ElevAsian: Honoring AAPI Experiences Spring 2021 Programs
Exhibition and Virtual Festival | Asia North 2021: A Celebration of Art, Culture and
Community
April 10 - May 15, Station North Arts District and Online Co-presented with Central Baltimore Partnership
Celebrate art, culture, and the Korean history and heritage of Baltimore’s Charles
North community. Regional AAPI artists and organizations present an exhibit and virtual
festival including artist talks, performances, cooking demonstrations, and art workshops.
Asia North 2021 schedule
Asia North 2021 Exhibition
April 10 - May 15
Virtual: VIEW EXHIBIT HERE Launching on April 10, the exhibit will be on view online and in socially distanced
locations throughout the Station North Arts District, including Motor House, Joe Squared,
SNF Parkway Theatre, North Avenue Market, Impact Hub, and Nancy by SNAC.
Featured artists include: Reed Bmore, Cheng Cao, Molli Chang, Anu Das, Marlo De Lara,
Gloria Tseng Fischer, Farhad Heidarian, Margaret Huey, Linda Kato, Jinyoung Koh, Sunjin
Lee, Jing Ma, Hadrian Mendoza, Miki + Dolor + Van Ngo + Hsiao-Chu Hsia, Sookkyung
Park, Grace Ren, Slothpotato, Nahid Tootoonchi, , Anjali Wells, Andersen Woof, and
Nikita Yogaraj.
Asia North 2021 Virtual Kick-Off
Saturday, April 10, 4 p.m. ET
REGISTER/JOIN The virtual kick-off event features a video tour of the exhibit in Station North and
performances and presentations by Greater Baltimre/DMV artists, including salmunori
and pansori by Korean Performing Arts Academy of America (KPAAA), FilAm artist Derrick
Quevedo, Sughra Hussainy (Afghani and Islamic miniature painting, calligraphy and
illumination), Henna artist Ambika Ramsundar, and Jorgelina Lopez (contemporary home
décor using Japanese textile techniques). Handiasporia blues musician and producer,
EN’B, concludes the program with their performance of a fusion of Korean and R&B music.
Night Market Online
Saturday, April 10, 6:30 p.m. ET
REGISTER/JOIN Charm City Night Market presents a Night Market Online cooking demonstration with
Brown Rice.
Virtual Workshop: Exploring Identity through Culture
Saturday, April 17, 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. ET
LEARN MORE/REGISTER AA&CC and the Asian Pasifika Arts Collective (APAC) co-present this virtual workshop
led by artist, Lek Vercauteren Borja, on Saturday, April 17 at 1pm. Participants create
collages from their personal and cultural experiences.
Virtual Concert: Dong Xi - The Way
Wednesday, April 21, 8 p.m. ET
REGISTER/JOIN Chao Tian and Tom Teasley bring Chinese dulcimer and world percussion together in
conversations based on the Taoist philosophy of Wu Wei, meaning “action through inaction.”
Register/Join the event here
Virtual Workshop: Zinemaking 101
Friday, April 30, 7 p.m. ET
LEARN MORE/REGISTER During this happy-hour virtual workshop with Margaret Huey, learn about the creativity,
community, and action we can enact with zines, a cheap, accessible, and fun way to
share information and stories.
Virtual Workshop: Making Stories with Where We’re From
Friday, May 7, 7 p.m. ET
LEARN MORE/REGISTER During this happy-hour virtual workshop with artist Margaret Huey, build your visual
and written storytelling skills from your own memories, experiences, and knowledge.
Festival artwork by Ameena Fareeda.
Asia North 2021 partners, sponsors, and supporters include Asian Arts & Culture Center,
Central Baltimore Partnership, Station North Arts District, Motor House, Joe Squared,
SNF Parkway Theatre, North Avenue Market, Impact Hub, Nancy by SNAC, Charm City Night
Market, Asian Pasifika Arts Collective, E. Rhodes & Leona B. Carpenter Foundation,
Maryland State Arts Council, Yoshinobu & Kathleen Shiota, William G. Baker, Jr. Memorial
Fund, Citizens of Baltimore County, AA&CC Members, TD Bank, BB&T/Truist, PNC Bank,
WYPR, Guppy Management Services, Community Housing Partners, Mike Shecter, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore Kawasaki Sister City Committee, Baltimore Changwon Sister City
Committee, and Brown Rice.
Lek Vercauteren Borja’s mixed media works explore the personal and social impact of
Spanish colonization and American imperialism on the Filipino experience. Vercauteren
Borja weaves history with personal experience to draw out broader contemporary Filipino
American stories of identity, displacement, trauma, survival, resilience, and belonging.
