February 2020 Cultural Work Roundup

February is full of BIPOC arts and culture! Some of our community event highlights are below. Get out and support artists and cultural workers of color around town this month!

EVENTS

Saturday, Sunday, 2/1 -2/2: Listening to Silence – This performance is inspired by the artistic director’s long-time meditation on the ancient Rg Vedic poem 10.129 (Nasadiya) and various writings about silence by two authors - Rainer Maria Rilke and Jiddu Krishnamurti. The duet is a collaborative relationship of construction, de-construction, and re-construction of the Bharathanatyam vocabulary and rhythm, to explore the undefinable realms of silence. This piece is an invitation for audiences to consider the many subtleties of what silence is and can be. Especially of interest is the consideration of silence as a way of being that leads to the experience of the sacred, rather than something that one seeks only in times of troubles and need. Sat. 7:30 pm, Sun 4 pm, New Expressive Works, 810 SE Belmont St.

Sunday, Saturday, Sunday, 2/2, 2/8-9: 8-24-9 (Secret Asian Man) – 8-24-9 (Secret Asian Man) is a workshop performance consisting of a script in progress with several movement pieces. It explores the identity of a hyphenated American, a person born in the United States with roots from abroad. This piece is about 40 minutes with a post-show feedback conversation. 7:30 pm, O82 Community Space, 8188 SE Division St..

Thursday, 2/6: February First Thursday featuring VNPRT & Friends – Join us as we celebrate Black History Month and February First Thursday with live music, gallery openings and an artist reception featuring Portland-based DJ and musical curator VNPRT presenting a collaborative DJ set accompanied by live music featuring Omari Jazz, Soopah Eype, Shool Black, Harvey B, Charlie Brown III ​and special guests. 5 - 7 pm, Portland Center Stage at The Armory, 128 NW 11th Ave.

Thursday, 2/6: Oregonians and the State’s Racist Past, Present and Future – Abernethy Conversations About Race is hosting a free conversation with Tai Harden-Moore and sponsored by Oregon Humanities. Oregon has a long history of racism that continues to influence the state today. While we often look at how the state's racist history affects policies and institutions, we talk less about how it affects people's personal understanding of racism and racist experiences. What does Oregon's racist past mean for Oregonians? How does the state's history affect how bias shows up for individuals? 6:30 - 8 pm, 2421 SE Orange Avenue.

Monday, 2/3: The AGE Theatre Collective: Monthly Mondays – Monthly Mondays are gatherings to foster community among artists of color who identify as women, trans and non-binary. Each month the Collective gathers to discuss the current issues facing our community, to share art and stories, to skill-share and resource build, and to break bread together. 6 - 8 pm, Zidell Yards, 3121 SW Moody Ave.

Friday - Sunday, 2/14-16: Been Ready – For us in the Black community, we've always been told stay ready, so you don't have to get ready. Ready, as in ready for the discrimination, ready for the prejudice, ready for the racism. Well we are ready, we've been ready and now it's time to galvanize. Been Ready brings together our five personal experiences navigating conflicts that are inherently imbued with layers of race, gender and bias. With an inward focus we find what makes us ready. 7:30 pm, Sun 5 pm, PICA, , 15 NE Hancock St.

Saturday, 2/15: Year of Asé 2020 – Join Ori Gallery for a special anniversary exhibition to celebrate their moving into their 3rd year of programming in 2020! Come thru for a free party opening night or during regular hours through March 22nd! Artists and community partners will come together in celebration of Ori’s community and all we've achieved together over the past year. A fundraiser, yes, but more importantly a thank you to all of our artists, volunteers, interns, patrons and staff. Come make connections and foster strength for the liberation work we have ahead of us! 6 - 9 pm, Ori Gallery, 4038 N Mississippi Ave.

Wednesday 2/19: Nacer – Juracán+rubén garcía marrufo is a collaborative live audiovisual narrative that weaves the artists archive of video, film, sound and music into a history of loss and touch found in everyday border crossing. Presented by the Mobile Projection Unit. 7 - 8:30 pm installation and performance. Eastbank Esplanade, under the Burnside Bridge. More details with exact location can be found here.

Saturday, 2/22: Submission: BIPOC Edition –Thanks to a generous grant by Regional Arts & Culture Council, Submission Reading Series is able to present "Submission: BIPOC Edition." This reading features our two guest editors of color, Janice Lee (fiction) and Skyler Reed (poetry), as well as the winners of our BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color-only) open reading period, Juan Reyes (fiction) and Zaji Cox (poetry). This reading is free and open to the public. Light snacks and bubbly water will be served. Doors open at 5pm with the reading beginning at 5:30pm sharp.

Sunday, 2/23: Alternative Facts: The Lies of Executive Order 9066 – ALTERNATIVE FACTS sheds light on the people and politics that influenced the signing of Executive Order 9066, which authorized the mass incarceration of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans. The film exposes the lies used to justify the decision and the cover-up that went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. ALTERNATIVE FACTS also examines the parallels to the current climate of fear, attitudes towards immigrant communities, and similar attempts to abuse the powers of the government. 2 - 5 pm, PCC Sylvania Performing Arts Center, 12000 SW 49th Ave.

Saturday 2/29: The Journal of Ben Uchida: Citizen 13559 – In 1942, 12-year-old Ben Uchida and his family are forcibly removed from their home in San Francisco and imprisoned at Mirror Lake, an American concentration camp, along with hundreds of thousands of other Japanese-American families. In this unfamiliar place, removed from everything he once knew, Ben’s emotional journey is even more upsetting than his physical one. Originally commissioned by the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, this play details—with anger, despair, sadness, and hope—a dark chapter in this country’s history; it tells a story that is relevant, moving, and one that cannot be forgotten. Through March 22. More info can be found here. 2 pm, Oregon Chidren’s Theatre, Winningstad 1111 SW Broadway.





OPPORTUNITIES

Responsive Program Grants - The Responsive Program Grants enable nonprofit organizations and federally recognized tribes in Oregon to address urgent or timely issues in their communities. Awards of up to $1,000 are intended to center those most affected by a topic in order to elevate perspectives that have historically been undervalued and particularly to support programming based in and led by rural communities and/or communities of color. Programs can be in multiple languages or be in a language other than English; however, the final narrative reports must be in English. Proposals are reviewed on a rolling basis until the allocated 2020 funds ($15,000) are spent. More information can be found here. Or Contact information: Louisa Mariki, Program Coordinator, l.mariki@oregonhumanities.org, (503) 241-0543 x 117.

Immigrant Art Exhibition – First Presbyterian Church in Portland will be hosting an exhibition September and October 2020 focussed on the Immigrant experience for area artists born outside the U.S. Prize awards will be given to several participants and many artists will have their work on display during those two months. More information can be found here.

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 Coordinator Roshani Thakore at roshani@apano.org. Enjoy!