Dinh Q. Lê lecture at CMU School of Art on March 4, discussion at Carnegie Museum of Art on March 5.

Dinh Q. Lê, from the "Vietnam to Hollywood" series, via Blendspace.

The Carnegie Mellon University School of Art will host Dinh Q. Lê on March 4 as part of its Spring 2014 Lecture Series. From the Lecture Series homepage:

Born in Vietnam during wartime in 1968, artist DINH Q LE moved to the US at 10 years old and was brought up amid Western depictions of his homeland. In his artistic practice, Lê developed an innovative multidisciplinary technique that combined traditional Vietnamese craft with images and fragments of history and modern truths. His work continued after he returned to Vietnam in his 20s, where he examined complex and contradictory topics such as the continuing legacy of the war and the marketing of Vietnam as a tourist's paradise. Lê is the co-founder of the Vietnam Foundation for the Arts, which initiates artistic exchanges between Vietnam and the West, and Sán Art, the first independent not-for-profit art space in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2010, Lê was the recipient of the Prince Claus Award. He will discuss past projects and his work for the 2013 Carnegie International.

Lê is one of several Asian artists with works on display at the 2013 Carnegie International, which runs through March 16 at the Carnegie Museum of Art (map). The day after the CMU lecture, March 5, Lê will participate in a discussion at the Carnegie Museum of Art Theater. From the museum's website:

Explore Dinh Q. Lê’s work in the 2013 Carnegie International in greater depth. Life and Belief: Sketches of Life from the Vietnam War, an installation of 100 drawings and paintings made by Vietnamese artist-soldiers on the front lines of the Vietnam War accompanied by a documentary film, will be the starting point of a discussion focused on art, war, and image. Lê, who will speak to the artists’ inside interpretation of the war, will converse with Dr. Daniel Lieberfeld, associate professor at Duquesne University, and Dr. Philip Nash, Vietnam historian and associate professor of history at Penn State Shenango, about the power of images during and after the conflict. Lê will also discuss his follow-up companion project to this piece—a look at the non-communist artists and their lasting legacy. Exhibition co-curator Dan Byers will moderate the discussion. Cosponsored by Carnegie Mellon University School of Art and Jeff Pan.

The discussion runs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and is free with admission to the museum.

“Spiritual Health vs. Mental Health: The Uses of Japanese Naikan Meditation” lecture at Pitt, February 27.

The Asian Studies Center at the University of Pittsburgh will host Associate Professor of Religious Studies Dr. Clark Chilson and his lecture "Spiritual Health vs. Mental Health: The Uses of Japanese Naikan Meditation" on February 27 as part of the Asia Over Lunch lecture series. It takes place at 12:00 pm in room 4130 Posvar Hall (campus map) and is free. Upcoming lectures in the series this term are printed on the flyer above.

"Japan and Its Asian Neighbors: History, Islands and National Identity” video-conference lecture at Pitt, February 25.

The second installment of the "Japan in the Broader Context of Asia" lecture series is "Japan and Its Asian Neighbors: History, Islands and National Identity”, by Dr. Constantine Vaporis, a professor in the University of Maryland Baltimore County's History department. The presentation begins at 6:00 pm, and is followed by light refreshments and a networking reception. An overview of the series from the University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center newsletter:

The next lecture of the NCTA video-conference lecture series is “Japan and Its Asian Neighbors: History, Islands and National Identity,” featuring Constantine N. Vaporis, Professor of History and Director of the Asian Studies Program, University of Maryland. A light dinner will be served for all participants starting at 5:30

This lecture is part of a series of an NCTA video-conference lectures “Japan in the Broader Context of Asia,” which will feature a variety of talks by professors from Pitt, Elizabethtown College, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

These lectures are free, but space is limited and registration is required by emailing Patrick Hughes at hughespw@pitt.edu (please let him know which lectures you wish to attend). You may register for as many of the sessions as you like.

Like Father, Like Son (そして父になる) from tomorrow night through March 6 at Harris Theater.

The 2013 Japanese film Like Father, Like Son (そして父になる) will be in Pittsburgh from February 21 through March 6 at the Harris Theater downtown.

Japanese film Key of Life (鍵泥棒のメソッド) at Carnegie Library Oakland, March 2.

As part of its International Cinema series, the Oakland branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (map) will show the 2012 Japanese film Key of Life (鍵泥棒のメソッド). The library website borrows a plot summary from IMDB:

Sakurai is a failed actor who switches identities with a stranger at a bath house, only to find out that he is suddenly filling the shoes of an elite assassin.

Key of Life was part of the 2013 Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival in Pittsburgh last April. The movie will play on the 2nd from 2:30 to 4:30.

