Events coordinated by the Asian Cultural Center of Vermont

ASIAN CULTURAL CENTER OF VERMONT (ACCVT):
CONNECTING PEOPLE AND INSTITUTIONS THROUGH ASIAN ARTS AND CULTURE

Calendar of Events coordinated by the Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT): * This page will be continually updated with additional events and changes to the calendar. * Events previous held and/or promoted are below the section on upcoming events. * Other offerings, available by arrangement, are listed at the bottom of this Calendar. * Workshops, demonstrations, presentations, film screenings, and other events. * Collaboration with schools, families, senior centers, corporate retreats, organizations, groups, venues.			For further information contact Executive Director Adam Silver at accvt[at]myfairpoint[dot]net or (802) 579-9088 or (802) 257-7898, ext. 1.
Today's date and local time for Brattleboro, Vermont, U.S.A., Eastern Standard Time:
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Pictures of Lunar New Year Festival are on Flickr. Tanabata/Obon Festivals, on Flickr. Autumn Moon Festival, on Flickr
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Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: BANGLADESH IN FOCUS, a talk with discussion, on current development in Bangladesh, with S. DUNHAM ROWLEY, Brattleboro resident and development expert. at the C.X. Silver Gallery, 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro, Tuesday, June 8, 7pm. For further information, contact ACCT Executive Director Adam Silver at (802) 579-9088 or by email at accvt [at] myfairpoint [dot] net.	Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) presents 'BANGLADESH IN FOCUS' a talk by Brattleboro resident and development expert S. Dunham Rowley, Tuesday June 8th, 7pm, at 814 Western Ave. (Rt. 9, 1 mile west of I-91 exit 2, on the left, at the art gallery) in West Brattleboro, Vermont. This talk and discussion about Bangladesh and its development will highlight two development organizations, BRAC and Grameen Bank, whose leaders, Fazle Hasan Abed and Muhammad Yunus have been highly recognized. Mr. Rowley, a resident of Brattleboro, VT, is a development expert who recently spent one month in Bangladesh working with BRAC on a proposal for funding from USAID. The image is the view from the 17th floor of the BRAC Headquarters office in Dhaka. It looks out over a lagoon, one of thousands in the country, on one side you have workers' housing and on the other affluent high rises where the elite live. Since there is no proper road connecting the workers' neighborhood with the rest of the city, boats taxi people from one shore to the other. BRAC used to be known as Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee.The letters of BRAC now stand on their own rather than as an acronym since BRAC is no longer just a rural development enterprise; also focusing activities now in the cities.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: KIRI-E: PAINTINGS of HIROSHIMA YOUTH of 1945: An opportunity to see this extraordinary exhibition on loan from Phyllis Rodin, through December 2009 at the C.X. Silver Gallery, 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro, open daily, 9 am to 9 pm by appointment and walk-in. (802) 257-7898 or (802) 579-9088. This exhibition continues through January 2010	These artworks were made from tiny strips of cloth (kiri, in Japanese, means to cut) by Japanese students of the Hiroshima Vocational High School during the months and years following the devastation of 1945. What Ataki-san taught was kiri-e, a formal kind of painting which uses tiny scraps of colored cloth held down to board with hand-mixed rice glue. Kiri-e is more often seen as paper on paper. At that time, Ataki-san patiently taught the girls how separate fabric pieces in colors and patterns that would form the palette and then how to create the pictures., Over the next months, the girls created dozens of these paintings, mostly of traditional Japanese life and of remembered scenes around Hiroshima. Other images of the kiri-e can be viewed by clicking here. You can view VIDEOS of Phyllis introducing the kiri painting collection at www.youtube.com and by clicking here. Opportunities to view the kiri-e include: daily at the C.X. Silver Gallery, by appointment, 802-579-9088 and, on display for the during of the event: * Friday, August 7, 2009, 5-6pm, Moment of Peace, Remembrance of Hiroshima, at Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main St., Brattleboro, VT. * Saturday, August 15, 2009, 1-4pm, Japan Fest, at Brattleboro Museum, 10 Vernon St., Brattleboro. * Friday, January 1 2010 at the Shogatsu Festival (see below). * The Tanabata/Obon Festival in 2010 (see below).
The lender of this exquisite collection of Hiroshima kiri paintings is 94-year-old PHYLLIS RODIN. For further information, contact Adam Silver, (802) 257-7898 ext. 1. You can view VIDEOS of Phyllis introducing the kiri painting collection at www.youtube.com and by clicking here.	In 1967-1968, Phyllis Rodin helped many at the Hiroshima Hospital including some of the 150,000 hibakusha ("explosion-affected people" - survivors) who had been readmitted to the hospital two decades after 1945 who were dealing with incapacitating post-traumatic stress. After many months bedside working with trauma patient at the hospital in Hiroshima, and in honor and gratitude for her work in the city, Ataki-san and the people of Hiroshima presented Phyllis with a number of these incredible kir-i cloth paintings. . Phyllis was in Hiroshima, listening and spending time with patients, helping them deal with their flashbacks from twenty years earlier. With this precious collection of kiri paintings, Phyllis has toured many cities and countries raising awareness of the dangers of nuclear devastation and war and the alternative of Peace through Beauty. An inspiring speaker, she has a momentum about her cause for Creating Peace that shines with her fire of determination to keep reaching out to others.	Click the image of Phyllis above to see a series of short videos introducing the fabric collage kiri paintings on youtube.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: THE LAND OF THE FATHERS, a film from Kazakhstan by Shaken Aimanov (85 minutes, 1966.) Film showing is Tuesday, June XX at 6 pm at 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro. (date to be determined)	The Land of the Fathers, shows the heartwarming odyssey of a boy and his grandfather to recover the remains of the boy’s father in the aftermath of World War II. There is a meeting of different worldviews within the Kazakh and Soviet society of the time, the atheist scientific view of life and the devout Muslim view come to light in dialogue while people talk on the train journey. This is for general audiences with one scene of an amorous adult couple. Click here for a Word document version of a flyer for these Kazakh film events.
Ongoing: Central Asian Cinema a twice-monthly film series continues Tuesdays and Saturdays, twice monthly. This series of 10 feature films, subtitled in English, will be shown one per week, two weeks during each month, each film generally shown on a Tuesday and then repeated on the following Saturday. Film viewing will be preceded by a short introduction and followed by a discussion period.	Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents a twice-monthly film series at the C.X. Silver Gallery. The films are emblematic of five Central Asian Republics, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Each republic is represented by two feature length films. For each republic, there is a film made during the Soviet times and another made since independence in the 1990s. Now there is the companion collection of documentary films from each of the five republics and including films from the 1960s to the 1990s. To promote awareness about Central Asia world-wide, The Arts and Culture Network Program of Open Society Institute (OSI) has commissioned Central Asian Cinema Expert Gulnara Abikeyeva to bring together this collection. These films are shown with the permission of OSI. The cover art for the feature film set showing a compelling image of hands-as-film focusing on an eye, was created by Ilya Rudoplavov. See below for specific films.These films are offered to the public free of any admission charge. Any donations received will help to offset expenses of programs and events offered by the Cultural Center.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: AKSUAT, a film from Kazakhstan by Serik Aprimov (80 minutes, 1997.) Film showing is Saturday, June XX at 5 pm at 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro. (Date to be determined.) Aksuat, a tragic farce, shows a grim look at the changing modern times in relation to a traditional Kazakh village and the plight of two brothers, one who stays in the village and the other who becomes a social outcast in the city.	Aksuat is the name of a real village where Writer/Producer/ Director Serik Aprymov lived as a child. This film depicts the real Kazakh village without movie studios or stage sets. Gulnara Abikeyeva described the experience of this film through Aman, the brother that stayed behind in the village: “The film has an amazing rhythm – unhurried and reserved, just like the character of Aman. At the same time the film doesn’t have anything unnecessary; all elements add important information to the whole picture of the film. Behind this reserved appearance, an incredible energy pulses – of course, the humans’ lives are broken!” There is also “the visceral and heartbreaking musical score” and “the deserted almost moon-like surface” of the landscape. … If Serik Aprimov says something with a straight face, it means that a trick is somewhere about. His films are the same way. He sees funny things and paradoxes in everything. But behind this ironic smile there are deep feelings and a true love of his people.” Adult situations mean that this film is not for children.
