Showing posts with label Social Justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Justice. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
Back When It Was Said To Me I Had No Right...


Recalling some exhibitions and memories:

I was born and raised in Newark NJ in the Black, Puerto Rican and downtown neighborhood, apart from the Chinatown that barely existed back then.  My family’s laundry was four blocks from the area where the riots of 1968 broke out. When Black students took over the law building on Rutgers local campus I was with them. When many years later my father mentioned that someone came by the laundry, said something was going to happen that evening, and he need only take a chair and sit outside in front of his plate glass façade, and nothing will happen to his store. Clearly this was a planned uprising, not a riot. When AAAC mounted the Ancestors exhibit an Asian American artist said to me I had no right to do such a show. I knew I had every right.  


Dr. Alan Crite created a body of work that recorded life in the South end of Boston. He started working as an artist for the US government through the WPA. For decades he worked with African American churches. He mentored and encouraged many African American artists.  Artists at Northeastern University would call him father. He took under his wing the artist Lotus Do and she is forever grateful for his mentorship.  As board member and chair of The Association of American Cultures (TAAC), I brought Alan Crite to their bi-annual national conference, to promote and generate the collection of papers and oral histories documenting the relations between African and Asian American individuals and communities. Unfortunately we never received the support of foundations to continue this.

 

 Ancestors: a Collaborative Project with Kenkeleba House

This public exhibition was designed to encourage the act of paying homage, not only to one’s own ancestors but those of our neighbors, the ancestors of another people. It paid tribute to all America’s forebears, whether they be Asian, African, European, Latin American, or Native American.   By focusing on two, Asian and African American ancestors, it recognized that the rites and beliefs of diverse people permeate society as a whole and that acts of homage are fundamental to the development of the sense of community.  

“…we recognize the wealth of our heritage as Americans and encourage the act of paying homage

 to all the Ancestors of this Land”

Organized by Corrine Jennings & Robert Lee

Mounted at Kenkeleba House 214 East 2ed Street & at Asian American Arts Centre 26 Bowery

Artists Participating: 24, including several Afro-Asian artists and five Afro-Asian Collaborating artists.

Exhibition Flyer for “Ancestors,” Asian American Arts Centre, 1995.

 

Participating artists in Ancestors:

Camille Billops                                               Lotus Do Brooks  

Roy Hiro Calloway                                         Albert V. Chong      

Simone Leigh                                                  Richard Mafong

Sana Musasama                                              Helen Oji

Howardena Pindell                                         Yoland Skeete

Thomas Vu Daniel                                          Anton Wong

Elaine Wong                                                   Lily Yeh

Lui Lan Ding / Robert Craddock                    Eunju Kang  / Charles Burwell                        

David Higginbotham / Toshinori Kuga          Hyon Joo Kim / Prestone Jackson

Lisa K. Yi  / Faith Ringgold 

 

Simone Leigh

Untitled. Salt fired stoneware, 2006. Approximately 25 inches high.

 

                                             *                                     *                                      *


 In 1987, several African American artists participated in the four-part Mind’s I exhibition.  Robert Colescott, Alison Saar, Benny Andrews and Albert Chong, an Afro-Asian artist, participated with several other diverse artists. The accompanying essay noted: that the African American novelist Richard Wright, wrote of psychological siege as a normal state for persons of color.  

 

Albert Chong

Aunt Winnie's Story      30x20 inches    1995   thermal transfer print on canvas with incised copper metal 

 

                                                     *                                         *                                     * 


 In “Betrayal/Empowerment I” held at Columbia University’s Teachers College in 1994 its written, “one of the stories of Asians in America is a story of betrayal.  Carlos Bulosan, a renowned Filipino novelist wrote as early as 1938 of the condition of the pinoy (Filipino) as one of betrayal. “  This is suggestive of a kinship between an African and Asian American sensibility.

