of the final chapter, Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] III. spring song, on the big screen!

1998 Hong Sang-soo film The Power of Kangwon Province (강원도의 힘) online via Row House Cinema, through July 17.

Row House Cinema presents the 1998 Hong Sang-soo film The Power of Kangwon Province (강원도의 힘) online through July 17.

Presented in a beautiful restoration and newly translated, Hong Sangsoo’s breakthrough second feature, THE POWER OF KANGWON PROVINCE, is an early masterwork from the prolific filmmaker. Playing with structure, perspective and time – elements that would become hallmarks of his later work – the film follows a young woman, Jisook, who, fresh off her relationship with a married man, joins two girlfriends for a vacation in the mountainous Kangwon region and quickly makes the same mistakes, tumbling into bed with a married policeman. The film then shifts to her ex, Sangwon, who happens to be visiting the same region at the same time, and threatens to cross Jisook’s path.

Rental is $12 with some proceeds benefiting the single-screen theater in Lawrenceville.

Mongolian heavy metal band The Hu in Pittsburgh, September 17.

Mongolian heavy metal band The Hu will play the Carnegie Music Hall in Homestead on September 17.

In 2019, an NPR story put a spotlight on “a band from Mongolia that blends the screaming guitars of heavy metal and traditional Mongolian guttural singing,” accurately highlighting the cultural importance and unique musical identity of The HU. Founded in 2016 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, The HU, comprised of producer Dashka along with members Gala, Jaya, Temka, and Enkush, are a modern rock group rooted in the tradition of their homeland. The band’s name translates to the Mongolian root word for human being, and their unique approach blends instruments like the Morin Khuur (horsehead fiddle), Tovshuur (Mongolian guitar), Tumur Khuur (jaw harp) and throat singing with contemporary sounds, creating a unique sonic profile that they call “Hunnu Rock.”

Tickets for the 8:00 pm show are available online from $32 (plus fees). The Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead is located at 510 E. 10th Ave. in Munhall (map).

Documentary The Witches of the Orient, on Japanese women's volleyball team in the 50s and 60s, online via Row House Cinema from July 30.

The Row House Cinema will present the 2021 documentary The Witches of the Orient online from July 30.

How does a Japanese women’s volleyball team from the late 1950s become an international sensation, feminist role models, the subject of a wildly popular comic book and a still-influential anime?

This stranger-than-fiction story is dynamically told by Julien Faraut (JOHN McENROE: IN THE REALM OF PERFECTION), with an ironic twist on the original demeaning moniker, Oriental Witches. A group of Osaka textile workers are transformed into a fiercely competitive volleyball team by their astonishingly ruthless coach whose unconventional techniques emphasize speed and aggression. A record-setting winning streak and a dramatic 1964 Tokyo Olympics triumph follow. Wonderful archival footage of the women in training and on the court, animated versions of their championship games, and moving interviews with the women today are set to a pulsating electronic score.

It will be available to rent and view online from the 30th, with a portion of proceeds benefitting the single-screen theater in Lawrenceville.

Japanese guitarist MIYAVI at Thunderbird Cafe, October 22.

Japanese guitarist MIYAVI will play the Thunderbird Cafe on October 22.

Takamasa Ishihara (石原 崇雅), better known by his stage name Miyavi (雅), is a Japanese singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer and actor. He is known for his finger-slapping style of playing a guitar. He has been active since 1999, first as guitarist for the now defunct visual kei rock band Dué le Quartz and then as a solo artist starting in 2002. In 2007, he became a member of the rock supergroup Skin and in 2009 founded his own company, J-Glam. He toured worldwide several times, with over 250 shows in 30 countries as of 2015.

Tickets for the 18+ show are available online from $30 (plus the multitude of fees); doors open at 7 pm, show starts at 8 pm. The Thunderbird Cafe & Music Hall is located at 4023 Butler St. in Lawrenceville (map).

Sushi Kim 2 opening soon downtown.

Sushi Kim, which closed its famed Strip District sushi and Korean restaurant in late-2019, has announced a Sushi Kim 2 coming soon to downtown. It will be located at 110 Smithfield St. (map). In 2020 it announced Sushi Kim 2 Go for N. Craig St. in Oakland, but the storefront there remains empty.

2020 Japanese movie Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train (劇場版「鬼滅の刃」 無限列車編) remains in Pittsburgh through July 14.

The 2020 Japanese animated movie Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train (劇場版「鬼滅の刃」 無限列車編), which opened in Pittsburgh on April 22, will remain here through at least July 14. A synopsis of the top-grossing film in Japan last year, from the theaters:

Tanjiro Kamado, joined with Inosuke Hashibira, a boy raised by boars who wears a boar's head, and Zenitsu Agatsuma, a scared boy who reveals his true power when he sleeps, board the Infinity Train on a new mission with the Fire Pillar, Kyojuro Rengoku, to defeat a demon who has been tormenting the people and killing the demon slayers who oppose it!

It will play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront, and tickets are available online; please note, some shows are in Japanese with subtitles while others are dubbed in English.

Cleveland Zoo suing Pittsburgh Zoo over Asian Lantern Festival.

via @pghzoo

The Cleveland Zoo is suing the Pittsburgh Zoo over the latter's upcoming Asian Lantern Festival, which is alleged to infringe on the longstanding festival in Cleveland.

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo went to court Friday in a fight over one of its biggest annual attractions, the Asian Lantern Festival.

The Metroparks filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Cleveland to stop the Pittsburgh Zoo from using the same name and similar marketing material for an event it is planning later this summer. The filing seeks a temporary restraining order and an injunction.

The Pittsburgh version is scheduled to run from August 14 through October 30. I've written before about how an Asian lantern festival, at least one inspired by the annual festival in Jinju, South Korea, would be an excellent use of the city's rivers.