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e-culture newsletter, February 27, 2004
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e-culture: Updates, many great upcoming events in Houston
February 27, 2004



IN THIS ISSUE

CONFERENCES
PLANNING MEETING
HISPANIC EXPERIENCE
UPCOMING EVENTS
TEXAS MUSIC CALENDAR






We've been on a brief hiatus, unrelated to Mardi Gras. We've been busy planning conferences and giving presentations in schools for Black History Month, including "Masking Indian: The Black Indians of New Orleans."

You can read a transcript of our radio program on Black Indians, "A Legacy of Defiance, A Century of Honor: The Mardi Gras Indians" on line:
http://www.houstonculture.org/cr/indiantrans.html

We will present a series of images of the Mardi Gras Indians during March.

You can currently see photographs by Gordon Parks, which we have been discussing with area students:
http://www.houstonculture.org/blackhistory

We are also presenting a cultural and historical perspective on globalization for several schools in March.

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CONFERENCES

We have been very busy working on two important conferences. One is a national media conference that will cover many social and cultural issues, and feature a documentary film series. It will take place in June.

The other happens much sooner, on Saturday, April 24. It will focus on "The Impact of Globalization." The full day conference will take place at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 5200 Fannin St. The keynote speaker will be Kevin Danaher, from Global Exchange in San Francisco. Salih Booker, National Executive Director of Africa Action, has also been invited and may be available to deliver a luncheon address.

This important conference is presented by the Houston Peace and Justice Center. Our part is to organize a workshop on "The Case for Localism in Business, Media, Culture and Economy."

There are several ways to get involved, including volunteering. The conference is also seeking sponsorships and endorsements from organizations.

Please contact me if you have any questions or want to get involved.

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PLANNING MEETING

We will hold a planning and strategy meeting very soon. It is a great opportunity to become part of our organization. We are trying to work out the best schedule for all who want to be involved. Contact me if you are interested.

Proposed agenda items for this meeting can be found on line:
http://www.houstonculture.org/archive/planmeeting04.html

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HISPANIC EXPERIENCE

John Schmal and Donna Morales have provided us with new stories and research concerning Hispanic experience.

The Tejano Struggle for Representation, by John P. Schmal
http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/tejano1.html

Indigenous Mexico: A Lost Connection, by Donna S. Morales and John P. Schmal
http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/connection.html

The History of Jalisco, by Donna S. Morales and John P. Schmal
http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/jalisco.html


If you would like to read more, or even contribute features or personal experiences to this effort, please see:
http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic

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UPCOMING EVENTS

TRANSLATING INTIMACY: Condestruction by Oskar Sonnen
Saturday. January 18 through Saturday, February 28, 2004
Closing party 7:00 - 9:00 pm, Saturday, February 28, 2004
General admission: Free
Project Row Houses, 2521 Holman, Houston, TX 77004

In Oskar Sonnen's exhibition, Condestruction, a range of digital found art images are woven together to create a moving-yet humorous-to create a gut response from the heart to the spleen . Sonnen is a graduate of Alfred University where he attained a Bachelor's of Fine Arts. He has worked with local and national arts organizations including Dance Theater Workshop, DiverseWorks, and National Performance Network. Sonnen's work is influenced by late night jaunts in Houston's Dot Coffee Shop. Condestruction is part of VBB's Translating Intimacy series at Project Row Houses' 2521 space. For directions to Project Row Houses please see their website at:
http://www.projectrowhouses.org

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A WORLD WITHOUT WATER (A VBB, Fotofest film festival)

A World Without Water is an international film festival in collaboration with FotoFest, based on Fotofest's bi-annual photography exhibit.

Drowned Out - We Can't Wish Them Away (India, 2002, 75 min. subtitled)
directed by Franny Armstrong
Sunday, February 29, 6:30pm
The Artery (5401 Jackson Street)
General admission: $5.
Panel discussion and refreshments follow the screening

Drowned Out is a powerful documentary on India's Narmada Dam project that threatens the lives of 8,000 people. In the film, writer Arundhati Roy raises questions about the 16 million people who have been displaced as a result of 50 years of dam building. For directions to The Artery please see their website at www.theartery.org.

