FALL 2018
Exhibition | Asia in Maryland: Expressing Cross Cultural Experience
September 7 - December 8, 2018 (closed NOV. 21 - 25)
ASIAN ARTS GALLERY, CA 2037
CENTER FOR THE ARTS
MEET THE ARTISTS / Opening reception: SEPT. 6 | 7:30 - 9 p.m.
Maryland is among the most diverse states in the U.S., with over 350,000 residents
tracing their ancestral roots to Asian countries such as China, India, Iran, Japan,
Korea, the Philippines, and more. A significant number of these residents are artists
who practice and share their skills for personal and community growth and expression.
In addition, our global culture has also enabled many Maryland artists of non-Asian
origins to become inspired by and proficient in Asian arts and culture.
This exhibition brings together the work of artists in Maryland who are Asian, Asian
American, and other artists whose work has been inspired by Asia to explore the rich
connections among art, Asia, and Maryland. The works express, illustrate, and address
a broad range of themes including assimilation, climate change, colonization, gender,
identity, indigenous culture, Islam, memory, nature, racial othering, and representation.
Among the 34 artists featured in the show are Shanthi Chandrasekar, Yoshi Fujii, Habib
Hastaie, Yumi Hogan, Myungsook Ryu Kim, Isabel Manalo, Vidya Vijayasekharan, and others.
Admission is free.
Gallery Hours during exhibition: Monday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Special Event: Taste of Tuva
saturday, September 15, 6 - 9 p.m.
tu south campus pavilion (INDOORS)
Acclaimed artist Joyce J. Scott hosts an evening of nomadic and urban vocal arts with the Alash Ensemble, throat singers from the Central Asian state of Tuva, and Baltimore musicians, Shodekeh and J Pope. Enjoy a Tuvan-inspired dinner and silent auction while supporting the Asian Arts
& Culture Center at Towson University. TU’s South Campus Pavilion is fully enclosed.
TICKETS: $50 - All proceeds will benefit the AA&CC.
Performance: Stories Danced, Stories Told
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2 P.M.
Baltimore County Public Library - Towson Branch
Join the Sutradhar Institute of Dance & Related Arts for an afternoon of storytelling
through dance. Discover how Ganesha found wisdom at the paws of a cat, why a woman
saint gave up a throne to enter a jungle and more. Come see what the Washington Post
calls “poetry in motion”.
Admission is free.
Audio-Visual Performance with Q&A | Alif Laila: Music, Art, and Emotion
SATURDAY, October 20, 7 P.M.
HAROLD J. KAPLAN CONCERT HALL
CA 3042, CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Join visual artist and musician, Alif Laila, for an audio-visual performance, introducing
the South Asian aesthetic theory of rasa, one that evokes emotions through the visual,
literary, and performing arts. Enjoy melodic ragas, while viewing projections of Ms.
Laila’s watercolors. A question and answer session with the artist will follow the
performance.
TICKETS: $20 Regular Price, $15 AA&CC Members, $10 non-TU students, $5 TU students with valid OneCard. www.tuboxoffice.com
Community Event: Family Arts Day
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, NOON - 4 P.M.
CENTER FOR THE ARTS ATRIUM AND GALLERIES
Drop-in for an afternoon of hands-on art activities, interactive gallery tours, story
time, and more inspired by the current exhibitions in the Center for the Arts galleries
and Asian Arts and Culture Center. The day’s activities are designed and guided by
Towson University students, faculty and staff. Visitors of all ages welcome!
Partners: TU COMMUNITY ART CENTER, Asian Arts and Culture Center, TU Community Dance,
Cook Library, Center for the Arts Galleries, Department of Art + Design, Art History
& Art Education, Department of Early Childhood Education
Performance: TU Steel Pan and Cambodian Music Ensembles Showcase
Monday, NOVEMBER 12, 8:00 P.M.
RECITAL HALL, CA 3066, CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Students in the TU Steel Pan Ensemble, directed by Mark Craig, and the Cambodian Classical
Music Ensemble, directed by Chum Ngek, will each perform in this joint concert. Co-presented
by the Asian Arts & Culture Center and TU Department of Music.
Admission is free.
Additional programs and events to be announced.
Continuing Programs
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.
Read about the topics OUR students researched...
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.
