February 2019 Cultural Work Roundup

/// February 2019 ///

We’ve got Lunar New Year, Black History Month, and so much more this month. Support artists and cultural workers of color by attending one (or many!) of the events below.



EVENTS

• Saturday, 2/2: BIPOC Placemaker Meet Up! – We are calling for this gathering of Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color (BIPOC) placemakers (artists, musicians, land tenders, community advocates, organizers, etc...) for us to share tools, resources, strategies and needs for us to thrive in our communities and in our places. For us to co-create a brave space to talk about the intersections of race and place and how we can leverage our resources collectively to build place-based empowerment. 10am-11:30am, Bison Coffee House.
• Saturday, 2/2: Black Feast: Love Letters – Black Feast is a culinary experience that weaves food into a celebration of Black artistry. Our February event, Black Feast: Love Letters, is inspired by visions of love from Black poets. Guests will experience four courses that act as culinary interpretations of poems of Morgan Parker, Dominique Christina, Safia Elhillo and Nicole Sealey. Tickets required. 6:30pm-8:30pm, Yale Union.
• Saturday, 2/2: Chinese New Year Cultural Fair – This is the biggest Chinese New Year Celebration in Portland. There will be Chinese Cultural Performances, including Lion Dance, Kungfu, dances. Ocean City, Lucky Strike, Bobablastic will be the food vendors at the event. This year we have a mini-olympics, there will be Ping pong, badminton, soccer, basketball, wushu and line dance for you to try out. Students and teachers from local Chinese schools will teach you how to do New Year Crafts and Mr. Tim Loh will teach you how to draw the pig. There will be a fortune cookie lucky draw, just open the cookie and you will have a chance to win Cash, Big TV, iPad, gift cards and many other prizes that are sponsored by local businesses. 10am-5pm, Oregon Convention Center.
• Sunday, 2/3: QTIPOC Draw Night – Draw, craft, chat with other Queer/Trans/Inter* People of Color! The venue has free parking, and light snacks and tea will be provided. 6pm-10pm, Independent Publishing Resource Center.
• Tuesday, 2/5: The Immigrant Story Exhibition and Opening Reception – The Immigrant Story is proud to present our newest exhibition, “Our Community, Our Stories,” honoring immigrants and refugees who are building new lives in our community. This exhibition features eight profiles, portraits and personal stories of Hillsboro immigrants and refugees. Our staff documented these stories in 2017 and 2018, chronicling journeys, the search for belonging, and the struggles these immigrants faced in their adopted country. 5:30-8pm, Hillsboro Civic Center.
• Wednesday, 2/6: OPT • Amenta Abioto [Video Release] • Brown Calculus at Holocene – Orquestra Pacifico Tropical, Amenta Abioto, and Brown Calculus perform to celebrate Amenta's new music video "Plant It,” an entryway into the world of plant magic and earth fantasy. 21+ / 8PM / $10 ADV / $12 DOOR. 8pm-11:30pm, Holocene.
• Thursday, 2/7: For Colored Folks – A book club geared to cultivating joy and empowerment for people of color. The book lists will include non-fiction written by POCs and some fiction as well. Hosted by Stay Litt. 7pm, Ruby Receptionists at Fox Tower, 805 SW Broadway.
• Thursday, 2/7: "Can We Get Along?" Conversation Project w/ Chisao Hata – In 1992, in the midst of riots sparked by the acquittal of police officers who brutally beat him, Rodney King asked, “Can we get along?” This iconic American question still resonates today. What is it that drives this question, and why can it be so difficult to answer? What holds us back from connecting with each other? How do our personal experiences contribute to—and have the potential to break down—these barriers? Join facilitator Chisao Hata as she holds space to examine our individual and collective questions on race, perspectives, and cultural values around what brings us together and what separates us. This conversation may include some hands-on activities. 10am-11:30am, Portland State University Office of Academic Innovation.
• Thursday, 2/7 - Sunday, 2/10: Here On This Bridge: The -Ism Project – "Here On This Bridge: The Ism Project" directed by Catherine Ming T'ien Duffly, is a 70-minute full production comprised of six short monologues exploring the intersections of race, gender, orientation and nationality, with stories specifically from Pacific Northwest perspectives. The monologues were developed in local workshops curated from a national submission process. All shows will include post-show discussions with audience members to bridge divides and create much-needed empathy, understanding and compassion. Various times, Portland State University Lincoln Hall.
• Saturday, 2/9: The Art of Numbers: Taxes and Bookkeeping Made Simple – This 3-hour workshop will provide information on taxes and bookkeeping for self-employed artists and creatives. Topics to be covered include: self-employment tax (what is it and how to calculate it), basic bookkeeping techniques with examples, an in-depth discussion of tax deductible expenses for self-employed artists, and tips on how to run a small business. There will be plenty of time for questions and answers, so come prepared with any questions that you have regarding your specific experience! 10am-1pm, Regional Arts & Culture Council.
• Saturday, 2/9: Lunar New Year Dragon Dance Parade 2019 – Usher in the Year of the Pig in Downtown Portland! Drummers, dancing lions, and a 100-foot dragon will parade from the Portland Chinatown Museum, through downtown Portland, and up to the Oregon Historical Society for an afternoon of performances and festivities. Parade begins with firecrackers at 315 NW Davis Street, around the corner from the Portland Chinatown Museum at 11:30. Afternoon performances at the Oregon Historical Society begin at 1:00.. 11am-3:30pm, Portland Chinatown Museum.
• Saturday, 2/9: Chifa : A Chinese-Peruvian Dinner Fundraiser for APANO – A multi-course dinner from Peruvian gastronomy pop-up by Executive Chef Ant S. - former ChicaVegan. - A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon - APANO. 7pm-9pm, Broad Space.
• Saturday, 2/9: Year of Ase – The Year of Ase (pronounced ah-shay from the Yoruba philosophical and spiritual concept meaning, to conceive the power to make things happen and produce change) is a gathering of artists, curators, creatives, community leaders/partners, and a fundraiser by and for Ori Gallery. Hosted by the charming and hilarious Carlos the Rollerblader, with performances by Bouton of The House of Flora, Guayaba, and DJ Larsupreme, this will be a celebration with bomb food, raffle prizes and an art auction. 6pm-10pm, DISJECTA.
• Friday, 2/15: IPRC Donor & Member Appreciation Party! – We’re having a Member & Donor Appreciation Party at Reverend Nat’s on 2/15. We’ll have a Valentines Day-themed print-pull and a FREE raffle for an array of prizes. 7pm-9pm, Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider.
• Saturday, 2/16 - Tuesday, 2/19: Lantern Viewing Evenings – Traditional lantern viewings close out Chinese New Year festivities, when the garden glows with hanging red lanterns illuminating sweeping roof lines and the lake reflects the light of a large illuminated 20 ft dragon lantern sculpture! 6:30pm-8:30pm, Lan Su Chinese Garden.
• Sunday, 2/17: Celebrating Our New Works – Made to Dance in Burning Buildings Performance & Reception hosted by AGE Women of Color in PDX Theatre Collective. On February 17th we will attend Made to Dance in Burning Buildings by Anya Pearson at Shaking the Tree Theatre with a private reception following the performance to discuss WOC produced and written theatrical works in Portland. 2pm-5:15pm, Shaking the Tree Theatre.
• Tuesday, 2/19: Japanese Women Artists Then and Now by Midori Yoshimoto – This talk will provide a historical overview of the emergence of women artists in the post-1945 Japan, with an emphasis on those who were part of the Gutai Art Association (1954-72), and those who left Japan for New York in the late 1950s and early 1960s (Yayoi Kusama, Yoko Ono, Shigeko Kubota, etc), and those who came to prominence in the 1990s (Mariko Mori, Miwa Yanagi, etc), and the 2000s (Tabaimo, Tomoko Sawada, etc). As a whole, the talk will illuminate the feminist implications of these artists' works and what impacts they have had on the current generation of women artists. 6pm, Portland State University Smith Memorial Student Union.
• Thursday, 2/21: Say Hey! by Partners in Diversity – Say Hey! is an evening program to welcome professionals of color who recently relocated to our region. Join us for a fun evening of connecting, celebrating and showing our newest neighbors that there's a rich and thriving multicultural community here. 5:30pm-8pm, PCC Cascade Campus.
• Friday, 2/22: Obsidian Stars - A Celebration of Black Lives – Art collective, Stay Litt, presents Obsidian Stars, a celebration of Black lives and our Art. We eagerly invite you to a night of laughing, dancing, stories, and signature cocktails. We will also be celebrating the 30th birthday of Stay Litt's Briauna McKizzie, so pull out your swankiest birthday hats. 8:30pm-1am, Sante Bar.
• Friday, 2/22: Whitenoise Project 18: Two Year Anniversary – Join Whitenoise Project as we begin our 3rd year amplifying Artists/Writers of Color and underrepresented voices, and celebrate POC-Centered Arts spaces with De-Canon's continued Residency at Milepost 5! 7pm-9pm, Milepost 5.
• Sunday, 2/24: Screening & discussion: For the Sake of the Children – Join the ACLU of Oregon, Portland JACL, Adelante Mujeres, Oregon Nikkei Endowment, and the Poston Community Alliance for screening of For the Sake of the Children and a post-screening panel discussion. For the Sake of the Children is a documentary exploring the legacy of the Japanese American incarceration, its impact on current generations who are descendants of families who were incarcerated, and the complex interplay of culture, racial prejudice, history, and intergenerational differences. 2pm-5pm, Portland State University Hoffman Hall.