  

 

Joseph Goto                                        Untitled #21 ,                   1979   welded steel 

 Sui Kang Zhao                        Fluorescent Pamphlet 1992   Fluorescent light, pamphlet, transparencies

 

                                           *                                        *                                          *


 In “We Count! The State of Asian Pacific America” in 1993, held in the Court House, adjacent to City Hall the catalogue essay “Towards an American Covenant With Difference” stated: …a national program should be implemented to promote a cultural/artistic dialogue, such that the gaps in understanding and communication between diverse peoples and traditions that has existed for so long are overcome. Such a program would prioritize diverse organizations and artists.  It would be based upon major initiatives to reverse the racial precepts and exclusionary policies of preceding decades. It would recognize an American covenant with difference is an important precondition for participation in an interdependent world.”    http://artasiamerica.org/artist/detail/71

 


Dolly Unithan

Banners of Martyrs (Victims of Police Violence)         348x40 inches       1993      site-specific installation

  

                                            *                                               *                                                *

 

 The theme of ancestors continued with The Reintegration of Tradition into Contemporary Art in 1999 where it points to, “…what cultures share in their spirituality without raising their separate characteristics.  The three sectors that describe American life (the marketplace, deliberative processes of democracy, and the civic sector) may have omitted their dependence on the fourth.  Their roles in the public arena cannot do their work without a mindfulness of the ‘larger silence’, and the great diversity of beliefs this republic has yet to encompass.”  A material and secular society tends to overlook the higher realm where spirituality and its silence tends to be drowned out by the noise and commotion of the chaos endemic to modern political processes. 

 

Hisako Hibi

Topaz         16x20 inches         1945      oil on canvas       Created in Topaz, UT

  

                                                   *                                     *                                     *

 

 In 2007 the exhibition Mixed Skin was held with Kip Fulbeck, Dorothy Imaguire & Toni Thomas and essays by Teresa Kim & Albert Chong, artists of mixed Asian descent & mixed African roots made manifest proudly this question of mixed identity.  To celebrate the identity of Hapa as a heart centered relationship, a basis for family, and for society’s diversity, was something AAAC could do.

 


Dorothy Imaguire  

Hapa, Sansei Project, 1992, Pastiche Kimonos, Mixed 3rd generation Japanese American project creating kimono garments from fabrics representing an individual’s ethnic heritage.

 

 

                                *                             *                              *      

 

 Yes, we were celebrating Asian and African relations and cultural ties. We were recognizing a similarity in the mental impact of oppression both faced.  We acknowledged the issue of skin and the hurdles it placed before us. We stated policies back in 1993 government policy makers should commit to. Maybe now is the time to revive the memory of those actions, to realize actions and decisions that could indeed move toward the kind of changes that are potentially viable today.  

 

Many mistakes were made, particularly in underestimating how a material and secular society tends to close itself from the higher realms where spirituality resides, and its silences tend to be drowned out by the noise of a competitive democracy. In a fringe organization like AAAC we could take advantage of being an outsider, saying things no one else was saying, pointing to cultural relationships that were being ignored, but that did not move our actions to be adopted.  We could only raise for viewers these ideas expressing our concerns. What audiences want and what the situation calls for is quite different today.

 

            *                      *                      *                      *                      *

 

As a senior community arts organization we thank you and are grateful for your support. We encourage you not to forget such elder organizations.  Even in the midst of all that we are going through, we are going through this together, so please keep us in mind.  Your support  and your donations are very much welcomed and needed.  Your skills and your time may be of great value to us.  Please do not hesitate to contact us. In this regard we invite you to donate to Asian American Arts Centre (see artspiral.org for donation link) or to one of the three elder arts organizations of your choosing below.

These are dear friends that you may already know.  Otherwise we invite you to get to know them. 

Towards intergenerational and intercultural elan: 


DONATE

 

Kenkeleba House

214 East 2nd Street, New York, NY 10009    (mail check to this address)

www.kenkeleba.org       

Corrine Jennings

 

Great Leap

Suite 300 1730 W. Olympic Blvd      Los Angeles, CA 90015 

http://www.greatleap.org/   (see link at end of website to donate)

Nobuko Miyamoto

 

Brandywine Workshop and Archives

730 South Broad Street  Philadelphia, PA, 19146

 https://brandywineworkshopandarchives.org/  (see website to donate)

Allan Edmunds

 

 

With Kind Regards, 

Bob Lee

 

Artspiral.org                            Artasiamerica.org                

 


Read more
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Rally for the Arts!!