For more info and/or to reserve tickets please call our office at 713-228-2052 or visit our website at:
http://www.voicesbreakingboundaries.org

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Gypsy Spirit: Journey of the Roma
Sunday, February 29, 2004
Jones Hall, 7:00pm
713-227-4SPA

The enticing dance traditions of the Gypsy unfold in this spicy and seductive performance. Complete with Turkish music and dance, the undying passion of Spanish Flamenco along with fiery Bulgarian footwork, Gypsy Spirit is fervently performed by the seasoned Budapest Dance Ensemble and choreographed by Europe's accomplished Zoltan Zsurafszki. Visit the website for more information on the show:
http://www.gypsyspirit.org

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The Irish Mexican Connection

MECA will present The Irish Mexican Connection featuring the Patrick Devlin Band and Diehl Moran with Mariachi MECA. Tickets are $5.00 per person and may be purchased presale at www.TicketWeb.com or by phone at 866-468-7621.

The Patrick Devlin Band was originally formed in 1997 as On the Dole, for one show only.There was a demand for their unique style, which they called Irish Rock, so a permanent line-up was formed. The Patrick Devlin Band now includes Scotland's own Hugh "Shuggy" Morrison on accordion, long-time friend and singer Chad "Moon" Smalley on bass, and Turi Hoiseth, fiddle wizard and the pride of the north. The drummer's identity is a wee bit of a mystery.

Friday, March 5, 2004, 7:30pm
http://www.meca-houston.org

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BOXHEAD ENSEMBLE
presented by FotoFest 2004 in Association with Truckstop Media/NYC and Aurora Picture Show
Curated by Braden King and Astria Suparak
Saturday, March 13, 8pm and 11pm

Improvising to a stellar program of poetic short films assembled by filmmaker Braden King and curator Astria Suparak, the Boxhead Ensemble will perform the North American premiere of Stories, Maps and Notes from the Half-Light as part of FotoFest 2004 - Water, The Tenth International Biennial of Photography and Photo-Related Art.

Called "compelling, magnetic, perfectly imperfect...This is performance art at the cutting edge but eminently accessible and personal. It is relevant, it is wonderful." (Shakenstir Magazine, UK), Boxhead Ensemble initially joined forces to create the critically acclaimed soundtrack to Braden King and Laura Moya's film, Dutch Harbor: Where the Sea Breaks its Back, members of the Ensemble's rotating lineup have participated in such notable musical groups as Wilco, Cat Power, Souled American, Freakwater, Gastr del Sol and Dirty Three, among others.

In this incarnation of the Ensemble, musicians Michael Krassner, Jim White, Fred Lonberg-Holm and Scott Tuma will accompany works by some of the most interesting filmmakers in modern experimental cinema, including Jem Cohen, Paula Froehle, David Gatten, Julie Murray, Guy Sherwin and Phil Solomon.

Admission $12, Tickets available in advance by calling 713-868-2101.

Aurora Picture Show
800 Aurora Street
Houston, Texas 77009
713-868-2101
http://www.aurorapictureshow.org

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Shashi Tharoor: "Nehru: A biography"
Co-Sponsored by Asia Society Texas and Brazos Bookstore
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Brazos Bookstore
713-523-0701
No Charge

Asia Society Texas
713-439-0051
http://www.asiasociety.org/tx

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Interpreting Anthropogeomorphology
Curated by Matthew Coolidge, Center for Land Use Interpretation
Part of FotoFest 2004

A Presentation of Contemporary Ephemeral, Industrial, Documentary, and Government Films (on video) about Land, from the Center for Land Use Interpretation Archives.

Matthew Coolidge is the Director of the Center for Land Use Interpretation, a research organization based in Los Angeles, that produces exhibits, tours, publications, and other programming related to interpreting the built landscape of the United States. Coolidge is the author of several books published by the Center, including Hinterland: A Voyage Into Exurban Southern California, Commonwealth of Technology, The Nellis Range Complex: Landscape of Conjecture, Back to the Bay: Exploring the Margins of the San Francisco Bay Region, The Nevada Test Site: A Guide to America's Nuclear Proving Ground, Around Wendover: An Examination of the Anthropic Landscape of the Great Salt Lake Desert Region, and Route 58: A Cross-Section of Southern California. He has studied human- induced changes to the landscape professionally since becoming the Director of the Center in 1994.

Saturday, March 27, 8pm and Sunday, March 28, 3pm
Admission to screenings $5, unless otherwise indicated
Aurora Picture Show
800 Aurora Street
Houston, Texas 77009
713-868-2101
http://www.aurorapictureshow.org

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S. Frederick Starr, "The Silk Road: What's Important About It Besides Oil?"
Co-Sponsored by His Highness Prince Aga Khan Shia Imani Ismaili Council for the Southwestern United States, Asia Society Texas, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The term "the Silk Road" refers to the vast network of caravan trails that once linked India, China, Europe, and the Middle East. Join Dr. Frederick Starr as he explores the questions: What did the people of the region transected by these trails create in the past? Is oil wealth their prospect for the future? What other areas of potential achievement and danger lie ahead for the Silk Road in the 21st century? Dr. Starr is Chairman, Central Asia Caucasus Institute, Johns Hopkins.

