"Materializing Memory: Contemporary Video Art from China," September 5 through October 11 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's University Art Gallery will host the exhibit "Materializing Memory: Contemporary Video Art from China" from September 5 through October 11.

Exhibited in Pittsburgh for the first time, Materializing Memory presents the work of five young Chinese artists, all born after 1980. These artists are part of China’s balinghou and jiulinghou (post-1980 and post-1990) generations. Unlike earlier practitioners, they came of age following the dramatic economic and cultural reforms of 1978. Through the medium of video art, these artists explore contemporary Chinese society during a period of profound technological and urban transformation. Their work is deeply informed by the Internet, rapid economic development, international communication and exchange, as well as opportunities to earn advanced degrees abroad. These videos document personal and collective experiences. Some record individual feelings of boredom and isolation, while others investigate broader social contradictions and complexities within China and beyond. Together, these works illustrate the plasticity of contemporary experience, and ask what it means to remember during a time when progress accelerates the urge to forget.

The exhibition's opening reception is scheduled from 5:00 to 7:00 pm on September 5; the gallery is open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm weekdays in the Frick Fine Arts Building in Oakland (map).

Korean-American singer Ronin to perform in Ambridge, August 22.

Korean-American singer Ronin will perform at Mario's Dockside Grille in Ambridge (map) on August 22. Writes the Beaver Valley Times:

Korean-American pop singer named simply Ronin [. . .] will hop on stage Thursday to sing a couple songs at the weekly open mic/jam night at Mario’s Dockside Grille in Bridgewater. These jam nights are co-hosted by Ambridge rocker David Granati, brother of percussionist Rick Granati, who’s friends with Vulpis, hence the local tie.

Ronin might treat his Beaver County audience to his single “Chemical Smile,” now being played by 15 Top-40/pop radio stations from San Francisco to Atlantic City.

He is also performing at Hambone's tonight at 7:00 pm.

My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ) in Pittsburgh, August 25, 26, 28.

The classic Japanese animated film My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ) is will play in Pittsburgh on August 25, 26, and 28 as part of this year's GKIDS Studio Ghibli Fest. From a 2001 Roger Ebert review:

Miyazaki's films are above all visually enchanting, using a watercolor look for the backgrounds and working within the distinctive Japanese anime tradition of characters with big round eyes and mouths that can be as small as a dot or as big as a cavern. They also have an unforced realism in the way they notice details; early in ''Totoro,'' for example, the children look at a little waterfall near their home, and there on the bottom, unremarked, is a bottle someone threw into the stream.

The movie tells the story of two young sisters, Satsuki and Mei Kusakabe. As the story opens, their father is driving them to their new house, near a vast forest. Their mother, who is sick, has been moved to a hospital in this district. Now think about that. The film is about two girls, not two boys or a boy and a girl, as all American animated films would be. It has a strong and loving father, in contrast to the recent Hollywood fondness for bad or absent fathers. Their mother is ill; does illness exist in American animation?

It will play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville, North Hills, Pittsburgh Mills, and Robinson. The August 25 and 28 shows are dubbed in English and the August 26 show is in Japanese with English subtitles. Tickets are available online.

Lauren Yee's play "Cambodian Rock Band," with music from Cambodian-American band Dengue Fever, in Pittsburgh from September 14 through October 6.

Lauren Yee's "Cambodian Rock Band" will run at the City Theater from September 14 through October 6. Yee offers a summary:

Discover Cambodia’s lost surf rock scene through the eyes of a young Cambodian American woman and her father, a Khmer Rouge survivor who begrudgingly returns to his home country for the first time in thirty years. This thrilling story toggles back and forth in time, as father and daughter face the music of the past. An intimate rock epic about family secrets set against the dark chapter of Cambodian history. Featuring actor/musicians who perform the show’s mix of contemporary Dengue Fever hits and classic Cambodian oldies.