On April 3rd, an assortment of artists gathered at New York City Hall in order to protest against Donald Trump’s plan to exterminate all outlays for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), and the Institute of Museum of Library Services (IMLS).

A View From the Outside
Photo by Baie Rogers
Inside
Photo by Bob Lee
As explained in a previous post about the NEA, the Federal Budget in 2016 was approximately $3.871 trillion; both the NEA and the NEH spent around $148,000,000 within the budget, which is, according to Washington Post’s Philip Bump, is only 0.03% of the overall budget — The NEA gave $14.5 million to 419 groups in New York City last year. However, Trump’s administration still wants to relocate money away from domestic (art) programs, and towards security and defense  — the proposed budget increases the two departments by $54 billion overall. 

The Rally to Save the Arts united a wide spectrum of artists who represent both the visual and performing arts: independent artists, the Asian American Arts Centre, the Actor’s Equity Association, New York Musician’s Union, and The Poetry Society of New York are some examples. 
Chuck Yeun, Whose Work is Featured in the AAAC's Permanent Collection, Attended the Rally
Photo by Bob Lee
Dion Chen Supporting the Actor's Equity Association
Photo by Bob Lee
DANCE EDUCATION FOR EVERY CHILD!
Photo by Baie Rogers
There were also some highly prestigious guest speakers, such as Queens Councilman and chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee, Jimmy Van Bramer. “President Trump’s budget is an unprecedented and vicious assault on the arts, the humanities, libraries,” he said. “President Trump talks a lot about making America great again, but you can never make anything great again by crushing its soul.”
Sami Shumays (Left): Founder and Director of Zikrayat -- Peter Koo (Right): Councilman (D-Flushing)
Photo by Bob Lee
Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne also spoke at the Rally. He viewed Trump’s plan from a more economic lens. “You may hate the arts. You may hate the stuff that people paint and the theater that they do, but do you want to lose all those jobs? Do we want to kill this part of the economy? That’s just completely stupid.” He extends his argument in a self-written blog post, entitled What Good Are the Arts?:
“A recent study called Arts and Economic Prosperity found that nationally the non-profit arts (we're not talking about Broadway shows, pop concerts, video games, movies or the art world) generates $135.2 BILLION in economic activity in the US… In 2013, the production of arts and cultural goods added more than $704 billion to the U.S. economy. This amounts to 4.23% of GDP. The arts and cultural sector contribute more to the national economy than do the construction, agriculture, mining, utilities, and travel and tourism sectors.”
ALTERNATE FACTS
Photo by Bob Lee
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito recalled the cultural impact the arts had left on her. “I came here at the age of 18, but my mother made it a point to take us to museums, to take us to the theater.” She later added, “Art and culture enhanced my life, gave me a perspective, an understanding of the world we live in, of our collective wellbeing, that we are not in this alone. That we can reach across the aisle and learn about other cultures, create a sense of understanding and camaraderie.”
SAVE THE ARTS Written in Five Languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Scottish Gaelic
Photo by Baie Rogers
The Protester Who Held the Sign SAVE THE ARTS in Five Languages
Photo by Baie Rogers
Actress Ciara Renée defended the arts by highlighting it’s more psychological impact. She said that the arts is a “collaboration of what is with what can be” and a “connection to something higher and more powerful than any stagnation or destruction and abundance, a surplus…Does that sound bad to you?” she said. “So it’s a wonder why the powers that be wanna take an ax to it, stop it in its tracks when it’s already placed at the bottom of the totem pole of existence?”

Jelani Remy, who portrays Simba in Broadway’s The Lion King, contributed his own personal stories relating to how important the arts were to him as a kid. He then lead the crowd, outside City Hall, in a rendition of “Over the Rainbow.” 

