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e-culture: Free Film Events, Casa Ramirez Opening, Oral History Workshop, More
February 9, 2006
IN THIS ISSUE
Argentina - Hope in Hard Times
World Cultures Film Series
Sunday Film Review
Oral History Workshop
Casa Ramirez Art Opening
More Great Houston Events
Editorial: Asian American Festival
Volunteer Project Dates
2006 Travel Series Schedule
About this Email Newsletter
Thank you to all those who attended the readings by Loida Ruiz and Rose Mary Salum at our Rice Village office last week, and to the volunteers who made the event a success. The readings were fascinating. And everyone was delighted to meet some of our Camp Dos Cabezas Young Scholars who attended. The children were equally as impressed by the authors. Many great connections were made that night by the standing room only crowd, which included many people who are committed to community endeavors, like book fairs and radio programs for Latino authors. We are grateful for the work of these organizers whose efforts will inspire our Camp Dos Cabezas Young Scholars to do similarly exciting things in their lives.
Loida Ruiz read a selection from her nearly-completed novel, which draws on her family's history and experiences in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Her compelling narratives capture the tradition of oral history through the types of accounts that are passed down to generations. Ruiz has read her work on the KPFT radio show Nuestra Palabra, hosted by Tony Diaz and Angie Moreno.
Joining Ruiz was author and publisher Rose Mary Salum, who produces the journal Literal - Latin American Voices. She read from her book, Entre Los Espacios. She will appear on Nuestra Palabra on March 7. Stay tuned to http://www.nuestrapalabra.org.
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Argentina - Hope in Hard Times
We will screen the film Argentina - Hope in Hard Times at the Artery on Sunday in conjunction with the Houston Social Forum.
There will be a potluck dinner with dialogue from Houstonians who traveled to the World Social Forum in Venezuela last month. Food and discussion will begin at 5:30pm. The film Argentina - Hope in Hard Times will be shown at 7:00pm. The event will take place at The Artery, 5401 Jackson (at Prospect), north of the Children's Museum in the museum district.
The Houston Social Forum is planned for April 29 and 30, 2006 at TSU.
Argentina - Hope in Hard Times
"¡Que se vayan todos!" Chants echo off the skyscrapers, burst through the plazas, and clamor down the streets of Buenos Aires. "Throw them all out!" shout legions of frustrated Argentine housewives, students and lawyers, weaving their way through the city one summer evening, banging on pots and pans. What would you do if you lost your job, they closed the banks so you couldn't access your savings, and the government seemed unable to help? In Argentina they stormed supermarkets for food; the police gunned down 30 people in just one day. But what happened next was truly extraordinary.
ARGENTINA - HOPE IN HARD TIMES joins in the processions and protests, attends street-corner neighborhood assemblies, visits workers' cooperatives and urban gardens, taking a close-up look at the ways in which Argentines are picking up the pieces of their devastated economy and creating new possibilities for the future. A spare narrative, informal interview settings, and candid street scenes allow the pervasive strength, humor, and resilience of the Argentine people to tell these tales. These are their inspiring stories - of a failed economy and distrusted politicians, of heartache and hard times, of a resurgence of grassroots democracy and the spirit of community - told in resonant detail.
Other films by Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young are NET LOSS, ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE, NOT FOR SALE, GENE BLUES, ISLAS HERMANAS, and RISKY BUSINESS.
More information about this film can be found on line:
http://www.houstonculture.org/film
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World Cultures Film Series
We will present a free film series on world cultures in conjunction with the University of St. Thomas Modern and Classical Languages Department.
University of St. Thomas Anderson Auditorium, 3815 Mt. Vernon St.
The series will explore economic and social issues that affect cultures around the world.
The series begins Tuesday, February 21 at 7:00pm
The New Rulers of the World
In this extraordinary investigative film, award-winning journalist, John Pilger, uncovers the realities of globalization by taking a close look at recent history and labor issues in Indonesia.
In order to examine the true effects of globalization, Pilger turns the spotlight on Indonesia, a country described by the World Bank as a model pupil until its globalized economy collapsed in 1998. The film examines the use of sweatshop factories by famous brand names, and asks some penetrating questions: Who are the real beneficiaries of the globalized economy? Who really rules the world now? Is it governments or a handful of huge companies? The Ford Motor Company alone is bigger than the economy of South Africa. Enormously rich men, like Bill Gates, have a wealth greater than all of Africa.
Pilger goes behind the hype of the new global economy and reveals that the divisions between the rich and poor have never been greater -- two thirds of the world's children live in poverty -- and the gulf is widening like never before.
The film looks at the new rulers of the world -- the great multinationals and the governments and institutions that back them -- the IMF and the World Bank. Under IMF rules, millions of people throughout the world lose their jobs and livelihood. The reality behind much of modern shopping and the famous brands is a sweatshop economy, which is being duplicated in country after country.
The film travels to Indonesia and Washington, asking challenging questions seldom raised in the mainstream media and exposing the scandal of economic globalization, including revealing interviews with top officials of the World Bank and the IMF.