DUAN WU FESTIVAL of CHINA, Sunday June 20, 2010, 1-4 pm, 814 Western Ave., in West Brattleboro. Contact Adam Silver for more information, (802) 257-7898 ext. 1. Free event; donations welcome.	Learn the story of poet Qu Yuan and the Duan Wu Festival and how zongzi dumplings came about. Make paper zongzi ornaments with colorful silk thread and mini paper dragon boats. Ornament making works best for ages 9 to adult. This is also an Art Fits Vermont event. Puzzle pieces will be available to create your own during this two-year state-wide event. Click on the previous sentence to learn more about Art Fits Vermont. Click here for a 2008 Word document flyer of the Duan Wu Festival event. The actual festival day is the 27th, later this year than most years due to this being a leap year in the Chinese traditional calendar.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, a film from Turkmenistan. (75 minutes, 1963.) Film showing is Saturday, July (date to be arranged) at 5 pm at 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro. This film is for general audiences. Shown by permission of Open Society Institute, there is no admission fee; donations welcomed to help with Cultural Center event expenses.	There is only one showing for this film this month. An old goat and sheep herder and his daughter in law breed lambs in an isolated part of the desert with rarely a visitor. She lives with images in her mind of her husband, awaits his return from the battlefront, and hopes he is still alive. Gulnara Abikeyeva our Central Asian film expert describes: “The war has taken her husband. And this dream - to sing a song at the baby’s cradle - is carried out to the culmination of the film.” One of the heroes of the film is “an always awaited child” who “will never appear.” The film moves in the rhythms and landscape of traditional Turkmen lifestyle, opening with old man buried in the hot sand up to his neck to treat his rheumatism. Later they dry melons for winter, and take in newborn lambs. This film has won prizes at many film festivals.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: LITTLE ANGEL, MAKE ME HAPPY, a film from Turkmenistan. (88 minutes, 1993.) Film showing is Tuesday, July XX at 6 pm (date to be arranged) at 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro. This film is for general audiences.	During World War II in Turkmenia, the deportation of Soviet citizens of German origins begins; adults are sent to concentration camps, children to orphanages. Six-year-old Georg hides from the Red Army Soldiers in his now-abandoned village, has to bury an adult relative, figure out how to care for a sick child, and, through this world turned upside down, he keeps his belief in Little Angel that he has heard from a children’s song. The story touches on one of the most complex of problems: what is the Motherland? Gulnara Abikeyeva our Central Asian film expert considers this film to be one of the top ten for her of all time. Shown by permission of Open Society Institute, there is no admission fee; donations welcomed to help with Cultural Center programming and event expenses.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont and Brattleboro Museum and Art Center presented JAPAN FEST: TANABATA and OBON Saturday, 1-4pm, August 7, 2009, at the Museum, 10 Vernon St., Brattleboro. Featuring: * Stuart Paton of Burlington Taiko with a drumming demonstration and workshop. * A simplified Tea Ceremony presented by Susan Hebson, 1-2pm. * Kamishibai, Japanese storytelling theatre with Dianne Clouet. * Japanese Film Genres - presentation by Harvey Nystrom - 1:15-2pm: Samurai films 2-3pm: Kaiju films (kaiju = mysterious beasts) 3-4pm: Ultraman * Origami table, 1-4pm, demonstrations 2-3pm the wearing of the yukata, the summer kimono, demonstrated by Nan Jiang Hyde, 1-4pm A self-help audience participation demo by Madeline Fan using Jin Shin Jutsu, an ancient Japanese art of hamonizing mind, body and spirit. 2-3. * The giving and receiving of light for individual revitalization including a Japanese chant, presented by Susan Hebson and Aylanah Katz, 2-4pm.	JAPAN FEST: TANABATA and OBON is free, open to the public, and for all ages. The two festivals will be celebrated in a combined event in Brattleboro, Vermont, a double festival! For further information contact Adam Silver, (802) 579-9088 or email to accvt[at]myfairpoint[dot]net. Tanabata, meaning "Seven Evenings") is a Japanese star festival, held on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, celebrates the meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair) which are separated from each other the rest of the year by the The Milky Way. In present-day Japan, people generally celebrate this day by writing wishes, sometimes in the form of poetry, on small pieces of paper and hanging them on bamboo, sometimes with other decorations. Tanabata, originating in an astronomical observance, is a day of poetry and crafts.2008 festival pics are on Flickr. Obon is a very important tradition for Japanese people, a time to wish for the departed that their souls may rest in peace. One belief is that spirits of one’s ancestors join the living, present-day families during the Obon festival. It is a time to clean house, to decorate family altars with flowers and paper lanterns, and to offer vegetables and fruit to the spirits of one’s ancestors. Folk dances (bon odori) are often held during Obon in which people wearing the summer kimono (yukata) dance in a circle usually to the rhythm of taiko drums. In some places, after having welcomed the spirits of the ancestors for the first three days into the home, on the third evening of the festival, families send paper lanterns lit by a candle floating downstream in a gesture to send off the spirits. Both festivals occur close to each other during the Summer. Obon is related to ancient Shinto observances respecting one's ancestors with music and dance featured. Hiroshima Remembrance is being observed at the monthly Moment for Peace Friday August 6 2010 at 5:30pm during Gallery Walk at the Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main St., Brattleboro, VT. Harvey Nystrom's three presentations on different Japanese film genres was a lead-in to the 2nd Vermont Samurai Kaiju Festival to be held in Brattleboro, the weekend of October 24 and 25. For more information, visit vermontsamuraikaiju[dot]org.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: YOU ARE NOT AN ORPHAN, a film from Uzbekistan. (75 minutes, 1963.) Film showing is Tuesday, August xx, 2010, at 6 pm (date to be arranged) at 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro. This film is for general audiences.	This remarkable and touching film produced during the Soviet era, and based on true events during World War II, describes the family of a blacksmith couple who take in fourteen children while their own son is away at the battlefront. These children of different ages and nationalities learn to live together. When the son returns from the Front with yet another child, and from the country of the enemy army, even this child is welcomed into the family. Shown by permission of Open Society Institute, there is no admission fee; donations welcomed to help with Cultural Center programming and event expenses. Please note that the ACCVT/OSI Central Asian Cinema series resumes this month in West Brattleboro, Vermont.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: THE ORATOR, a film from Uzbekistan. (90 minutes, 1998.) Film showing is Saturday, August xx, 2010, at 5 pm (date to be arranged) at 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro. Parental guidance is suggested.	Set during the 1930s, The Orator, is a historical drama, told as a fairy tale, of Iskander and his four wives moving through a regime change in which women are ordered to throw away their veils.During the fim, Iskander moves from poverty to affluence to acclaim to ostracism. Shown by permission of Open Society Institute, there is no admission fee; donations welcomed to help with Cultural Center programming and event expenses.
Common Ground Center presents: 2010 CHINESE CULTURE WEEKEND, August 27-29. Starksboro, VT. Activities include t'ai chi for health, t'ai chi sword, Chinese calisthenics, Chinese language, calligraphy scrolls, games, song, and dance, Chinese cooking, brush painting, and a presentation on growing up in China.	All families are welcome to learn more about Chinese culture in a bucolic setting. There are activities for adults and for children of all ages. The Retreat lasts from Friday at 3 pm until Sunday at 1 pm. Common Ground Center is a 501(c) (3) non-profit dedicated to bringing together and strengthening diverse families and communities, by offering programs focused on music and the arts, the healing arts and outdoor exploration. For more information, on Common Ground Center's programs, visit CGCVT's website call the CGCVT office at 802-453-2592 or 800-430-2667 or email to info@cgcvt.org .
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: BESHKEMPIR, a film from Kyrgyzstan by Aktan Abdykalykov (77 minutes, 1998, subtitles.) Film showing is Tuesday, September XX, 2010, at 6pm at 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro. (date to be determined)	Beshkempir traces the life of a young teen boy in the Kyrgyz countryside. The film opens with an adoption ceremony of the boy as a baby by the village elder women. We then see him as a young teen with his peers, and with his step parents, and then the closing with the funeral of his beloved grandmother. Parental guidance is suggested with scenes not appropriate for younger children of sexualized activity and some swearing. Shown by permission of Open Society Institute, there is no admission fee; donations welcomed to help with Cultural Center programming and event expenses.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: THE WHITE MOUNTAINS, a film from Kyrgyzstan by Melis Ubukeev (62 minutes, 1998, subtitles) Film showing is Saturday, September xx, 2010, at 5 pm at 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro. (date to be determined)	In White Mountains, subtitled “Difficult Crossing,” Mukash is chased by officials, learns of the devastation of war from a blind woman and helps her daughter to freedom beyond the river crossing, he, having to choose a tragic solution. This film has some swearing and a plotline for ages 10 and up. Shown by permission of Open Society Institute, there is no admission fee; donations welcomed to help with Cultural Center programming and event expenses. There is only one showing this month for this film.
AUTUMN MOON FESTIVAL of China, Korea & Vietnam: WEDNESDAY, September 22, 2010 5:30-8 p.m. Location: Kiwanis Pavilion at the top of Memorial Park in Brattleboro; Free celebration potluck for all ages. Donations to ACCVT, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit are welcome.	* Rain or shine, celebrate the moon and remembrance of family members who are not with us, with crafts (paper lantern making), games (the Korean rope tug and Chinese exercise), t’ai chi, stories and food. For the potluck, try to bring something round or in a round dish, Asian themed or whatever you can manage. Then watch the harvest moon rise. * Directions to the event: (while the Creamery Bridge is closed) From Western Avenue (Rt. 9), take Union or Williams Streets to Estey St to Pleasant St. Right turn onto Maple St. Right turn onto Guilford St. Left turn into Memorial Park and all the way up the drive. From I-91 Exit 1 take Canal St to Fairview Ave to Maple St and then as above. * A text based flyer for the event can be downloaded here. * An 8.5 x 11 poster of the thumnailed collage at right can downloaded here. (PDF format. Get Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the poster, here.) * 53 images of the 2008 Autumn Moon Festival are available on FLICKR
NAVARATRI DANCE FESTIVAL: On a Sunday Fall afternoon, 1-3:30 pm, *at the banquet hall of America's Best Inn, 959 Putney Road.* Free potluck; all ages. Directions: 1/4 mile south of I-91 Exit 3 traffic circle, opposite intersection with Black Mountain Road.	The nine (nava) nights (ratri) of this festival of dancing from India are introduced during one afternoon. The festival is devoted to destroying all our impurities and vices, increasing in wealth, and gaining wisdom. Learn about the meaning of Navaratri for us today and practice a fun group dance. In the Hindu calendar, the dates for Navaratri for 2009 are from September 19th through the 27th. The date for the Brattleboro event has not yet been set. Inquire with Adam Silver for further information.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents HASAN - ARBAKESH a film from Tajikistan (1965, 91 minutes) Tuesday Oct. XX, at 5 pm Shown by permission of Open Society Institute, there is no admission fee; donations welcomed to help with Cultural Center programming and event expenses. Date to be arranged.	HASAN - ARBAKESH a film from Tajikistan is about Hasan, with his cart and horse, who journeys in the name of his beloved Saodat, hoping to earn enough to marry his sweetheart. After courageous exploits, with the world is changing around them, with trucks taking the place of the horse and cart, the heroic couple, alas, cannot ultimately be together. A charming but sad movie, with subtitles, with sung Tajik folk tunes now and then. This film is shown by permission of Open Society Institute, with no admission fee; donations to Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) are appreciated.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents KOSH BA KOSH a film from Tajikistan (1993, 98 minutes). Tuesday, Oct.XX at 6:30 pm. Shown by permission of Open Society Institute, there is no admission fee; donations welcomed to help with Cultural Center programming and event expenses. Date to be arranged.	The opening caption of KOSH BA KOSH dedicates this film "to all women we love." This romance, set against a backdrop of civil war, first in the city, then in the mountains, living by a funicular railway. After a father loses his daughter to a young man in a game of dice, the two young people grow to love each other. By the end, she must bury her father who has been caught in the crossfire of the civil war. Gulnara Abikeyeva explains further: "Kosh Ba Kosh" is a term that refers to disputable situation in the ancient Tajik dice game and it means "let’s play it again." * Please note: This film event is now on a date different than previously scheduled.