"Below is a picture of a high school senior who, when asked which of the arts she attributed to saving her life, she said, 'The visual arts.' I had a feeling that I had just taken a picture of the most profound sign at the Rally. So, let me thank Sara(h) for taking her picture." -Bob
ART SAVED MY LIFE
Photo by Bob Lee 
To quote Jimmy Van Bramer, "He [Trump] has come for artists and the cultural community today but first, the president came after Mexicans, then Muslims, then immigrants—including the undocumented—then it was the trans youth of our country, then the health of millions of Americans with Trumpcare and now he comes for us. But he was defeated on Trumpcare, wasn’t he? Because of rallies just like this. People taking to the streets saying that we will not accept this, this is not who we are. We are better than this.”

 National Priorities Statistics: https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/


Read more
Monday, March 27, 2017
no image


In recent news, (President) Donald Trump has announced plans to exterminate the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), as well as the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH), in an attempt to balance the Federal Budget. According to National Priorities Project, the Federal Budget in 2016 was approximately $3.871 trillion. According to their websites, both the NEA and the NEH spent around $148,000,000 within the budget, which is, according to Washington Post’s Philip Bump, is only 0.03% of the overall budget. Despite these statistics, Trump believes that these organizations should still be defunded, and even terminated.

The defunding of the NEA and NEH could lead to devastating consequences, especially for community-oriented 
artists and organizations, as Dr. Marta Moreno Vega explains in her article entitled, “Eliminating the NEA Will Disproportionately Hurt Communities of Color”:

“Slashing federal art funding will not only have a disproportionate effect on organizations of color, it will also further limit access to funds at the city and state levels. Those communities with the most need for arts and culture programs stand to lose big from these measures.”

To put this idea into perspective, she highlights efforts made by the Caribbean Cultural Center (CCCADI). They had held an annual event, “Trade/itions: Trans-Atlantic Orisha Sacred Traditions,” last February, that attracted “hundreds of members of the African Diaspora from across the U.S. and the Caribbean.” There, they framed “Black sacred and cultural traditions as key elements in the movement for social justice.” Community gatherings, on that scale, would be possible without the held of federal funding — the NEA partially funded the event. Now, with the NEA under threat, community-based organizations and events will be in serious trouble. She provides further explanation:

“According to a 2011 research report by Holly Sidford for the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, the top 2 percent of American arts organizations with budgets over $5 million are those that receive significant foundation grants.
These organizations predominantly focus on Eurocentric arts. Very few organizations ‘rooted primarily in non-European aesthetics, or founded and run by people of color [have budgets of over $5 million].’ Only 10 percent of grant dollars benefit art groups that represent the ethnic and cultural diversity of the nation.”

These cuts extend beyond marginalized communities, and may effect state and city institutions. “Slashing federal art funding,” Vega writes, “will not only have a disproportionate effect on organizations of color, it will also further limit access to funds at the city and state levels. Those communities with the most need for arts and culture programs stand to lose big from these measures.” This means that schools who provide programs, as well as training for educators, that aim to enforce multicultural experiences, will be a victim. 

“Beyond the financial implications,” Vega writes, “eliminating the NEA would exact a symbolic toll. Trump’s budget proposal clearly outlines, in his view, what aspects of human experience are worthy of our taxpayer dollars—war, yes; art, no. It also seeks to define who gets to speak, who has the right to culture, and who has a license to creativity. It silences and de-values many of the individuals that have built this nation.” Authentic representation of different marginalized communities — elite institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Lincoln Center only scratch the surface of the rich and complex narratives each individual artist holds. 

The Asian American Arts Centre lived from 1976 to 2009. We survived, and were able to squeak by largely because of NEA funding, particularly the Expansion Arts Program — which got cut and, eventually, eliminate because of Senator Jesse Holmes. The program was the watchwork for who we are, and who we continue to be: a cultural institution deeply rooted in, and a part of, our community.

To quote Vega, “It is the responsibility of each of us to call, write, demonstrate, and stand up to the attempts to silence our freedom. We must speak louder than ever through our creativity, our art. Anything else would be an affront to our nation’s promise of embracing the full spectrum of human experience.”

The full article can be found here:
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-eliminating-nea-will-disproportionately-hurt-communities-color

Read more
Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )