Events

Upcoming Events

September 30, 2009

Cheeni Rao
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Hatfield Room

Cheeni Rao - author of "In Hanuman's Hands" and founder of the Iowa Book Doctors - reads from his acclaimed memoir/novel that weaves together Hindu mythology and autobiography in order to tell his story of drug addiction and recovery on the streets of Chicago. Combining the magic realism of a Maxine Hong Kingston with Nelson Algren's world of substance abuse and petty crime, Rao's story spans 2,000 years of history as the sagas of his Indian ancestors find new wxpression in the U.S. of Rao's birth. At turns lyrical and haunting, "In Hanuman's Hands" takes a hard look at the perils of drug addiction and recovery even as it breaks new ground in the literary realm of autobiography.

You can check out a short video of Cheeni talking about the book at: http://www.youtube.com?watch?v=fTzYHwK8wlA

For more information contact Michael Chasar at mchasar@willamette.edu

This reading is sponsored by the English Department and the Center for Asian Studies.

October 3, 2009

Imada Puppet Troupe
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: Kaneko Auditorium
Free and open to the public

The Imada Puppet Theater, which performs the style of traditional puppetry commonly known as Bunraku, traces its history back to 1703. The Imada Puppets — along with the Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe — bring to America the spectacle, the music, the comedy and supernatural drama that has made Bunraku puppetry an enduring part of Japanese culture. The performance includes lively pieces from the traditional repertoire with live samisen music and narration in Japanese.

Headed by Tamon Sawayanagi, the Imada Puppets rehearse and perform regularly in their own theater, built in 1994 and expanded last year, which is located on the grounds of the Hachiman Shrine in the Tatsue area of the city of Iida.

The 2009 tour includes performances at Willamette, the University of Colorado, the University of Missouri and Princeton University.

Bunraku puppet theater is family friendly and appropriate for children ages six and older.

For more information call Pam Smith at (503) 370-6060.

November 3, 2009

Tiger Tracks: Poetry and Performance from Southwest China
Time: 4 pm
Location: Cone Chapel
Free and open to the public

Aku Wuwu, also known as Luo Qingchun, is a well-known poet of the Yi ethnic group in southwest China.  A professor of Yi Studies and ethnic minority literature at the Southwest Nationalities University in Chengdu, Aku hails from Mianning County, located along the Yalong River in the Greater Cool Mountains Yi Nationality Autonomous Prefecture in southern Sichuan Province.  Aku's unique contribution to the poetic world of China, is a corpus of poems written in the revised Northern Yi script - a system of writing based on the ancient Yi writing system, once used only by Yi ritual priests.  Aku both writes and performs his poems in Northern Yi dialect (also known as Nuosu).

For more information contact Professor Xijuan Zhou at (503) 370-6682

November 3, 2009

Lecture - Lao Textiles: Hand-woven Traditional Art as International Business
Prof. Carol Ireson-Doolittle
5:30 p.m. - Maicome silk textiles from Laos available for purchase beginning at 4pm.
Admission is $2 for Museum Members and $5 for Non-Members.
Speaker and sale will be in the Mission Mill Museum Dye House.
This event is co-sponsored by The Center for Asian Studies at Willamette University.

Vibrant textile traditions of Laos moved into the international arts world over a decade ago. After Laos emerged from years of communism, women entrepreneurs began building on this weaving tradition, adapting it for markets in Europe, Japan, urban Thailand, and the US. Several small, women-owned companies based in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, were among the first to successfully export these intricate hand-woven silk textiles. Prof. Doolittle and her co-researcher, Prof. Moreno, have been studying these companies since 2001.

Traditional techniques like supplementary weft, tapestry, and ikat enable Lao weavers to produce intricate textiles using motifs drawn from myth, nature, and everyday life. Each owner has blazed her own path as she converted this traditional craft into an international business. Each had to organize her own market research, recruit her own workers, and determine how to use elements of the Lao textile tradition. Many of their workers are one generation away from the peasantry and still support family members in their home village. Today, each company has developed its own market niche and continues to seek new markets.

Prof. Doolittle ends her talk by tracing the commodity chain of Lao textiles from Asian silkworm raisers and company weavers through the boutiques, art fairs, and exhibitions that reach consumers abroad. The silk textiles of one of these companies, Maicome (www.maicome.com), will be available for purchase both before and after Prof. Doolittle’s talk.

November 6, 2009

Red Chamber Ensemble
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: Cone Chapel
Free and open to the public

Red Chamber straddles traditional and contemporary, whether it be ancient Chinese string band music seldom heard in the west, bluegrass, or jazz fusion. These virtuosic performers set the stage on fire with hot licks, power and passion!

Red Chamber takes its inspiration from the traditional Chinese "Plucked String" repertoire that is seldom if ever heard in the west. Featuring only plucked strings, Red Chamber creates a unique sound while performing a repertoire that spans centuries, including transcriptions from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), to modern compositions. Red Chamber is exploring other genres of plucked string music like Bluegrass, jazz, and a host of other folk traditions.

This is an exciting ensemble of masterful musicians bringing a new sound on ancient instruments to the concert stage.

Sponsored by the Center for Asian Studies and the Grace Goudy Distinguished Artists Series

For more information call Pam Moro at (503) 370-6645.