Lecture "'Catfish' Catastrophe in Japan", February 26 at IUP.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Department of Asian Studies will host "'Catfish' Catastrophe in Japan" by Dr. Gregory Smits of Penn State.

Gregory Smits will present an illustrated lecture discussing representations of the Ansei Edo earthquake in popular prints. The talk will be in the Susquehanna Room of the HUB on February 26 at 7:00 p.m. All are welcome.

At about 10:00 p.m. on November 11, [1855], a strong earthquake shook Edo (modern Tokyo), Japan’s de facto capital. The earthquake killed roughly 8,000 and did extensive damage to certain areas of the city. Along with death and destruction, the earthquake created opportunities for windfall profits for many of the city’s ordinary residents. One product of this earthquake was hundreds of varieties of broadside prints. These prints came to be called “catfish prints” (namazue) because many of them featured catfish, which symbolized the power of earthquakes.

An article by Dr. Smits on the topic published in the Journal of Social History , "Shaking up Japan: Edo Society and the 1855 Catfish Prints," is available online.

The Raid 2: Berandal at Hollywood Theater, March 19.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont announced its March schedule on Facebook today, which provides some advance notice for the 2014 Indonesian martial arts movie The Raid 2: Berandal playing on March 19. A January Variety review summarizes:

With its blissfully crude setup and ferociously inventive fight sequences, Gareth Evans’ “The Raid: Redemption” (2011) was an exhilarating, exhausting treat for those who like to take their genre poison straight. If “The Raid 2: Berandal” disappoints somewhat by comparison, it’s not for lack of ambition: At nearly two-and-a-half hours, this sensationally violent and strikingly well-made sequel has been conceived as a slow-burn gangster epic, stranding the viewer in a maze-like underworld that doesn’t really get the adrenaline pumping until the film’s second half. Once the carnage kicks in, Evans’ action chops prove as robust and hyperkinetic as ever, delivering deep, bone-crunching pleasure for hardcore action buffs. Still, given its diminished novelty and hefty running time, the Sony Classics item . . . may have trouble wooing as many viewers theatrically as it will in homevid play.

The movie starts at 7:30 pm on the 19th, and will be released nationwide across Indonesia and the United States on March 28. The Hollywood Theater (map) is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. in Dormont and a block south of Potomac Station.

[edited 26-Jan-2015 to remove poster image]

"It’s Greek to me! A Fascination with the Idea of Greece in the making of modern Japan" at Pitt, February 21.

Dr. Hiroshi Nara of the Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh will present "It’s Greek to me! A Fascination with the Idea of Greece in the making of modern Japan" on February 21. It will be held in room 4130 Posvar Hall (map) from 12:00 pm, and is free and open to the public.

Chinese Video Art & Documentary (1985-2005), from Gao Minglu’s Archive at Pitt, through March 21.

This evening there was an opening reception for an exhibition by Gao Minglu, currently a faculty member in the University of Pittsburgh's History of Art & Architecture department, which will run through March 21 in the Frick Fine Arts building (map). From the department's website:

The exhibition is curated by Gao Minglu, assisted by Madeline Eschenburg and other student interns of the gallery. Visitors will have the opportunity to experience Chinese artworks that have not been shown in the U.S. before, or have not previously been available in this part of the world.

This exhibition will feature video work from Chinese artists produced at the turn of the 21st century. Through these artworks, the curator intends to show how Chinese artists and intellectuals responded to the rapid political and economic changes in China in the late 20th century, and how artists used their eyes and even their own bodies to address certain social concerns. The videos can be categorized as documentation which features avant-garde activities such as performance and exhibitions, or video art with certain particular themes such as urbanization.

The University Art Gallery is located in the Frick Fine Arts building at the University of Pittsburgh. Public hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment. The exhibition is open through Mar. 21st, but will be closed for spring break Mar. 10-14th. For more information, contact uag@pitt.edu or call 412-648-2423.

Panel discussion "Vietnam: New Lessons from an Old War, a Half-Century On" at Pitt, March 4.

The University of Pittsburgh Honors College will host a panel discussion on March 4, "Vietnam: New Lessons from an Old War, a Half-Century On".

Unlike other American wars, the Vietnam War never really ended. It is being re-fought in scholarly works, at college reunions, in family living rooms, and among veterans. Aside from the Civil War, Vietnam was America's most divisive military conflict, and the University of Pittsburgh's Honors College program features some of the war's most outspoken scholars, participants and journalists.

The panel consists of former Nebraska Senator and governor Bob Kerrey, journalist Peter Arnett, writers Edward G. Miller and Laura Palmer, and former director of the Harvard Kennedy School's Vietnam Program Thomas J. Vallely. It begins at 7:30 pm in the University Club's Second Floor Ballroom (map). Registration is required and can be completed online.