United States Of Asian America Festival

Sat, May 6
GALA OPENING. Saturday, May 6, 5-8 pm.
FREE

The Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center (APICC) proudly presents
its 9th ANNUAL UNITED STATES OF ASIAN AMERICA FESTIVAL! This year we
are showcasing 13 Asian Pacific Islander artists and organizations
that exemplify the best in dance, music, visual art, theater and
multidisciplinary performance. The Festival runs from May 5 - June
24, 2006. Most events take place at the SomArts Cultural Center, 934
Brannan St, San Francisco, but many are at other venues throughout
the city. Please visit our website at www.apiculturalcenter.org for
more details about each event.

GALA OPENING. Saturday, May 6, 5-8 pm. SomArts Cultural Center,
free. Please join the artists, cast, and crew of the United States
of Asian America Festival 2006 and National Queer Arts Festival 2006
for their co-hosted Gala Opening event. On view in both the Main
Gallery and Bay Gallery will be the exhibition, Hope and Healing in
Times of War. Performers for the evening include: Asian American
Dance Performances; Dysfunction-al comedy performers; and a special
appearance by danceNAGANUMA.
For more information, please visit our website:
www.apiculturalcenter.org.

VISUAL ART EXHIBITION: Hope and Healing in Times of War. May 6 -
June 24. Exhibition addresses the urgent question: How do artists,
as individuals and as members of diverse communities, spread hope
among the population during a time of increasing violence, political
conflict and war? This collaborative visual art exhibition, co-
curated by APICC and QCC, brings together some of the Bay Area's
outstanding artists intent on bringing about positive social
change. Artists include: Kim Anno, Tomie Arai, Bernice Bing, Nancy
Hom, and Flo Oy Wong. (SomArts Gallery hours: Tue - Fri 2 - 7 pm,
Sat 1 - 5 pm; free).
DANCE: Nguyen Dance Company presents Beauty. May 5, 8pm. Nguyen
Dance Company explores romantic relationships, personal struggles,
and the differences that exist between genders, cultures and
lifestyles. Music composed by lil-t (Tyler Crosser) and movement
choreographed by Danny Nguyen and Tiffany Barbarash. (SomArts;
admission: $16 general, $12 students & seniors; (415) 864-4126).
COMEDY: Dysfunction: API Comedy Showcase. May 12, 8 pm. A high-
stakes, high-spirited night of hilarity showcasing the wit, insight,
and dysfunction of the best and the brightest of Asian Pacific
Islander standup comics. Featuring Ali Wong, Samantha Chanse, Tony
Dijamco, Sheng Wang, and Nico Santos. (SomArts; admission: $16
general, $12 student & seniors).
DANCE/MUSIC/THEATER: Linking Rings presents Lion's Gate. May 19, 8
pm; May 20, 2 pm. Fusing music, dance and theater, the group Linking
Rings presents Lion's Gate: A Tribute to Chinatown Nightclubs of the
'40's and 50's, bringing to life the dazzling legacy of nightclubs
that once attracted audiences to San Francisco's Chinatown. This
production will feature members of the current group, Grant Avenue
Follies, and individuals who were part of the Chinatown nightclub
scene during its heyday. (SomArts; admission: $16 general, $12
students & seniors).
YOUTH/MULTIDISCIPLINARY: Kularts presents Kul d'Etat. May 20, 8 pm;
May 21, 2 pm. New-school cabaret performance works by Pilipino
American artists groups, Sons and Rhapsodistas. Come see, listen,
and move to a polyglot of poetics, live music, urban dance, and
theatre which showcases the local talents of our "myspace"
generation. Kularts, founded in 1985, is a premier presenter of
contemporary and tribal Pilipino arts. (SomArts; admission: $12
general, $10 students & seniors).
MULTIDISPLINARY PERFORMANCE: kaotic good productions presents Robert
Karimi and Ala Ebtekar in Man/Mardaan. May 25 and 26, 8 pm. In
their quest to understand their own manhood, performance artist
Robert Farid Karimi and visual artist Ala Ebtekar collaborate to
create a live visual and performative encounter. Karimi recreates
characters from personal interviews with Iranians and those from
other cultures on how they perceive Persian masculinity and how that
influences their relationships, politics, and sexuality, while
Ebtekar creates installations and paints live his own thoughts on the
matter. With support from the Zellerbach Family Fund. (SomArts;
admission: $12 general, $8 seniors & students).
MULTIMEDIA PERFORMANCE: Asian Improv aRts presents Anida Yoeu
Esguerra in Living Memory/Living Absence. May 27-28, 8 pm. In her
multimedia work, Cambodian American artist Anida Yoeu Esguerra traces
her poetic fears of returning to her birth country after 25 years of
absence. Esguerra performs poetry with movement inspired by Butoh
set against a video backdrop of the sites and sounds of her memories
of Cambodia. Anida Yoeu Esguerra is a multidisciplinary artist whose
work mixes the visual, spoken, and written into performed
investigations of hybrid identities. (SomArts; admission: $16
general, $12 students & seniors).