Future film screening dates:
Tuesday, March 14, 7:00pm
Rammed Earth Construction
Tuesday, April 18, 7:00pm
The Story of Eman
Tuesday, May 9, 7:00pm
Who's Counting? Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies and Global Economics
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Sunday Film Review
Free film screenings take place at 6:00pm on most Sundays this spring at Houston Institute for Culture, 5555 Morningside, Suite 204
The series will include documentary and feature films to explore issues that rise from cultural and economic domination, and conflicting cultural values.
The series begins Sunday, February 26 at 6:00pm
When the Mountains Tremble and Zapatista
In the struggle for indigenous rights and cultural identity, Zapatista picks up where the ground-breaking documentary film about Mayan resistance in Guatemala, When the Mountains Tremble, leaves off. Films are narrated by Rigoberta Menchu and Edward James Olmos.
More information about these films can be found on line:
http://www.houstonculture.org/film
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Oral History Workshop
The University of Houston Veterans' Services Office and Center for Public History are offering an oral history workshop featuring Lesley Williams Brunet and Jason Theriot.
Lesley Williams Brunet is the Assistant Director of the Research Medical Library and Manager, University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Historical Resource Center. Theriot is author of the book series "To Honor Our Veterans".
The free training session will focus on Oral History Interview Techniques.
Saturday, February 11, 10am 3pm
Agnes Arnold Hall, Conference Room 549
Lunch provided for registrants. Contact Allen Grundy by email, agrundy@uh.edu, or phone, 713-743-5493.
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Casa Ramirez Art Opening
Cosas de Amor, featuring Amor Eterno and Amor y Huesos by La Lisa Hernandez, will be on display at Casa Ramirez Folkart Gallery through February 24. Art and jewelry is presented by Lissette Milam, Lizbeth Ortiz, La Lisa, and Macario Ramirez. Receptions for the artists will be help on Saturday, February 11, from 2-6pm, and Sunday, February 12, from 4-7pm. Some images in the adult Loteria series being presented on Sunday, Amor y Huesos by La Lisa Hernandez, may not be suitable for young viewers.
Casa Ramirez is located at 241 W. 19th Street in the Heights.
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More Great Houston Events
Gente de Teatro: "El Dia que me quieras" by the renowned Venezuelan playwright Jose Ignacio Cabrujas
Performances (in Spanish):
Saturday, February 11, 2006, 7:30pm and
Sunday, February 12, 2006, 3:00pm
"El día que me quieras" full of intense romanticism and poetic irony, takes place in 1935 on the famous day when Carlos Gardel, a legendary tango figure, arrives in Caracas and transforms the life of the Ancízar family.
Hamman Hall, Rice University
Rice Boulevard, Entrances 20 and 21 (Formerly Entrances 13 and 14)
Houston, Texas 77005
General Admission: $15; Students: $5
For general information, organizations and group discounts, call 713-721-9640 or send and e-mail to: mail@gentedeteatro.org
Gente de Teatro receives the support of the Department of Hispanic Studies at Rice University, the Center for the Study of Languages at Rice University, the Institute of Hispanic Culture, and Casa Argentina de Houston.
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The Imperative to Act: Darfur and Sudan
Thursday, February 16, 2006
The Boniuk Center at Rice University presents "The Imperative to Act: Darfur and Sudan." Two presentations about a response to this major humanitarian crisis: At 4 p.m. it will be by Mark Bixler, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, author of "The Lost Boys of Sudan." At 7 p.m. it will be Jerry Fowler, Staff Director, Committee on Conscience, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Discussions will follow both talks. Herring Hall 100 on the Rice campus. For more information, contact Calvin N. Preece, Boniuk Center coordinator, 713-348-4536, calp@rice.edu.
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Paul Loeb, "Soul of a Citizen"
Saturday, February 18
Paul Loeb, author of underground bestsellers "Soul of a Citizen" and "The Impossible Will Take a Little While," will speak on citizen activism and sign copies of his books. Bill Moyers wrote of Loeb's writing, ³This book can even make one hopeful about the future despite so many signs to the contrary." And David Duemler of the Oregon Peace Festival said, "Paul's presentation was a highlight of our [festival]. He received a standing ovation from an audience of 500 people." $3-$5 suggested donation, but no one turned away. Sponsored by Progressive Action Alliance. 7 p.m. at Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church, 2025 West 11th St. (off T.C. Jester). For more information, contact Bill Crosier, 713/641-4941, paa@crosierbiomed.com. For more info on Loeb or to hear some of his speeches, visit http://www.soulofacitizen.org.
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Hamsa Veena Concert - by Mr. Srinivasan Sampath
February 18, 2006 - 3.30pm to 6.30pm
Brought to you by Bharathi Kalai Manram. Mr. Sampath plays on an electronic Veena called the "Hamsa Veena" that has many improved features over the traditional Saraswati Veena in terms of ease of transporting, built in Sruti and Tala accompaniments, improved tuning facility and fret board, built in amplification and speaker systems. The event will take place at Madras Pavilion in Sugar Land. Free Admission.
