Postponed Chiharu Shiota "Traces of Memory" exhibition to open October 4.

"Stairway", from Chiharu Shiota's official website.

An exhibition by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota that was scheduled to open September 12 will finally open on October 4 after a delay "due to last-minute city code concerns", writes the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Traces of Memory" will be on display at the Mattress Factory's new satellite gallery, ocated at 516 Sampsonia Way (map), a few houses down from the museum's main building and down the street from the City of Asylum. The museum's website summarizes the exhibit:

Central to the artist’s work are the themes of remembrance and oblivion, dreaming and sleeping, traces of the past and childhood and dealing with anxiety. Shiota explores the relationship between waking life and memories through hauntingly beautiful installations that incorporate everyday objects like shoes, pianos and hospital beds encased in webs of yarn. Stretched in multi-layers in a gallery space, Shiota weaves disorienting cocoons of black yarn that reflect the artist’s desire to ‘draw in the air’.

The site-specific installation of new works by Shiota will fill the eight rooms in the building at 516 Sampsonia Way—a 19th-century row home with a storied past—which is suited to the artist’s work. Its interior is cosmetically untouched; the raw condition of the building lends itself well to reflections on the past and the conjuring of memories.

It will run through May 31, 2014.

Korean Food Bazaar fundraiser in Shadyside, October 5.

The Korean Culture Association tells us about a Korean food bazaar happening October 5 at the Korean Central Church of Pittsburgh (피츠버그한인중앙교회) in Shadyside (map):

There will be a food bazaar fund raiser this Saturday at church (Located on 821 South Aiken, Shady Side) from 2:30-4pm for the University of Pittsburgh Korean Heritage Room. You can contact Hain Byeon (hlb40@pitt.edu) to pre-order any of the items below.

bulgogi (불고기) - $12.00
gim bab (김밥) - $ 5.00
dduk bokk gi (떡볶이) - $5.00
goon mandoo (군만두) - $5.00
yook gae jang (육개장) - $8.00
hae mul pa jun (해물파전)- $2.00
shik hae (식혜)- $3.50
california rolls - $5.00
gut jul ee (겉절이) - $5.00
ho dduk (호떡) - $1.00
pat shi lu dduk (팥시루떡) - $4.00

Pre-ordering is not necessary, though, a comment beneath the post says. This church is the site of the annual Korean Food Bazaar each May.

Proceeds for the October 5 event will benefit the Korean Heritage Room Committee, which is working to build a Korean Heritage Room in the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning in 2014. More about the Korean Heritage Room here.

CMU Japanese Student Association presents Mochi Making Competition, October 4.

The Carnegie Mellon University Japanese Student Association will hold a Mochi Making Competition at 5403 Wean Hall (campus map) on Friday, October 4.

Pittsburgh Penguins in Saitama.

Free Korean Conversation group at Carnegie Library Oakland from October.

The Carnegie Library in Oakland (map) will offer Korean Conversation group every other Saturday from October 12.

Whether your Korean skills are intermediate or advanced, join us to practice lively Korean Conversation and will meet every Saturday in the Large Print Room on the First Floor.

It will be held from 3:00 to 5:00 pm in the Large Print Room. Registration is required and can be done on the event's webpage. For future meetings, visit the Carnegie Library website, click "Events" and search for "Korean Conversation".

The Oakland branch already offers Japanese and Chinese conversation groups, as well as Korean for Beginners and Korean II.

Song E. Kim's "Bite of the Tail" at Melwood Screening Room, October 4 and 5.

The Melwood Screening Room in Oakland (map) will be showing the Ann Arbor Film Festival tour for free on Friday, October 4, and Saturday, October 5 as part of the city's RADical Days. The tour program is comprised of numerous short films---a complete list is available here---one of which being "Bite of the Tail" by Seoul-born, LA-based Song E. Kim. It's a nine-minute animated film summarized in her words thus:

Wife is suffering from stomach pain and she firmly believes that she can find a cure from Doctor. However, Doctor has no idea how. Husband goes to an empty lot in search of a snake. When he hunts, he wears a beekeeper’s hat. Sister talks but who knows if it is the truth? Life is a constant struggle to find a right answer.

A trailer is available on Kim's website. "Bite of the Tail" is part of Program B, which begins on Friday night at 9:15 and on Saturday the 5th at 7:30.

Art Lecture Series - Yasumasa Morimura, October 3 at CMU.

Carnegie Mellon University's Art Lecture Series will host Yasumasa Morimura on October 3. Wikipedia describes him as an appropriation artist who, by definition,

borrows images from historical artists (ranging from Édouard Manet to Rembrandt to Cindy Sherman), and inserts his own face and body into them.

The CMU School of Art's webpage previews the lecture:

YASUMASA MORIMURA’s fascination with the self-portrait, gay and transgendered life, art history and popular culture aligns him closely with the work of Andy Warhol. Renowned for his reprisals of iconic images drawn from art history and the mass media, Morimura literally assumes his own place in the historical narrative. In the process, he conflates issues of originality and reproduction, gender and race to create what he calls a “beautiful commotion.” Like Warhol and many artists today, Morimura explores the fluidity of sexuality and gender, and the meaning of difference in highly structured societies.

The talk will run from 5:00 to 6:00 in McConomy Auditorium, CMU University Center (campus map). As the website says, the Andy Warhol Museum will present "Yasumasa Morimura: Theater of the Self", from October 6, 2013 to January 12, 2014.

Taiwanese musicians "A Moving Sound" at Seton Hill University, October 10.

Taiwanese musical act "A Moving Sound" has included Greensburg on its 2013 US tour, and will be at Seton Hill University on October 10. A Moving Sound, says motema,

brings the sounds of traditional Taiwanese, Chinese and neighboring Asian traditions into modern times with skillful compositions that open new passageways for east-west cultural dialogue. Accompanied by the sound of traditional instruments such as the Chinese erhu, zhong-ruan, and Chinese percussion, the sublime singer and dancer Mia Hsieh leads a powerful ensemble on ethereal journeys that are enchanting audiences and critics across five continents.

All descriptions of the band plagiarize each other, so it's more informative to watch their performance videos on their YouTube channel.

The show begins at 8:00 pm and is held in the Carol Reichgut Concert Hall in the Performing Arts Center at 100 Harrison Ave. (map). Tickets are $10 for Seton Hill students, $20 for the general public, and are available online.

"Vietnamese Dance Party" at Mount Airy Casino, October 12.

Mount Airy Casino in the Poconos (map) will host a "Vietnamese Dance Party" on October 12 from 9:00 pm to 2:00 am. According to Mongtuyen Ngo, an Executive Host in charge of tickets and who returned my email before I found that poster, the lineup consists of

* Don Ho
* Thanh Ha
* Justin Nguyen
* Helena Ngoc Hong
* Archie

The show is 21 and over, and tickets are $35. Additional Vietnamese shows are planned at Mount Airy in November and December.

Mid-Autumn Festival at Pitt, September 29.

The University of Pittsburgh's Vietnamese Student Association and Chinese American Student Association will host a Mid-Autumn Festival on September 29 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm in the William Pitt Union's Assembly Room.