CO-SPONSORED EVENTS AT OTHER VENUES:

VISUAL ART: Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA) presents:
Earthquake: The Chinatown Story. April 3 - September 18. Anecdotes
collected from survivors and their descendants, as well as newspaper
accounts, photographs, and artifacts demonstrate the impact of the
1906 quake on the Chinese American community. James Leong: Then and
Now. April 18 - August 20. Bay Area native James Leong's vision of
Chinese America was embodied in his mural One Hundred Years' History
of the Chinese in America, now in the CHSA Learning Center. Includes
works from his studio in Seattle and during the years after his
Chinatown mural. Extending: Sharing Art & Culture in China (Art
Panel). May 18, 7 pm - Free! In October 2005, mixed-media artist
Flo Oy Wong led an arts and cultural exchange to China, visiting
universities, colleges, and art academies in Beijing, Xian, and
Shanghai. Flo, along with artist/curator Lenore Chinn and Allison
Chop will share their experiences and show images from gallery
exhibitions. (CHSA, 965 Clay St; museum admission: $3 general, $2
seniors & students, $1 under 17. FREE first Thursday of every month.
Hours: Tue - Fri 12 -5 pm, Sat & Sun 12 -4 pm, closed Monday. For
info: (415) 391-1188 or ).


PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW AND BOOK RELEASE: Kip Fulbeck in Part Asian, 100%
Hapa. May 13, 8 pm. Exhibition Opening to welcome the release of Kip
Fulbeck's new book, Part Asian, 100% Hapa. Answering in their own
words the repeatedly heard question, "What are you?", the hapas
depicted in Fulbeck's portraits offer simple but profound statements
of identity. The exhibition offers a new perspective on the ever-
growing hapa population. Kip Fulbeck has been making films and art
about Hapa identity since 1990. Event sponsored by Chronicle Books.
(Space 180 Gallery, 180 Capp St; free. Exhibition runs from May 11 -
June 11).
VISUAL ART: Queer Cultural Center presents Shigeyuki Kihara and Dan
Taulapapa McMullin in Le Vasa: Sea Changes. June 3, 6 pm.
Exhibition Opening: Samoan-Japanese fa'afafine/transgender performer
and conceptual artist Shigeyuki Kihara from New Zealand joins
California-based Samoan painter, poet, and filmmaker Dan Taulapapa
McMullin at The Center Gallery for an opening night performance and
reception. (The Center Gallery, 1800 Market St; admission: free. For
info: (415) 865-5555 or ).
MUSIC: Asian Improv aRts presents Jon Jang Seven. June 6, 8 pm. The
Jon Jang Seven in a CD release concert for their new recording, Paper
Son, Paper Songs, and the premiere of a new solo piano work by Jang,
Solo, So Long Phil (in memory of Phil Elwood). (Intersection for the
Arts, 446 Valencia; admission: $12 - $20 sliding scale. For info:
(415) 626-3311 or www.theintersection.org).
DANCE: Asian American Dance Performances presents Translations:
Dancing the Intersection of Race, Gender, and Sexuality. June 9 -
11, 8 pm. A dance concert hybrid that explores the intersections of
gender roles and blurred expectations, fluid sexuality, and Asian
Pacific Islander heritage through new translations of dance
vocabulary. Featured Asian Pacific Islander dance artists include:
Bay Area's Nature Theater of Oklahoma, Nguyen Dance Company,
Twincest, and Vispo Dance; with national guests Chinawind Dance &
Arts, danah bella, and Christopher K. Morgan/Muse: Innovative Dance
Theater. (CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission St; admission: $15-$20 sliding
scale. For info: (415) 435-7552 or ).
MULTIDISCIPLINARY PERFORMANCE: The Lab presents (a)eromestiza and
SpaceSuperStar in Dimension of IS: A Spectacular Future. June 9 -
10, 8 pm. A hybrid live performance co-created by Heather Cox
Carducci and Gigi Otalvaro-Hormillosa, in collaboration with Elise
Baldwin and Eliza Barrios. Incorporating science fiction, sound,
video, and installations to create an expansive world, the artists
speculate about the (d)evolution of America's role as a "super" power
beyond earth, and provides a critical perspective about America's
Military Industrial Complex by questioning its role in outer space.
(The Lab, 2948 16th St at Capp: admission: $10 - $20 sliding scale.
For info: (415) 864-8855 or ).

Venue:

Somarts Cultural Center
934 Brannan Street
San Francisco
415-864-4120

Additional Info:

415-864-4126
www.apiculturalcenter.org