DIWALI: INDIA'S NEW YEAR Free potluck celebration All ages; all welcome. Location: America's Best Inn, 959 Putney Road, Route 5, Brattleboro, 1/4 mile south of the Exit 3 traffic circle.	Learn about the mythic stories connected to this festival of lights, and joy, celebrating the victory of good over evil and the return of the hero(ine). Arts and crafts, potluck refreshments, and lessons for women in how to wear a sari. Find out about bindi dots on the forehead and what a rangoli is.
The third annual VERMONT SAMURAI KAIJU FILM FESTIVAL will be held OCT. 23-24, 2010 in Brattleboro at the Latchis Theatre. Kaiju is the genre of 'mysterious beasts' such as Godzilla movies. These Japanese language films will be introduced by people knowledgeable in the film genres. This year's events are funded in part by Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts through a Community Arts Grant to ACCVT. Schedule: (all on one weekend, in downtown Brattleboro)	This Festival, the first of its kind, celebrates the Japanese film through two genres, the Samurai films and the original kaiju films that gave rise to Godzilla movies. Kaiju, in Japanese, means ‘mysterious beast’ and refers to a film genre that grew from the 1950s and continues to this day. Samurai is a term for warriors in pre-industrial Japan. The approach is to show films accompanied by other fun activities for all ages related to kaiju and samurai films. The 2009 Festival took place Saturday and Sunday October 24 and 25. Saturday the 24th at 2pm featured Ultraman (the 1966 episodes thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment) and at 4pm, Yoji Yamada's *Bushi no Ichibun* (Love and Honor) thanks to Funimation. On Sunday Oct. 25, at 2pm and 4pm, Gamera the Brave and Gamera the Invincible showed thanks to Media-Blasters. These films were offered to the public with free admission thanks to the film distributors named above and to the Latchis Theatre, Theatre Manager Darren Goldsmith. Donations to ACCVT (Asian Cultural Center of Vermont a 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit) are greatly appreciated. Underwriters are welcome for the festival. Other activities preceding the films at 1:20pm included Dianne Clouet presenting kamishibai, timeless tales retold with the Japanese mini theatre. Another pre-film activity will be mould-your-own-hero (or -monster) thanks to clay donated by Beth Meachem and Greater Manchester Arts Council. The Festival started Saturday morning the 24th at Marlboro College Graduate Center, also in downtown Brattleboro at 28 Vernon Street, with a video game contest using Gozilla Unleashed with thanks to Harvey Nystrom and Carlos Shallenberger for coordinating the contest and with thanks to the Grad Center, Kelly Fletcher and Brendan Peterson for the use of the space. Contact Adam Silver, (802) 579-9088 or acc.vt@myfairpoint.net for more information. The festival website is: www.vermontsamuraikaiju.org. During the first year's Festival of 2008, out of state marketing was sponsored in part by Vermont Dept. of Tourism and Marketing through a Fund for Tourism & Marketing Initiatives (FTMI) Grant. The 2009 Festival was funded and sponsored in part by Vermont Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts. The 2009 Festival posters were designed and donated by Sean Hartter. 11x17 posters of Sean's original artwork are available, $7 per poster, $31 for the set of five, as a fundraiser for Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) a 501(c)(3) non-profit. This year's video public service announcement can be viewed here or on youtube.

TBILISOBA, the annual festival celebrating Georgian culture; Georgia, the Eurasian republic by the Caucasus; Sakartvelo - how to say the name of the country in the Georgian language. There will also be a sampling of Georgian cuisine. On a Sunday afternoon in the Fall at the C.X.Silver Gallery, 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro.	Dance & Music from the Eurasian Republic of Georgia: A film shown free to the public, for children and adults.Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents a filmed concert of the Georgian National Ballet with the Sukhishvili Ensemble, followed by discussion of Georgia, the land and its culture. Donning a variety of traditonal costumes, the Georgian men's and women's dance are as different from each other as yin and yang and yet, together, it harmonizes. The men's dances are acrobatic marshalling a huge amount of kinetic energy. The women's flow across the stage is reminiscent of some forms of choreography from southeast Asia. The dance and music are at an enthralling Eurasian crossroads. For further information, contact Adam Silver for any updates on this at (802) 257-7898, ext. 1. Donations welcome to defray the cost of programming events by the Cultural Center
SHOGATSU: JAPAN'S NEW YEAR: Celebrate with activities for all ages: music, crafts, food, games, calligraphy & poetry. Saturday, January 1, 2011, 1-4 pm. At C.X. Silver Gallery, 814 Western Avenue, in West Brattleboro. Click here for a previous flyer as a Word document.	Immerse yourself in fun Japanese activities: Learn a Japanese song. Try playing a traditional Japanese instrument and Japanese games. Try Japan’s special sweet rice dish. Practice Japanese writing, your name in Katakana, and New Year’s calligraphy. Make your own Japanese decorations (kadomatsu) for the entrance to your home. Bring a dish, a non-alcoholic beverage, or a snack to share for the potluck. A free event open to the public for all ages. Please note the change of venue.
LUNAR NEW YEAR of CHINA, KOREA & VIETNAM: in downtown Brattleboro; at Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, 10 Vernon St., downtown Brattleboro, a free public event for all ages. IT'S A POTLUCK: Bring appetizers, hors d'oeuvres, drinks (non-alcoholic), or other refreshments to share. Tentative date: SATURDAY, January 31, 2-4 pm, 2011.	The Year of the Ox officially begins in 2009 on the 26th, but this festival celebration will take place, as usual, during a weekend afternoon, this year on a Saturday. Activities include crafts, song, Chinese exercise en masse, an introduction to t'ai chi and t'ai chi sword, and a huge Vietnamese dragon dancing to the beat of drums, brought by Marlboro College staff and students and with audience participation for children and adults. Practice Chinese calligraphy with scores of other people on a massive sheet of paper. Be on a team for the Korean rope tug, or cheer on the two teams. Local students' artwork (Oak Grove 5th & 6th Grades) influenced by Chinese language and art will be exhibited for the day during the Festival. There will also be contemporary Chinese video art based on the I Ching, qi (inner energy, outer flow), and the Tao Te Ching poetry. In addition, there will be artist-audience share sessions. Pictures of 2008 Lunar New Year Festival are on FLICKR: www.flickr.com/photos/asianculturevermont/sets/72157612837651633 Check back for picks of 2009.
NO RUZ : SOUTHWEST ASIA'S NEW YEAR: Sunday March 20, 2011, 2:30pm-4:30 pm. (please note the change in event time) the day after the official 'New Day,' Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents an introduction to this ancient and current festival with activities for all ages around the focus of the spread (sofreh) of auspicious items. Feel free to bring something to share.	No Ruz (Persian for ‘New Day’) has been observed for thousands of years by the ancient cultures of Persia (present-day Iran), and is celebrated as 'Nauryz' and 'Navroz' by many of the republics in Central Asia and the Caucasus.This festival is also celebrated as 'NawRuz' in the Sufi and Baha'i faiths. Activities include: readings from Persian and Baha'i poetry, learning Persian holiday greetings and phrases to wish others well, playing games of chance, and visiting with relatives and neighbors. There is also the customs of setting the special table or spread (sofreh) with seven plates or bowls containing items all beginning with the Persian sound 's' and 'sh' all symbolizing peace, prosperity, growth and other auspicious meanings. Naw Ruz (No Ruz/Nauryz/Navroz/Nowruz) celebrates the arrival of Spring and is a thanksgiving celebration. For more information on this multicultural Asian festival, inlcuding more images, go to the NoRuz page for the 1st of two additional pages. Click on the goldfish (at the left) to see an array of typical items.
CHINESE & ART SUMMER CAMP Planned for August of a future summer. Students can enroll for one or two weeks.	Learning conversational Chinese, through songs, games, art, and movement, and, for the older students Chinese calisthenics and t’ai chi sword. More information at: www.asianculturalcentervt.org/ html/pgcamp.htm or by following the Programs link of this website to ‘A summer day camp ‘alternative.’ Cost for the weeklong session is: $150 for preschool morning, 9-11 am; $225 for school-age afternoon, 1-4pm. More information on the Chinese and Art Summer Camp page.