There has been some interest in Cambodian surf rock music in recent years, with the 2014 documentary Don't Think I've Forgotten playing at the Row House Cinema, Hollywood Theater, and Melwood Screening Room in 2015 and 2016. Dengue Fever has played in Pittsburgh, too, most recently as an opening act in 2017.

Tickets are available online. The theater is located at 1300 Bingham St. in the South Side (map).

10% off at Panda Supermarket, August 19 - 25

Squirrel Hill's Panda Supermarket is offering 10% off everything for its second anniversary, August 19 through 25. The store is located at 5846 Forbes Ave. (map).

"Storytime: Chinese and English" in Squirrel Hill, August 24.

via Ed Massery.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh branch in Squirrel Hill will hold its next "Storytime: Chinese and English" on Saturday, August 24.

Celebrate our city’s diverse culture as we explore new words through songs, action rhymes and stories in both English and Chinese.

Storytime runs from 11:00 to 11:30 am and is free and open to the public. The Carnegie Library branch in Squirrel Hill is located at 5801 Forbes Ave. (map), accessible by buses 61A, 61B, 61C, 61D, and 74.

Free Mid-Autumn Concert at Rivers Casino with Mai Tiến Dũng, Nguyễn Hồng Nhung, Đặng Thế Luân , and more, September 8.

Rivers Casino (map) will host a free Mid-Autumn Concert on September 8, featuring a number of Vietnamese and Chinese performers. The concert runs from 9 to 11 pm. Tickets are limited and those interested should call 412-566-4615.

BTS's Bring the Soul: The Movie still in Pittsburgh this Saturday and Sunday.

The latest BTS concert film, Bring the Soul: The Movie, will stay in Pittsburgh this weekend, August 17 and 18, at the Cinemark in Robinson.

Following their landmark “Love Yourself” tour, boy band sensation BTS is headed to Pittsburgh’s largest screen in Bring The Soul: The Movie.

Shining brighter than any light on the stage, now the group invite us behind the spotlight. The Rangos Giant Cinema will transport you to the final concert of their Europe tour, on a rooftop in Paris, where BTS tells their very own stories from experiencing new cities to performing in front of thousands of ARMY across the globe.

A glimpse into BTS’ world away from the stage, featuring intimate group discussions alongside spectacular concert performances from the tour, this is a cinema event not to be missed.

It plays at 2:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday, in Korean with English subtitles, and tickets are available online. The Cinemark Robinson Township is located in the Mall at Robinson (map).

Chang Chun Chemical Corporation hiring bilingual Mandarin-English Logistics and Accounting Assistant.

Chang Chun Chemical Corporation in Wexford is hiring a bilingual Mandarin-English Logistics and Accounting Assistant.

Communicating with suppliers in Asia for shipment scheduling, tracking, and importation.

Supporting sales function such as issuing shipping and delivery documents.

Maintaining, filling, updating and keeping of records

Managing stock inventory and sales operation as instructed by the Sales Manager

Handling customers’ payments and vendors' invoices.

Ensuring on-time receiving and out-going payments.

2016 Taiwanese documentary Small Talk (日常對話) at City of Asylum, November 20.

The 2016 Taiwanese documentary film Small Talk will play in Pittsburgh on November 20, presented by ReelQ.

Anu is a tomboy. Married off at a young age—as was customary in Taiwan in the 1970s—and had two children, Anu soon divorced her violent husband and raised her daughters alone. Since then her only romantic relationships have been with women whom, like her, earn a living as professional mourners at funerals.

It’s considered taboo in Taiwanese culture to question a mother’s love, but that’s exactly the topic of her daughter, Hui-chen Huang’s intimate portrait. Mother and daughter set off on a journey together into the past, during which Hui-chen confronts Anu with questions that have tormented Hui-chen for many years.

In a series of long shots the two women discuss loneliness, trust, and abuse, yet most of these discussions end in painful silence. Shifting focus in order to plumb the depths of their relationship, Hui-chen brings viewers along on her desperate attempts to understand her mother.

It plays from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the Alphabet City Word Cellar on the North Side (map), though tickets are not yet available.