Artist Talk | Meet the Artist: Lek Vercauteren Borja
Thursday, February 11, 6:30 p.m. Virtual: Register Here (Free)
Celebrate the launch of Anak (My Child) with a talk by multimedia artist, Lek Vercauteren Borja, who discusses her dynamic
and ethereal mixed media works and the experiences that inspire them. Vercauteren
Borja emigrated from the Philippines to the U.S. with her family at age 10 and has
since moved through the world many times feeling displaced. She uses art to return
to those moments in order to better understand them and their effect on shaping her
as a person.
Exhibition | Phaan Howng: A Bag of Rocks for A Bag of Rice
Exquisitely disposed rocks and trees and vegetation. The promise of an inspired space
of meditation and detachment. Such has been of the Westernized image of the Chinese
and Japanese garden. Yet, such enchanted “natural” spaces camouflage the histories
of empire, wealth, privilege, exploitation, ecological extraction, and displacement
behind their creation. Phaan Howng’s site-specific installation engages East Asian
gardens as a case study of the dynamics embedded within these private spaces.
Workshop | Year of the Ox Chinese Paper-cut Art with Cheng Cao
Premieres Friday, February 12 Virtual: View Here (Free)
Celebrate the Lunar New Year with artist Cheng Cao who will introduce you to Chinese
paper-cutting, or jianzhi (剪紙), a folk art that originated in China around the 6th century CE. Learn how to
craft a paper-cut ox. Materials needed: Red paper, pencil, eraser, and scissors. Presented by the Asian
Arts & Culture Center for the Walters Art Museum's Virtual Lunar New Year Celebration.
Virtual 50th Anniversary Fundraiser | Salu-Salo: A Filipino American Cultural Feast
“Salu-salo” is a Filipino word for gathering and eating together. Prepare yourself
a Filipino meal and join the AA&CC for a virtual salu-salo featuring a cook-off with Sony Florendo, Chef Mike Ledesma (Perch RVA and InstaBowl
RVA), Chef Rey Eugenio (Heritage Kitchen), and their takes on favorite Filipino recipes;
music by Kulintronica and Diwa de Leon who have creatively electrified traditional
Filipino instruments; a virtual tour with ANTHILL Fabric Gallery in the Philippines;
and an Asian Arts & Culture Center 50th Anniversary cocktail.
Panel Discussion | Filipino American Diaspora: Self-Representations Emerging from
the Shadows
Tuesday, March 9, 7 p.m. Virtual: Register Here (Free)
How do poetry, art, oral histories and research convey the complicated histories of
Filipino Americans, the fourth largest migrant group in the United States? With over
400 years of colonization and invisibilization, Philippine migrants continue to create
a sense of the homeland in their new countries. Gain invaluable insights into Filipino
American experiences with poet, Luisa A. Igloria; artist, Lek Vercauteren Borja, and
authors E.J.R. David and Dwight Ong. Scholar and artist, Marlo DeLara moderates the
discussion.
Exhibition & Virtual Festival | Asia North 2021: A Celebration of Art, Culture & Community
Exhibition: April 10 - May 15, Station North Arts District and online Virtual festival kick-off: April 10 Co-presented with Central Baltimore Partnership
Celebrate art, culture, and the Korean history and heritage of Baltimore’s Charles
North community. Regional AAPI artists and organizations present an exhibit and virtual
festival including artist talks, performances, cooking demonstrations, and art workshops.
Are you a parent or caregiver looking for a creative and challenging STEAM* activity
to engage kids at home? Are you a teacher in search of a project to teach remotely
that integrates art, social studies, and engineering? Order our Wishes in the Wind
Korean Kite Kits. Each kit contains kite paper, bamboo kite spars, kite string and
spool, illustrated instructions, STEAM info, and more. Contribute to building bridges
across cultures with your purchase. *Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math
Past Events
Gallery Talk and Opening Reception | Meet the Artist: Phaan Howng
Thursday, September 17, 6:30 p.m. VIRTUAL
Celebrate the opening of Bag of Rocks for a Bag of Rice with an opening reception and talk by artist, Phaan Howng. Virtually experience the
immersive gallery space while chatting with the artist about her process and the issues
that compel her work.
If you require captioning during the event, please submit your request to asianarts AT_TOWSON by Sept. 14.
Workshop | Forest Bathing: Nature's Therapy
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 10 a.m. VIRTUAL
Reconnect with nature and your mind, body, and spirit from your own yard, nearby park,
or even your house! Naturalist and Forest Therapy Guide, Ana Ka’ahanui, guides you
through the experience of shinrin-yoku (“forest bathing”), a recent Japanese practice invented in the 1980s and based on
Shinto and Buddhist reverence for nature. Adapted for our new world of social-distancing,
this session will help you decompress and prepare you to adapt to and even thrive
in an ambiguous and ever-changing world.