Come march with the Asian Cultural Center of VT in the Strolling of the Heifers PARADE Saturday morning, June 4, 2011, 8:45-11:30 am. Assemble at the intersection of Elm, Frost and Flat Streets in downtown Brattleboro at 8:45 a.m. (Ask festival orgainzers where the Asian CUtlural Center of Vermont dragon is.) Look for the 30-foot dragon and banner for the Asian Cultural Center of VT. The parade will end by the Brattleboro Common at Park Place and Linden Street. Click here for a 2011 Word document version of a flyer about marching in the parade with the Asian Cultural Center of Vermont.	Traditionally, the Asian dragon symbolizes abundance of the land and the mysterious harmony of Nature itself. Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) celebrates the importance of farming and agriculture in both Asia and Vermont with the dance of the 30-foot Vietnamese dragon chasing the mythical ‘pearl’ often to the beat of a large drum wheeled in a cart. Dragons in Asia are auspicious guardians of nature, especially of water, rainfall and flooding, bestowers of abundance and strength. The way the dragon moves, following the ‘pearl’ of wealth and prosperity, is a visual jazz of improvisation through movement. The dragon is a giant marionette carried by a team of pole holders, each pole holding up part of the dragon. One person carries the ‘pearl’ on a pole. People are needed to help carry the 30-foot Vietnamese dragon. We also have, on loan, a collection of Asian farming hats to wear during the parade, thanks a long-tern loan from Ron and Michelle Bos-Lun. One or two people wheel the giant drum and give it a beat. Three people abreast carry the ACCVT banner. Others, as available use small percussion instruments. The parade officials will position each marching group at 9 am at or near 80 Flat Street in downtown Brattleboro. Our marching group should get to the ending place (Park Place & Linden St.) by about 11:20 a.m. Click on the image at right for a larger version. Thank you to the following people in the 2010 parade who made ACCVT's participation possible: Ace Michaud, Arthur Pettee, Brianna Ogden, Casey Hagedorn, Chris Andres, Dan Kasnitz, Duo Xi, Elijah Taylor, Emily Bullock, Hannah Kasnitz, Leah Silver, Marie Procter, Nan Jiang Hyde, and Xi Cai. Thank you to Asian Studies Director Seth Harter and Marlboro College for use of the dragon.
(more events planned here...)
Events, previously held:
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: Michelle Bos-Lun: Sacred Cities of Northern India, slide talk and discussion, Wed., May 19 7pm Meeting Room, 2nd Floor, Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main Street in downtown Brattleboro, VT.	Michelle Bos-Lun: SACRED CITIES OF NORTHERN INDIA This slide show and lecture/discussion will introduce places significant to religions and spiritual practices of India through images and stories of many sites, including:Bodh Gaya, Varanasi, Amritsar, Dharamsala, and Delhi's Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India. Bos-Lun has been to northern India with student groups five times since 2004 and the pictures will share her experiences introducing American youth to the major faiths and practices of India. Michelle Bos-Lun has served as Chair of the Monadnock Friends of Tibet since 2003. She has designed and lead students on numerous programs to China, Thailand, and India. Her graduate studies were completed in Dharamsala, India with women in the Tibetan exile community. Michelle currently works at Youth Services in Brattleboro. She is also a student at the Thosum Gephelling Institute of Tibetan Buddhist Studies in Williamsville, VT. Michelle went to high school in Taipei, Taiwan, studied abroad as an undergraduate in Shanghai, China, and conducted graduate research in Dharamsala, India. She received her Master’s degree in International Education at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont. She has designed and led numerous high school programs to Asia, including programs to China, India, Tibet, and Thailand. She created global studies and travel programs for the Meeting School of Rindge, New Hampshire and the Compass School of Westminster, Vermont, where she founded their Global Connections program.
Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) and Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) present "A Village Called Versailles" - Film and Panel Discussion. Learn how the largest concentration of the Vietnamese outside of Vietnam faced with Hurricane Katrina's devastation of their community, organized themselves to create change, a remarkable film from the Independent Lens series, the film screening at 7:30pm, and audience discussion afterwards with visiting panelists. Thursday, May 13, 2010, at the Museum, 10 Vernon St., in downtown Brattleboro, VT. Free admission, donations always welcome and appreciated. To learn more about this film visit to following online: avillagecalledversailles.com	Film and Panel Discussion: The largest Vietnamese Community in the U.S. during Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath in A Village Called Versailles at Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Panelists: Dr. Kate Jellema (Marlboro College), Samirah Evans and Chris Lenois, and Huong Nguyen. Moderator: Museum Director, Danny Lichtenfeld. Kate Jellema studied Vietnamese asylum-seekers for her Master’s degree, then did ethnographic research in northern Vietnam, for her dissertation on “Moral landscapes of memory in a northern Vietnamese village,” has taught courses in Vietnamese history, culture and religion and helped organize trips to Vietnam for students and faculty. Chris Lenois, a New Orleans resident for 7 years, wrote for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, L'Observateur and SCAT Magazine, and hosted a program on WWOZ radio. Samirah Evans, a New Orleans resident for close to 20 years, is a jazz vocalist, and was an active member of the New Orleans chapter of a Buddhist association for peace, culture and education. Chris and Samirah were married on the shores of Lake Ponchartrain, just six months before Hurricane Katrina flooded their house. After evacuating to Florida, they returned to New Orleans for close to a year before relocating to Lenois' hometown of Brattleboro. Huong Nguyen worked for the American Red Cross (ARC) in her native Vietnam and then continued working with ARC when she first arrived in the United States. Having settled in Brattleboro, she has a child attending public schools here, is starting up Linh's Vietnamese Cuisine, has a food booth at Saturday's area Farmers Market, and is currently studying at S.I.T. Graduate Institute. Join Danny and the panelists in a discussion following the one-hour documentary film, part of the PBS Independent Lens Series to look at how the Vietnamese in Louisiana turn a disaster into a catalyst for change. More information at: www.pbs.org/independentlens/village-called-versailles. Brattleboro Museum has been the one venue in northern New England this season for the Independent Lens Series previewing films to be shown on public television. ACCVT collaborated with the Museum for the film events that pertain to Asian and Asian-American communities and their cultures, see also, below, the April 1 2010 event on Mongolia, Shamanism and Autism.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: Cindy Ji: Horseback Riding in Inner Mongolia, an illustrated talk, Tues., May 11 7pm at ACCVT's 'home base,' 814 Western Avenue West Brattleboro, VT, one mile west of I-91 Exit 2, on the left. Preceded and followed by Kyrgyz and Turkmen documentary film shorts on horses in the daily life of Central Asian people.	Cindy Ji, an exchange student from northeastern China, attending Brattleboro Union High School, presents an illustrated talk on horseback riding in Inner Mongolia, in China's National Games, and as a sport that is coming to China's big cities as a cultural pasttime. Before and after her presentation, there will debut three of the more than sixty Central Asian documentary film shorts recently received from Open Society Institute. The three shown this evening are about horses in Central Asian life: "There Are Horses," directed by Tolomush Okeyev (1965) from Kyrgyzstan, and from Turkmenistan, "The Story of One Rum" directed by Murad Alyiev (1986) and "Horses Akhaltekintsi" a sketch by Vemurad Ovezov (1990s). The presentation is free and open to the public with donations always appreciated for ACCVT a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational resources agency dedicated to connecting people and connecting institutions through the arts and cultures of Asia.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents A Celebration of TAJIK CULTURE Saturday May 1, at 5 pm featuring a presentation by DR. Elena NEVA. Her bio and information on her book Jewelry of Central Asia is available here.	DR. ELENA NEVA is known worldwide for her expertise in Russian culture, her books and lectures on art history, and her knowledge of the art and jewelry of ancient Asia and Tajikistan, where she was born. She has visited twenty-six countries, taught in Tajikistan, Israel, Russia, and America, and has lectured at some of the worlds finest universities, and now teaches at several schools and colleges in the Boston area, where she specializes in the Russian language and art history. Dr. Neva has a Ph.D. in Art History from the Institute of Art in Tashkent, has been a guest lecturer at Columbia and Harvard Universities, is author of The Art of Ancient Jewelers, The Jewelry of Central Asia, and the recently published, Tajik Jewelry, all published in Boston, as well as articles on ancient Central Asian, Bukharan and Tajik Jewelry and its imagery in Kunstpedia, and has a TV program, 'Meeting Interesting People,' on TV3 in Medford, Massachusetts. More information about Dr. Neva is at her site, elenaneva.yolasite.com. Images to the right are from her book and used with permission.
Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) and Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) present April Wisdom: Autism, Mongolia, Horses and Shamanic Healing - a celebration of a remarkable film from the Independent Lens series, with presentations starting at 6:30 on an introduction to Asian Shamanic healing, the film screening at 7:30, and audience discussion afterwards with visiting panelists. Thursday, April 1, 2010, 6:30pm at the Museum, 10 Vernon St., in downtown Brattleboro, VT. Free admission. Event flyer (Word document)	* 6:30pm: An Introduction to Mongolia and its Culture of Traditional Healing, a talk by Sas Carey, RN, energy healer, Director of Nomadicare, based in Mongolia and Vermont, since 1994 studying traditional medicine and shamanism in Mongolia. * 7:00pm: Asian Shamanism - Introduction by Susan Grimaldi, healer and practicing shaman for the past 35 years and who has worked with Tuvan, Ulchi, Mongol and Manchu shamans in communities in North China, Inner Mongolia, and southern Siberia. * 7:30pm: The Horse Boy, shown at BMAC through Community Cinema, a collaboration with Vermont Public Television and Brattleboro Community Television. * 8:30pm: Panel Discussion: After the film, Carey and Grimaldi will join Carol Ortlip, Academic Director of I.N.S.P.I.R.E. For Autism, to answer questions from the audience. * More on Sas Carey and Nomadicare. * More on Susan Grimaldi and her work. * For further information on the Asian Culture components of these events, contact ACCVT Executive Director Adam Silver (802) 579-9088. * For further information on the Independent Lens series showing at Brattleboro Museum, contact Museum Director Danny Lichtenfeld.