April 4, 2004, 2:00 - 3:00pm
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Brown Auditorium Theater, 1001 Bissonnet, Houston
Admission is open to the public and free with general museum admission.
Admission is free for Asia Society and MFAH members.
713-639-7300
http://www.mfah.org

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Emma Bunker, "The Distinctive Khmer Buddha: From Sacred Simplicity to Jeweled Royalty"
Co-Sponsored by Asia Society Texas and Museum of Fine Arts Houston

The MFAH recently acquired an 8th century bronze Standing Buddha from Thailand that beautifully expresses the sacred simplicity characteristic of the finest early Buddha images created in mainland Southeast Asia. The museum's Standing Buddha was probably cast in northeast Thailand, a region rich in metals that was part of the great Khmer Empire centered in Cambodia. For three hundred years, Buddhist and Hindu beliefs were popular among the Khmer. By the twelfth century, however, Buddhism became the state religion and images of the Buddha developed into richly jeweled images that emulated the appearance of the Khmer ruler in all his glory. Emma C. Bunker, Research Consultant on Asian art at The Denver Art Museum, discusses the distinctive evolution of the Khmer Buddha.

April 17th, 5:00 - 7:00pm
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Brown Auditorium, 1001 Bissonet
Admission is open to the public and free with general museum admission.
Admission is free for Asia Society and MFAH members.
713-439-0051
http://www.mfah.org

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Melissa Chiu, "Looking Ahead: An Introduction to Asian Contemporary Art"
Co-Sponsored with Museum of Fine Arts Houston

Who are the leading Asian artists of today? And what themes do they address in their work? In what media do they work? Contemporary Japanese art has been the subject of numerous exhibitions in the United States since the early 1990s, but Chinese, Korean and Thai art have also begun to receive attention > in the last few years. Melissa Chiu, Curator of Contemporary Asian and Asian American Art at the Asia Society and Museum in New York, and the first position of its kind in the United States, discusses recent developments and current trends in the emerging field of Asian contemporary Art using examples from exhibitions of contemporary Asian art The Asia Society has presented over the last ten years.

April 28th 6:00 - 8:00pm
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Brown Auditorium, 1001 Bissonet
Admission is open to the public and free with general museum admission.
Admission is free for Asia Society and MFAH members.
713-439-0051
http://www.mfah.org

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An Injury to One
Directed by Travis Wilkerson (2002, 53:00)
Presented by Voice Breaking Boundaries, Part of FotoFest 2004

Radiating from an examination of the 1917 murder of labor agitator Frank Little, An Injury to One tells of the larger calamity known as Butte Montana and its place in American culture, economy and environment. Armed with tremendous storytelling skill, this uncompromising, unapologetically leftist work of peoples' history draws together landscape, song and acute connections among the facts and footnotes of the official (or company) line, to arrive at a poetic, stirring tour de force of history as agitation. - Spencer Parsons

Music from Will Oldham, Jim O'Rourke, and the band Low.

Aurora at Dean's Credit Clothing, 316 Main Street
Monday nights in March at 9pm *(new showtime)
Programmed by Eileen Maxson
Admission $5

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TEXAS MUSIC EVENTS CALENDAR

The 2004 edition of the Texas Music Events Calendar is now available. This 37- page printout lists 664 annual events in Texas that showcase live music. The TMEC is also available online at:
http://www.governor.state.tx.us/music

From the National Polka Festival in Ennis to the Tejano Conjunto Festival in San Antonio to the huge South by Southwest Conference in Austin to the Greater Southwest Music Festival in Amarillo, Texas music means great outdoor and indoor events that reflect our state's musical and cultural diversity. Last year, the combined budgets for these events totaled more than $65 million, with a combined attendance of nearly 24 million people.

To request a free copy, call the Texas Music Office at 512-463-6666, or write:
P.O. Box 13246
Austin, TX 78711

Also visit: http://www.governor.state.tx.us/music



Thank you for participating in these great programs.

____________________________________________________
M  a  r  k @houstonculture.org


Cultural and Community Organization Listings:
http://www.houstonculture.org/listings

2003 Report to Friends and Volunteers:
http://www.houstonculture.org/report

Support Houston Institute for Culture:
http://www.houstonculture.org/giving




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