More events and forums are listed on line:
http://www.houstonculture.org/events
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Editorial: Asian American Festival
ASIAN AMERICAN FESTIVAL A VALUABLE ASSET TO HOUSTON
The Asian American Festival serves an important role in our community by providing a venue for the development of diverse cultural arts.
Each year at Miller Outdoor Theatre, dozens of performing arts organizations from across the city present the classical and folk arts of their diverse Asian and Pacific cultures, and reveal the modern interests of American children of foreign-born parents.
The performances are not perfect. They are the culmination of several months or a few years of after-school practice. The Asian American Festival is the goal toward which many of the performing arts students work. For the music and dance teachers, the festival is an important incentive for their students to work hard. For some of the performers, public appearances like the Asian American Festival are the stepping stones to professional careers, or lifelong commitments to cultural advocacy.
Audiences enjoy seeing the children and teenagers trying their best to make their families and teachers proud. Festival audiences are tolerant of the four-year-old Laotian child who looses concentration when the complicated dance she is performing brings her parents in view, causing her to smile and wave. And audience members are rarely critical of stage hands who do not always know how to arrange microphones for traditional music that originates in distant lands.
Public festivals are not about presenting perfection, or impressing the most elite patrons of the arts; they develop cultural literacy, offer children a glimpse of the way arts are produced outside the narrow window of television, and bring communities together for good causes.
The most elite forms of art are only possible when public forums for their development are available. Exclusive performance halls across America will one day be empty if public venues in public parks ban up-and-coming artists from performing for the public.
Houston's developing Asian and Pacific arts organizations have recently lost their traditional third weekend in October on the Miller Outdoor Theatre schedule in a dispute between the organizers, Houston's Asian American Festival Association, and the Miller Theatre Advisory Board, which approves programming at the Miller Outdoor Theatre. The outdoor amphitheater is a public facility in Houston's Hermann Park. We believe, at the very least, the City of Houston should provide a suitable venue for continuation of the Asian American Festival, a 26 year tradition in Houston.
Updates about this situation can be found at:
http://www.houstonculture.org/cultures/festivals/aaf.html
Please note: We will post the upcoming season schedule at Miller Outdoor Theatre and encourage citizens to continue to support the events, while developing greater understanding of the value of programming in community venues.
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Volunteer Project Dates
US-Mexico Border - February 17 - 19
Planned activity: Interview people in Colonia 21 de Marzo, Help Houston doctors with English-Spanish translation, Check on current prices of goods and economic factors, Deliver food donations.
New Orleans Volunteer Project - March 16 - 19, 2006
Camp Dos Cabezas - May 27 to June 4, 2006
Houston Institute for Culture/Havens Center Oral History Project is ongoing.
Please contact us at info@houstonculture.org to learn more.
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2006 Travel Series Schedule
Please note: Some dates have change, such as the dates for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, to accommodate changes in event schedules.
New Orleans Recovery
Traditional St. Joseph's Day Activities
Thursday, March 16 Sunday, March 19, 2006
New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana
Camp Dos Cabezas
Volunteers are needed to facilitate camp activities.
Saturday, May 27 - Sunday, June 4, 2006
Cochise County, Arizona
The Colorado Plateau
Exploring the Route of John Wesley Powell
Saturday, June 10 Sunday, June 18, 2006
Moab, UT
Smithsonian Folklife Festival
Nuestra Musica, Museum of the American Indian, more
Monday, July 3 Sunday, July 9, 2006
Washington, DC
The Land of Enchantment
San Lorenzo Feast Day, Museum of New Mexico, more
Saturday, August 5 - Sunday, August 13, 2006
Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico
El dia de los muertos
Mexico's Traditional Day of the Dead
Monday, October 30 - Sunday, November 5, 2005
Taxco, Mexico
To learn more about these great educational adventures, please see:
http://www.houstonculture.org/travel
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About this Email Newsletter
The e-culture newsletter is provided to community members who have requested it, as well as Houston Institute for Culture volunteers and collaborators on beneficial programs. The newsletter features Houston Institute for Culture events and activities, as well as community and cultural activities throughout the region. We attempt to highlight events and organizations that resemble the educational mission of Houston Institute for Culture, as well as promote diverse interests.
If you would like to be added to the list. please send an email to info@houstonculture.org. To be removed from the list, please reply or send a message saying "remove" or "unsubscribe".
We regret that AOL has barred its users from receiving this information about educational events and topical forums, therefore we will not be able to include AOL customers on the email list to receive this newsletter electronically. Please refer to the newsletter on line at http://www.houstonculture.org/feature.
Thank you for supporting great educational and cultural activities.
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M a r k @houstonculture.org
Houston Institute for Culture
Havens Center
1827 W. Alabama Street
Houston, Texas 77098
HOUSTON INSTITUTE FOR CULTURE SEARCH info@houstonculture.org