Storytelling Festival | Our Stories Virtual Festival
Thursdays, October 1 - November 5, 7 P.M. VIRTUAL: Click on dates below to register
Celebrate our common humanity and the unique beauty of diverse experiences during
this 6 week international community festival. 27 individuals from Baltimore to Bengaluru
share their personal and cultural stories about life in quarantine, racism, relationships,
social justice, empowerment, persistence, mortality, immigration, identity, courage,
loneliness, and sustainable living through narrative, music, art, animation/video/short
film, and more.
If you require captioning during the event, please submit your request to asianarts AT_TOWSON at least 48 hours before the event.
Lopamudra Mohanty (Mumbai, India) “God’s Own Carpenter”
Goutam Bansantani (India) “Mysterious Room”
Lavanya Prasad (Bengaluru, Karnataka, India) “The Maharaja’s Whim”
Shreya Biswas (India) “Devotion of Salabeg”
Asia North 2020 Art & Music Exchange: A Celebration of Art, Culture & Community
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 7 p.m. VIRTUAL
This livestream event will feature art talks and performances by multidisciplinary
artist Marlo De Lara (a.k.a. marlo egglant), hip-hop duo S.N.R.G. (Some Never Really
Get), and visual artists Andersen Woof and Vidya Vijayasekharan. Asia North is a collaborative
community celebration that recognizes, showcases, and honors the art, culture and
the Asian heritage of Greater Baltimore, especially the Korean history of Baltimore’s
Charles North community. Asia North 2020 features an online art exhibition, Tradition - Memory - Transformation, which showcases the works of 25 regional Asian and Asian American artists, and a brief
history of Koreatown. Co-presented with Central Baltimore Partnership.
If you require captioning during the event, please submit your request to asianarts AT_TOWSON by Oct. 13.
Join artist, Phaan Howng; scholar, Natasha Myers; botanical garden planner, Nicole
DeFeo; and Herring Run Nursery assistant manager, Mary Lewis; as they deconstruct
how ideal aestheticized gardens reflect power relations between humans and nature.
Rethink how gardening practices can be mobilized to create more environmentally sustainable
futures.
If you require captioning during the event, please submit your request to asianarts AT_TOWSON.edu by Oct. 16.
Join Blue Water Baltimore and Phaan Howng to learn how you can help restore habitats
for struggling pollinators by strategically planting native plants. Discover the how
and why of pollinator gardening and its connection to watershed health. Learn how
to design your own pollinator garden and digitally share your design with other workshop
participants.
Continuing Programs
Family Arts Days
The AA&CC collaborates every semester with TU’s Community Art Center to engage families
in experiencing and making art through drop-in art activities, performances, interactive
gallery experiences, and story time.
TU Pin Peat Ensemble (Cambodian Classical Music)
The AA&CC and TU Department of Music teamed up to offer the TU Pin Peat (Khmer classical
music) Ensemble led by master Cambodian musician, Chum Ngek. Through this course,
which was established in spring 2017, TU students expand their artistic and cultural
horizons while contributing to the preservation and longevity of a tradition that
was nearly decimated during the Khmer Rouge era in Cambodia.
Special thanks to the Maryland State Arts Council, Citizens of Baltimore County, and
AA&CC members for making this initiative possible.
Asia in Maryland (AIM) Cultural Connection
This ongoing project highlights exhibitions, performances, workshops, artist residencies,
and online resources featuring local Asian arts and culture in Maryland communities
. It also incorporates The Asia in Maryland (AIM) Cultural History Project, an interdisciplinary
studies course combining ethnography and oral history to explore, understand and document
Asian arts and culture in Maryland. Student research informs Center programming. In
fall 2015, we initiated the “Connection” with an exhibition, performances, workshops
and family days introducing local audiences to the living Khmer art and culture in
the Mid-Atlantic region.
Asia in Maryland (AIM) Cultural History Project
The Asia in Maryland (AIM) Cultural History Project (IDFA 480/580 Interdisciplinary
Fine Arts Special Topics Seminar) is an interdisciplinary studies course in Towson
University’s College of Fine Arts & Communication. This course combines ethnography
and oral history to explore, understand and document Asian arts and culture in Maryland.
Students identify their own research topic and conduct independent research with guidance
from the instructors throughout the semester. Topics can include art, music, dance,
theater, foodways, costumes, healing arts, martial arts and more. Students create
a portfolio of their research as a culminating project at the end of the semester.
Student projects will be used in programs at the Asian Arts & Culture Center.