OPPORTUNITIES

• APANO is hiring! APANO is hiring an Event and Community Space Manager. Find the position description and details on APANO’s website.

• Low cost creative work spaces available at Broad Space, a co-working collective for artists who identify as female or non-binary. Spaces start at $95/month for a hot desk! Email: JeanettePDX@gmail.com for more details.

/// More on the Cultural Work Roundup ///

The Cultural Work Roundup is a monthly spotlight on arts and cultural events and opportunities that:

• Directly relate to APANO's cultural work strategies to impact beliefs, actions and policies through centering the voices of those most impacted and silenced, resisting and shifting harmful narratives and ideas, and moving beyond defensive strategies to envisioning alternatives.
• Centralize the voices of Oregon-based Asian and Pacific Islander artists and/or artists of color.

Events may include readings, exhibitions, festivals, openings, and performances. Opportunities may include calls for artistic submissions, grant and funding opportunities, and volunteer opportunities. The deadline for submissions is the third Monday of each month for events and opportunities that fall into the following month. For example, events and opportunities that take place in June are due to APANO by the third Monday in May.



The Cultural Work Roundup will be posted on APANO's website and shared via APANO's digital communications platforms. Events and opportunities will be posted at APANO's discretion based on alignment with our cultural work values. You may submit to the Cultural Work Roundup by filling out our Google Form at bit.ly/culturalworkroundup.



If you have any questions, please contact Cultural Work Manager Candace Kita at candace@apano.org. Enjoy!