Friends of Music at Guilford (FOMAG) presents Ensemble Datura in The River Garden, 157 Main St. in downtown Brattleboro Friday, April 2, 2010, 7:30 pm. Proceeds from the concert will benefit FOMAG's Music Enrichment Program at Guilford Central School Tickets for the 7:30 concert are $10 for adults, $5 for students age 5 through 16. A buffet of international foods will be offered for sale from 6:00 pm, and desserts and beverages will be available during the concert.	Ensemble Datura is a dynamic World Music ensemble specializing in traditional music from Turkey, South India, and the Arabic world as well as original compositions featuring musical instruments and ideas that draw on the cultures of South India, the Middle East, Turkey, Australia, Tuva, Zimbabwe (the Shona tribe in particular), Brazil, and the USA. Of particular interest will be some Tuvan throat singing by two members of the group, Todd Roach and Mac Ritchey. Todd, who runs The Loft teaching and performance space in Brattleboro, will also be playing darbuka, riqq, frame drums, pandeiro, djembe and percussion. Multi-instrumentalist Mac Ritchey, once referred to as a "musical Swiss army knife," also plays oud, guitars, duduk, and didjeridu. They will be joined by K. S. Resmi, an author, teacher, and scholar in Indian classical music and specialist in the Carnatic vocal techniques of South India; she has been featured on numerous film soundtracks and CDs. The fourth member of the group is exotic percussion master N. Scott Robinson, who plays frame drums, ghaval, riqq, pandeiro, sanza, mbira dza vadzimu, and hammer dulcimer. The quartet will also hold an all-school concert. They will offer rhythm and melody workshops for interested students in grades 5 through 8. More information about Robinson and Resmi is found below in the April 2008 concert.
Marlboro College presents Music for the Ney, a concert by Frederick Stubbs. Sunday, April 4, 3:00 pm, Ragle Hall on campus, Marlboro, VT More info at Marlboro College	Frederick Stubbs plays this ancient instrument in a concert featuring devotional music of the Mevlevi Dervishes together with pieces from the Ottoman Turkish art tradition. The compositions (spanning several hundred years) are rendered in the modal system known as makam, and woven together with the colorful improvisations known as taksim. S.K. Baliga leads the accompanying ensemble on ney (reed flute), bendir (frame drum) and voice.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont and Brooks Memorial Library present Japanese Boat Building Traditions: A slide talk and demonstration, with scale models, and building materials to examine, by Douglas Brooks, at Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main Street, in downtown Brattleboro, Saturday afternoon, March 20, 2010: 2:00 pm. This event is sponsored by Vermont Humanities Council through their Speakers Bureau. This event is free and open to the public.	Douglas Brooks is a Vermont boat builder, writer and researcher who builds five types of traditional wooden boats and has apprenticed under four master builders in Japan in a traditional Japanese craft that apparently is dying out for lack of apprentices to continue the tradition. Brooks, who is fluent in Japanese, has been to Japan 14 times. The boats and their uses offer a view of traditional Japanese seafaring life on a remote and romantic island off the coast of Honshu. His book, The Tub Boats of Sado Island: A Japanese Craftsman’s Methods is available for sale. This winter, 2009-2010, Brooks has been on Iejima Island apprenticing with a Japanese boatbuilder and his son buidling a traditional fishing boat called a sabani. This is part of Brooks' ongoing research and documentation of traditional boats of Japan. Now in his fifth apprenticeship, Brooks is planning a new book which will include these experiences. This talk in March is an advance opportunity to hear about his recent work. To preview what he has been doing this winter, visit his blog. This event is free and open to the public with donations welcome to provide an honorarium to the presenter and towards event expenses of the Cultural Center. For more information, click on the image (right), visit http://www.douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com, and check out his blog at http://thesabaniproject.blogspot.com . Douglas previously presented two years ago 1/25/08 in West Brattleboro.

CELEBRATION of RUMI: PERSIAN MYSTIC & POET On the occasion of Rumi's birth, there will be a semazen (turning dervish), Oud accompaniment by Kevin Germain, and selections of poetry coordinated by Rupa Cousins and Christopher Briggs. commemorate Rumi's life and teaching. Wednesday, Sept. 30, 6pm at 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro (1 mile west of I-91 Exit 2 on Route 9 on the left.)	2007 was named the year of Rumi by UNESCO, celebrating the world renowned poet's 800th anniversary. Although Rumi is one of the most read poets in America, few people know that he was also the founder of the Mevlevis, the order of the Whirling Dervishes. Everyone is welcome in keeping with his inclusion of people of all faiths. There will also be some reading from Rumi's work. Image source: Turkish Student Association of Syracuse University, (http://web.syr.edu/~tsa/org_index.html). For more general information on Rumi and his octocentennial : http://www.mevlana800.info and http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0705/detail/rumi_2.html. The Oud is the Middle Eastern precursor to the European Lute. The music will consist of improvisations and illahis (voice instrumental music without lyrics or words).
Sunday, Sept. 27, 1pm: Vermont Humanities Council and Brooks Memorial Library present Julie Otsuka reading from and answering questions about her book, When the Emperor Was Divine, the the Vermont Reads Book of the Year for 2009. Event location: Brooks Memorial Library, 224 Main St., Brattleboro. A free public event sponsored by the Vermont Humanities' Council and funded by the Friends of the Brooks Memorial Library. Julie's photo: Daryl N. Long Click on the image at right for a larger version.	The Vermont Reads program brings communities and people of all ages together to read a book and do activities centered around it. The Vermont Humanities Council's Vermont Reads book this year is author Julie Otsuka's When the Emperor Was Divine. This novel chronicles the evacuation experience of an unnamed Japanese-American family during World War II. Otsuka's novel takes an unflinching and unsentimental look inside a stark shadow of America's past: the Japanese-American internment camps. When the Emperor Was Divine explores themes that invite discussion and activities: fear, loneliness, heroism, the American dream and its deferment, cultural divides, and how a family, a community, or a country responds when under duress. As part of the Vermont Reads program, Julie Otsuka will read from and answer questions about her book at the Brooks Memorial Library on Sunday, September 27, at 1 PM, in Brattleboro, VT. This is the culminating event of several in the week featuring Julie. Otsuka and her book. Earlier events are: * Wednesday, Sept. 23, 7-9pm:Vermont Humanities' scholar Richard Wizansky discusses Otsuka's book in the meeting room of the Brooks Memorial Library, further information on this event as well as Julie Otsuka's appearance on Sunday the 27th: 802-254-5290 or email the Library. * Friday, Sept. 25, 3:30pm: Julie will join students from St. Johnsbury Academy and U-32 High School, as well as members of the public, for a discussion of her book at St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. Further details for this venue at Vermont Humanities Council with Jessica Santucci, 802-262-2626 x304. * Saturday, Sept. 26, 11:30am: Julie will speak, answer questions, and sign her book as part of the Burlington Book Festival, Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, third floor; 802-658-3328.
ACCVT presents: Overland from Yunnan to Lhasa, a presentation by Gene Parulis at 814 Western Ave in West Brattleboro, SATURDAY, September 19. 6-7:30pm	Slide presentation by Landmark College professor, Gene Parulis takes us from Kunming, bustling capital of Yunnan, north and west up into the dizzying gorges of four of Asia’s great rivers: the Yangtze, Mekong, Salween and Brahmaputra to Lhasa, Tibet’s fabled but troubled capital. Along the way we’ll visit monasteries, high passes, glaciers, sacred lakes, old villages, new towns and cities. The presentation considers people and culture, geography, history, Buddhism, and the crucial role of hydropower in current Chinese-Tibetan affairs. A free public presentation with donations welcome to cover ACCVT program expenses and to provide an honorarium for the presenter.
Woodbury Institute of Champlain College and McGill University present: Environmental Realities Facing China, presentation by Professor Wang Can Fa of the China University of Political Science and Law and the founding director of the Center of Legal Assistance for Pollution Victims (CLAPV). Thurs., June 4, 2009, ,a public event at Champlain College at IDX Student Center at 7:15pm. Tickets are $10, $5 for students with scholarships available - Check with Adam Silver if wanting to come under the auspices of ACCVT. For more information, contact Roni Coleman at Champlain College or 802-383-6624	Join business, community and environmental leaders from around the region to hear the leading Chinese environmentalist discuss the current challenges and accomplishments of Chinese environmental protection. Learn how the world’s largest country is facing these critical challenges from one of the world’s top environmental voices. Wang Canfa is a law professor Prof. Wang is one of China’s leading environmentalists. His passion for environmental protection plays itself out in the daily effort to help ordinary Chinese citizens who have been victimized by the country’s fast ndustrialization and rapid economic growth. Since 1999, CLAPV has logged more than 10,000 calls and pursued over 100 cases. His tireless efforts and CLAPV’s numerous successes have earned Prof. Wang worldwide attention, being named one of Time Magazine’s top 50 world “Heroes of the Environment” for 2007. Prof. Wang will give a public lecture on Tuesday, June 2 at McGill University, and will meet with faculty and graduate students on Wednesday, June 3. A public event is planned at Champlain College on Thursday, June 4 at 7:15 p.m. at IDX Student Center. Tickets are $10 and $5 for students. On Friday, June 5, he will take part in a panel discussion between environmentalists, legal experts, and mediators at Champlain College. For information on this interdisciplinary opportunity to learn more about China's contemporary culture (including its society, economics and legal system) visit Champlain College's newspage and discussion page for the event. This event is in collaboration with Suzuki Foundation, CORIM (Le Conseil des Relations Internationales de Montreal) and the Hong Kong Business Association) and sponsored in part by the Brian Bronfman Family Foundation, Bay and Paul Foundations, Vermont Energy Investment Corp., Crea and Phil Lintilhac, Seventh Generation, and the Institute for Sustainable Communities.
Vermont Adult Learning presents: Bridging Cultures: A Dinner and Conversation for Brattleboro's International Community Thursday evening, May 14, 2009, 6-8:30 pm at the Learning Center, 90 Birge St, Brattleboro	Vermont Adult Learning is hosting an evening event for the international community in Brattleboro. The purpose is to have conversations about issues of home, work, and school that are of interest to families that have moved to the United States from other countries. Children are welcome! School-aged children will also meet in groups to discuss ideas among their peers. There will be free child care and activities available for children 6 and under. Adult and children’s groups will be facilitated by Vermont Adult Learning staff, international community members, and students from S.I.T. Graduate Institute (School of International Training) To Register: Call 257-9449 and ask for Cathy Hess.
Brattleboro Rotary Club & Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary Club present 1st Annual Indian Film and Food Festival: Saturday, May 2, 2009 Films: 4:00–6:30pm at the Latchis Theatre Food: 6:30-8:30pm at Brattleboro Museum & Art Center Tickets: $25 (Film & Food); $10 (Film Only). Ticket Outlets: Latchis Hotel, Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, and Vermont Artisan Designs & Gallery 2	The 1st Annual Indian Film and Food Festival in Brattleboro, Vermont benefits the Global Polio Education Initiative, an effort to fight polio, a crippling and sometimes fatal disease that still paralyzes children in parts of Africa and Asia and threatens children everywhere. FILMS: Saturday, May 2, 2009 • 6:30–8:30pm • Latchis Theater: Monsoon (USA, 2006, 21 min - English - Short Drama - Multiple Film Festival Award Winner) Filmed in Mombai, India; a hotshot Californian cardiologist and atheist learns that there is a season in every man’s life when he must return home. Outsourced (USA, 2006; 103 min - English / Hindu - Comedy/Romance - Multiple Film Festival Award Winner) After his entire department is outsourced, an American novelty products salesman heads to India to train his replacement. FOOD: Saturday, May 2, 2009 • 6:30–8:30pm: Sample delicious Indian fare after the films at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center
SPOTLIGHT INDONESIA: * 1) Wednesday, April 29, 5:30-8pm: Cultural Forum: 'The Emergence of Indonesia in World Affairs' a dinner discussion at the International Center of S.I.T. Graduate Institute of World Learning. * Thanks to S.I.T. Graduate Institute/World Learning for hosting the meeting. * 2) Thursday April 30, 7-9pm: 'An Evening of Indonesian and Indonesian-Influenced Performance.' at The Latchis Theatre. * 3) Closing reception for exhibition: 'The Art of Indonesia: Selections from the Consular Collection. at 814 Western Ave., Friday morning May 1st 9:30-11:30am.	Spotlight Indonesia provides an introduction to Indonesian culture through forums, workshops, performances, and an art exhibition. Wednesday, April 29, 5:30pm: Cultural Forum: 'The Emergence of Indonesia in World Affairs. For more information, contact Adam Silver at (802) 579-9088 or by email, or contact Wayne Forrest, President of American Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (646)-261-4620 or (212) 687-4505, . There will be opportunities for individual and small group meetings. Contact Wayne Forrest to schedule a small group meeting with Consular staff for Friday morning May 1st. Thursday, April 30, 7pm: 'An Evening of Indonesian and Indonesian-Influenced Performance.' at The Latchis Theatre, 50 Main St, Brattleboro. *Tickets:* $10, online at brattleboro tix, or by visiting the Cultural Center at 814 Western Avenue (802-257-7898, ext.1) in West Brattleboro, or, downtown, at The Book Cellar, 120 Main St., and at Vermont Artisan Designs, 106 Main St. More information and pictures are at the Spotlight Indonesia pages. A shortcut to those pages: www[dot]tiny[dot]cc[forward slash]5E68St, the last part exactly as written - case sensitive * Thanks to Artscope Magazine for media sponsorship and also to Gallery Walk Guide for the articles. Arts and culture are an economic engine, promoting business linkages. Interest in the arts and cultures provide a common ground for building business linkages of many kinds.
SPOTLIGHT INDONESIA: An exhibition: 'The Art of Indonesia: Selections from the Consular Collection. at 814 Western Ave., March 13 - May 1, 2009. (802) 257-7898, ext. 1 Opening hours are daily, 9am-9pm, by appointment.	Spotlight Indonesia provides an introduction to Indonesia, with current event updates, of its culture through forums, workshops, performances, and an exhibition. More information and pictures are at the Spotlight Indonesia pages. The shortcut to the Spotlight Indonesia pages is www[dot]tiny[dot]cc[forward slash]5E68St - the last part exactly as written - case sensitive. See below for more information about events at the end of April related Spotlight Indonesia. * Thanks to Artscope Magazine for media sponsorship.
“Vietnam: Voices from the Edge,” a series of guest lectures and student presentations over four Thursdays in April, at Marlboro College. Lectures are at 7pm, in the Appletree Building, on the Marlboro, VT campus and are free and open to the public. More in The Commons article.	The lecture series is designed to explore Vietnam from the perimeters of science and society and complements a course taught by Marlboro Asian Studies professor Kate Jellema, as well as a student and faculty research trip that took place during the 2009 spring break. The “Voices from the Edge” lecture series is made possible through a generous grant from the Freeman Foundation Undergraduate Asian Studies Initiative (FFUASI). April 9: Glenn Ricci, of the University of Rhode Island's Coastal Resources Center, presented "At Waters Edge: Asia's Coastal Response to Climate, Development and Soul.” April 16, Nora Taylor, Alsdorf Professor of South and Southeast Asian Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago presented "'Vietnamese Women's Voices: A Gendered View of Contemporary Art in Vietnam.	April 23: Julie Thi Underhill, a documentary filmmaker from UC Berkeley, will present "Legacies of Champa: Ethnicities, Spiritual Identities and Historical Memories. " April 30: Marlboro College students who have completed their own research projects in Vietnam will present Tales from the Field. One student group explored the magnificent ruins of Cham architecture, while another tackled ecological issues in Tam Giang Lagoon, and a third developed a collaborative art project with students from Hue University in Vietnam.
Geography Series on Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, at S.I.T.Graduate Institute / World Learning location: Rotch 108-109 Sunday, April 19, 8pm	S.I.T. Graduate Institute at World Learning in Brattleboro, Vermont, is the site for a series of powerpoint presentations on the geography, statistics, history, education and culture of three of the Central Asian republics. The presenters are: Geoffrey Bulter on Kyrgyzstan Sharaf Davlatov on Tajikistan Khayriniso Mamatkluova on Uzbekistan Click on the map on the right to see a larger view of these three republics in Asia.
SPOTLIGHT INDONESIA: * 1) March 13, 2009, 11:30am-1pm: Business Meeting: A Forum on Business, Commerce, the Arts & Culture of Indonesia. * 2) Exhibition of Art of Indonesia opens March 14. Morning reception at 814 Western Ave., 9-11am. * Thanks to Marlboro College Graduate School Tech Center for hosting the meeting. * Thanks to Artscope Magazine for media sponsorship.	Friday, 3/13, 11:30am-1pm: Business meeting to provide an introduction to Indonesia, with current event updates, of its culture through a forum related to culture, economics, commerce and business. $10 registration fee includes lunch. Interested parties will be invited to come learn what it would be like to do business in and/or with Indonesia in the current economic downturn. The meeting will provide an overview and updates of the Indonesian market to be applicable both to newcomers and to those businesses, councils and trade organizations who have previously met with the delegation. Other interested parties may include educators looking to promote overseas study and representatives of businesses looking to have linkages with Indonesia. There will be opportunities for individual and small group meetings. Contact Adam Silver at (802) 579-9088 or by email to register, or contact Wayne Forrest, President of American Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (646)-261-4620 or (212) 687-4505, to schedule a small group meeting with Consular staff on the 13th. Arts and culture are an economic engine, promoting business linkages. Business linkages are not necessarily arts and culture related but interest in the arts and cultures provide a common ground for building business linkages of many kinds.
Todd Roach and The Loft presents: The ON Ensemble in concert, Friday, January 9, 2009, 8 p.m. at New England Youth Theatre, 100 Flat St. in Brattleboro. This event is hosted by Todd Roach; for further information contact loftarts@yahoo.com. In their 50 years of combined taiko experience, the On Ensemble's four young musicians have studied and performed with renowned masters of traditional and contemporary music and dance in the United States and Japan. With musical experience ranging from centuries-old Kabuki music to jazz, rock and electronica, the On Ensemble has crafted a repertoire of ground-breaking taiko music. In January 2008, their sold-out performance was at The Loft	T his video ("Rain", 10 minutes) and other videos of ON Ensemble performing can be seen at youtube.com, by typing 'on ensemble' in the search bar and clicking the 'search' button.
	The On Ensemble uses Japanese drums hand-made by Miyamoto Unosuke Shouten, instrument maker to the Emperor of Japan. Current works feature these drums in conjunction with turntable, western drum kit, bamboo flute, koto (Japanese zither), and Tuvan overtone singing. With the powerful rhythms of taiko music at its foundation, the On Ensemble (pronounced "ohn") combines the musical and dance talents of its four members into unique and provocative performances. After a their debut concert in northern Japan and its first western-US tour in the spring of 2002, the group received the Duane Ebata Memorial Fund Award at Los Angeles' Japan America Theater, "in support and recognition of emerging artists of promise who are furthering the development of Asian Pacific American performing arts."
Bank of Thailand and Asian Cultural Center of Vermont present: *BHUTANESE TEXTILES: WEAVING FROM THE HEART,* an exhibition at the Bank of Thailand Museum, Chiang Mai, November 10 2008 through January 10 2009. An exhibition originating in Brattleboro, USA at the Asian Cultural Center of Vermont in summer 2007 and now traveling to southeast Asia for 2008-09. * For further information, contact Adam Silver, Executive Director, acc.vt@verizon.net, (802) 257-7898, ext. 1. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT THE EXHIBITION WEBSITE	* An exhibition originating in 2007 in Brattleboro, Vermont, U.S.A., at Asian Cultural Center of Vermont, now traveling to Southeast Asia. * A three-way intercultural 'first' of having Thailand, Bhutan and the U.S.A. joining together in celebrating the first exhibition, ever, of three countries together through good will, the arts, and culture. This year also marks the 175th Anniversary of U.S.-Thai relations. This exhibition follows soon after the Bhutanese coronation. * The Bank of Thailand, the government organization that controls monetary policy in Thailand, has established a museum of textiles and currency in the historic city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. * The subtitle, 'Weaving from the Heart,' refers to the sublime place that weaving has in the life, culture and economy of the Bhutanese. The exquisite textile arts function as economic engine and linchpin of cultural identity for this mountainous land as shown in the Bhutanese national dress. * The rare and brilliant weaving and ornaments have been gathered by local textile collectors Jay and Rungnapa Bommer who collaborated with ACCVT to create this exhibition in its original setting in West Brattleboro, Vermont, and now are going international in venue in an expanded version of the 2007 show. Jay has been travelling to Asia for the past 19 years and his wife Rungnapa is a Thai Native from the city of San Patong in Chiang Mai district. * The textile exhibition is complemented by fine art photography of Torie Olson, featuring compelling recent color images of the Bhutanese in their exquisite garments. Torie traveled to Bhutan to photograph and research the rich weaving traditions and age-old herding systems. As a volunteer development consultant, Olson's focus is on documenting, promoting, and preserving the world’s traditional arts and rituals before they are lost to globalization, imitation, and repression. An example of Torie's writing and photographs on Bhutan can be found here. * The exhibition will feature showings of “From the Land of the Thunder Dragon; Textile Arts of Bhutan” a one hour video produced by and with the permission of the Peabody Essex Museum. * The size of Switzerland, or Vermont and New Hampshire together, Bhutan is nestled between Tibet/China and India. With its high snowy peaks and deep lush valleys, Bhutan has been in a long, self-imposed geographic isolation. Only recently has this culturally rich nation begun to open itself up to the outside world and has the outside world begun to understand the intricacies of its exquisite weavings. The exhibition gives a comprehensive viewing of the national dress of Bhutanese men and women. The producers of these rarely seen textiles have mesmerized museum curators and weavers with their techniques not found elsewhere in the world.
VERMONT MONGOLIAN FILM FESTIVAL will be held Sunday November 2, 2008, 1pm at Latchis 4, 48 Main St.	SAS CAREY will present her film Gobi Women's Song, a 73 minute documentary on nomadic women and their lives in the Gobi desert. For further information visit www.nomadicare.org. After the film, there will be discussion with the film maker about Mongolia and/or nomadic nursing. Click here for a 8.5x14" poster for the film (it's a big file). Change printing settings to reduce to 8.5x11. A pdf 3-page synopsis of the film with stills is available to download here. (300KB)
VERMONT MONGOLIAN FILM FESTIVAL will be held Sunday November 2, 2008, 3pm at Latchis 4, 48 Main St. This event follows Mongolia's Golden Eagle Festival held annually, this year in mid October.	JOSEPH SPAID's film, Kiran Over Mongolia, will be presented by Sas Carey. The film explores the training of hunting eagles by a Kazakh nomad in Mongolia. For further information, visit the film's website: http://kiranovermongolia.com. RAPTOR ENCOUNTER: Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences will be sending a representative to show a hunting falcon and make a presentation to the audience. The time for this presentation will be in between the two films at 2:30pm. For more information on V.I.N.S. and their programs, email to info@vinsweb.org. Thank you to THE ORVIS COMPANY for underwriting the cost to the Asian Cultural Center of Vermont of the Raptor Encounter and to Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences Thank you to Pratima Vaidya and America's Best Inn, 959 Putney Road, Brattleboro for underwriting the venue expenses.
“SADAKO STRIKES! A Brief Introduction to Japanese and Other Asian Horror Cinema.” Presentation by Harvey Nystrom. Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008, 7-8:30pm at C.X. Silver Gallery, 814 Western Ave (Rt. 9) in West Brattleboro. For teens and adults. Free public event. For further information, contact Adam Silver	The films draw on traditional elements from Japanese mythology – particularly the yurei, or vengeful ghost – but successfully incorporate elements of modern life, especially technology. Telephones, video tapes, and the Internet are tools of the supernatural as well as real people. Themes from contemporary life are also interwoven – loneliness, viral epidemics such as AIDS or Ebola, latch key kids, marital and family stress in meeting the demands of contemporary life. One hallmark of Japanese films is that the evil unleashed seems to act randomly and the characters try to find the source and destroy it, often unsuccessfully. (This reminds me of the legacy of the A-bomb destroying so many innocent lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki) In Korean film it is repressed memories that seem to drive the evil on and it is the act of uncovering those memories that is the key to resolution. Sadako is the name of the vengeful ghost (the main character) of Ringu which is probably the most famous of the modern Japanese horror movies. The name should be recognizable to anyone who has seen any of the Ringu movies. The talk is for teens and for adults who are interested in film. It can be for those who simply enjoy horror movies and would like to see some from another culture. It is also for those interested in Japanese (and Asian) popular culture. I am planning to show excerpts from Kwaidan, Jigoku, Ringu, Ju-on, (all Japanese) Whispering Corridors (Korean), and the Eye (Chinese-Thai). At left, an image from the film, Ringu.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents THROUGH SEPT. 22, 2008: Following the World Learning/SIT Graduate Institute and Brattleboro Museum and Art Center presentation on the Museum on June 13th, The Peace Mask 2008 Project of Myong Hee Kim is now continuing in West Brattleboro through out the summer in two new installations at the C.X. Silver Gallery. Further information on the Peace Mask Project is at: http://homepage.mac.com/ journey04/pm.home.htm CLICK HERE for a series of seven webpages showing images and an article about Peace Masks.	A Korean-born artist, living in Japan for the past 30 years, creator of the Peace Mask Project, Myong Hee Kim discussed this innovative endeavor, show images from workshops she has led throughout the world, and display masks created in Brattleboro by students participating in the SIT Graduate Institute’s Conflict Transformation and Peace-building Program this summer. First Myong Hee introduced her work and the Peace Mask Project and how it came to be. When she heard that Japan and Korea had co-sponsored the 2002 FIFA Soccer/Football Cup, she was moved to use her art as a bridge between the Korean and Japanese cultures. Instead of plaster she prefers to use several layers of Japanese handmade mulberry paper to build up the impression that creates the mould and then the mask. The guiding principles of the Peace Mask Project include: understanding the shared community of humankind. During the forum, fourteen of the graduate students took turns relating to the audience their impressions and insights related to taking part in having a mask made of their face, what it meant to them to be engaged in this process and for their to be part of the Peace Masks. Participants included people from Azerbaijan, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, Romania, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, the Sudan, Tibetan living in India, United States, and multiracial. Among the wonderful insights common to, and shared among, the participants were: (not in any particular order) -- the beauty of each face and all the faces together; -- the similarity of faces to each other while each also being unique -- humans being of one race, the human race -- the common color of the masks bringing unity and equality to all	Click the image above to see a series of seven webpages showing images and an article about Peace Masks.
Carnival of Taiwanese Hand Puppetry performed by Happy Puppetry, a multi-generational family company of Taiwanese puppeteers. Locations and Dates: Latchis Theater, Brattleboro, Friday, September 19, 2008 The Bellows Falls Opera House, Thursday, September 18, 2008 Both shows will begin at noon. For information or to reserve school groups, contact Sandglass Theater 387-4051, info[at]sandglasstheater[dot]org	Between September 12-21, 2008 Sandglass Theater of Putney, Vermont will present the 6th edition of our biennial Puppets in the Green Mountains International Festival. This fall we will be hosting companies from Canada, Sweden, France, Brazil and Taiwan. As in previous years, there is one puppet show that has been selected for special school performances. This year, Puppets in the Green Mountains presents the Ko family displaying an astonishing skill and speed of performance. The stage comes alive with finely embroidered costumes, exquisite headdresses, and delicately carved faces of puppets which stand nearly a foot high. Great epics, hilarious clowning, stunning acrobatic and martial arts, are all part of the repertoire of these extraordinary wooden actors. This show will delight and intrigue all ages from grades 1-12 and is recommended for multicultural studies, art, drama, and history classes and any students studying Asian cultures, circus or martial arts.
Educational Praxis presents: Manasi Prasad in Concert Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008, 7pm at the Hooker Dunham, 139 Main St., Brattleboro Tickets: Suggested Donation $15 – Adults; $8 – Seniors/students; Children under 10 FREE. A concert to benefit a school for all in In dia	Manasi Prasad brings South Indian Classical Music to Brattleboro. Manasi Prasad has been pursuing Indian classical arts for over two decades, is well recognized among the new generation of classical musicians in India, and has received numerous awards. In this performance she will be presenting a concert of insprirational songs and classical vocal music from South India. Music lovers from all cultures will appreciate the ancient musical tradition brought alive by this vibrant performance. Manasi's explanations of the history and meaning of the music and her performance of its melodies and rhythms leave a deep appreciation for the music of India. This benefit concert is to raise money for Bapagrama School located in Bangalore, India, a school whose mission is to educate children living in poverty, who otherwise could not afford to attend school. All the funds raised will go towards much needed renovations of school facilities. At Mahatma Gandhi’s urging, the school was started in 1949 by Saraswathi Natarajan. The school has a long tradition of social service and community organizing. Named after Thakkar Bapa, a co-worker of Gandhi, who believed in equality of all people and was against the caste system. The school is co-educational, anti-caste and secular. The school is free and it is one of the few schools that provide this community of children the chance to study beyond elementary level. This conert is organized by Educational Praxis, a non-profit organization based in Putney, VT. Donations can also be mailed directly to: Educational Praxis, Po Box 601, Putney, VT 05346. For more information about the event, contact Olya Zhuykova at 802-258-0946 or peppytarle@yahoo.com
Japanese Calligraphy and Origami Workshop: Thursday, August 27, 2008, 7 pm. Writer, poet and artist, Yumiko Ito-Sandoe, will teach the traditional art of Japanese calligraphy & origami. Traditional refreshments will be served. Reservations required. Horatio Colony Museum, 199 Main Street, Keene, NH. Parking is in Saint Bernard's Church parking lot next to the museum.	The 150th anniversary of Japan opening its doors to the world for cultural and economic trade is being celebrated by the Horatio Colony House Museum with a beautiful display of Japanese objects from the collection, some which have never been exhibited before. The objects include a fabulous collection of woodblock prints depicting Japanese markets, the theater and historic scenes; a painted screen; a child’s kimono; metal objects; fans; and lacquer work. For more information on the exhibition and a larger view, click on the image at right. The image at right depicts a panel of a Kabuki triptic by Toyokuni, on display at the Horatio Colony Museum. For further information, contact Anita Carroll-Weldon, 603 352-0460.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents Shakuhachi Master ELIZABETH REIAN BENNETT performing a concert on the Japanese bamboo flute in Brattleboro at the C.X. Silver Gallery on the occasion of the Tanabata & Obon festivals. Sunday afternoon, August 10, 2008, 4:00 pm. This concert is by donation.	Elizabeth Reian Bennett is the first woman to be certified a Grand Master of the shakuhachi, the Japanese bamboo flute, and one of only a handful of western players trained in traditional Japanese music. She has studied and performed with Living National Treasure Aoki Reibo, recognized as Japan's foremost shakuhachi instrumentalist, for 25 years. Reian Bennett has performed frequently in Japan and worldwide; recent appearances in Japan include Tokyo National Theater and NHK, Japanese National Television. Her repertory spans the ancient wandering monk solos, classical Japanese chamber music, east-west contemporary compositions and works of her own improvisation. For more information on Reian Bennett visit www.cdbaby.com/cd/erbennett.
Get ready for the VT Samurai Kaiju Festival with LIGHT FARE, HEAVY ARMOR: A hands-on exploration of arms & armor of the knight and the samurai together with a buffet meal, Monday, August 4, 2008 5:30-8:00 pm, America's Best Inn, 959 Putney Road, Route 5, Brattleboro, 1/4 mile south of the Exit 3 traffic circle.	For twenty years, presenter John W. Pettibone has been the Curator and Education Director of the Hammond Castle Museum in Gloucester, MA. John will describe the differences in armor and weapons of the European Knight and the Japanese Samurai which includes showing as many items as possible, and allowing adult members of the audience to try items on and be part of the demonstration. Any weapons will be handled by adults as per state and federal law. There will be various pieces of armor for youngsters to try on such as helmets, gauntlets, mail coif, and Japanese helmets. If enough kids turn out for this event, there will be a 'knighting ceremony.' John will also explore the use of arms and armor in various films from Hollywood and Japan. The image, at right, is courtesy of Wittenberg University. Other links for the Hammond Castle Museum include contact information, castle tours and rental for private functions, further description, and about John Hays Hammond Jr. who had this castle built. Thank you to Pratima Vaidya of America's Best Inn. Thank you to Amy's Bakery, Xi Cai of the C.X. Silver Gallery, Grafton Village Cheese Co., Marie Procter, Marina Restaurant, and Vermont Country Deli
Guilford Welcome Center 'Coffee Break' fundraiser for Asian Cultural Center of VT Friday, July 25, 7:30am-9:30pm. A variety of beverages and baked goods; pay-what-you-wish donation.	The 2008 Guilford Welcome Center fundraiser raised over $1000 in the one day, July 25.	Thank you to Green Mountain Coffee, Mocha Joes's and Burger King Brattleboro. Thank you to Xue Dai, Bea Fantini, Carla Fantini, Seth Harter, Ani Hawkinson, Haiyan Hu, Jiang Nan, Marie Procter, Curtiss Reed, Jr., Leah, Alec & Cai Xi Silver, James Valente & Jayinee Adhvaryu, Hiroko Varela, Pei Hui Wang, Norma Willingham.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents JENISE TREUTING and her video essay,“Invitations and Ultimatums,” Tuesday July 22, 2008, 7-9 pm. on the perceptions that Japanese and Americans have of each other. Question & answer session and discussion period follow. Location: C.X. Silver Gallery, 814 Western Avenue, West Brattleboro.	This 56-minute bilingual documentary, a fascinating series of interviews during the lead-up to the Iraq war, was filmed in Japanese and American towns and cities, locations that unite the two countries, make them seem closer to each other, and with more common ground. There’s a great soundtrack by So Percussion’s Jason Treuting. After the film there will be a question and answer session and discussion period. Based in Asia, Jenise traveled from Mongolia to East Timor for a year, and, in Spring 2008, was in Bhutan. She has a master’s degree in cross-cultural communication from the Journalism Dept. of Doshisha University, Kyoto. The image at right is a still from the video essay. Click here for a Word document version of a flyer for this event.
Common Ground Center presents: 2008 CHINESE CULTURE WEEKEND, July 11-13. Starksboro, VT. Activities include t'ai chi for health, t'ai chi sword, Chinese calisthenics, Chinese language, calligraphy scrolls, games, song, and dance, Chinese cooking, brush painting, and a presentation on growing up in China.	All families are welcome to learn more about Chinese culture in a bucolic setting. There are activities for adults and for children of all ages. The Retreat lasts from Friday at 3 pm until Sunday at 1 pm. Common Ground Center is a 501(c) (3) non-profit dedicated to bringing together and strengthening diverse families and communities, by offering programs focused on music and the arts, the healing arts and outdoor exploration. For more information, on Common Ground Center's programs, visit CGCVT's website call the CGCVT office at 802-453-2592 or 800-430-2667 or email to info@cgcvt.org .
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: AN INSIDE LOOK AT IRAN, a slide show and talk by Rudy Perkins Sunday, June 29, 2008, 6-8pm. Location: C.X.Silver Gallery, 814 Western Avenue, West Brattleboro, one mile west of I-91 Exit 2 on Route 9 on the left.	Rudy Perkins will give a slideshow and talk about his recent two-week trip to Iran with an interfaith “citizen diplomacy” delegation organized by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. The delegation met with Iran’s former deputy foreign minister, the current and the incoming Jewish members of the Iranian parliament and other Jewish leaders in Iran, leaders of the Armenian Christian community there, the head of the Center for Interreligious Dialogue in Tehran, and department heads at the Center for Religious Studies in Qom, among many others. Rudy will talk about what he heard from Iranians and on the need for dialogue, not war, with Iran. Rudy is a lawyer and former public television producer, currently working as a project manager and staff attorney for a non-profit that builds affordable housing. To sponsor additional presentations by Rudy contact him by email or phone: 978-895-6156.
TRAVEL TO WESTERN TIBET with a slide show of A Pilgrimage, by Sally Warren. Sunday, June 22, 2008, 1 pm. Location: C.X.Silver Gallery, 814 Western Avenue, West Brattleboro. Free and open to the public, with donations welcome to provide an honorarium for the speaker and for Cultural Center programming expenses. Click here for a Word document version of a flyer for this event.	In September 2007, five Vermonters joined a large group of Argentinians, Brits and Tibetans on a pilgrimage to the Sacred Mt. Kailash. This slide show of Tibet will include shots of Lhasa, the Western plateau, the path around Mt. Kailash and a group of joyful pilgrims. There will be time for questions. The trip was a 3 week journey from Kathmandu to Lhasa to Kailash to Kathmandu with a large group of students of Tsok Nyi Rinpoche. Rinpoche's family was also part of the group. SALLY WARREN is a visual artist who has lived in Grafton for 40 years; exhibited art in an around Southern Vermont. She is also a teacher and started the Vermont Institute for Teaching the Arts which was the Vermont State off-shoot of the Lincoln Center Institute in NYC. Since that time she has taught adults all over Vermont how to look at their own art with a critical eye.
World Learning and Asian Cultural Center of VT present TIBETAN MEDICINE: An Alternative Path to Health and Well Being: Location: C.X. Silver Gallery, West Brattleboro. Friday, June 20, 2008, 7pm: A presentation by Dr. Kunchok Gyaltsen. Download a flyer for this event (a Word document).	DR. KUNCHOK GYALTSEN, a Tibetan monk and medical doctor from Kumbum Tibetan Medical Hospital, founder of Tibetan Healing Fund, and SIT Graduate Institute alum, will be providing a brief overview on the history and philosophy of Tibetan medicine, and the differences and similarities to Western medicine. He will also be talking about the state of maternal and child health in rural Tibet and what he and his organization are doing to meet some of the challenging needs of the people there. In addition to his work in clinical treatment, public teaching on medicine, and writing on approaches of Tibetan medicine, Dr. Gyaltsen also has 25 years of training as a Tibetan Buddhist monk. He has published and lectured widely in the U.S. and elsewhere on the holistic approach of Tibetan Medicine. Dr. Gyaltsen is currently a doctoral student at the UCLA School of Public Health. More information about Dr. Gyaltsen and his endeavors is at tibetanhealing fund.org . Source of the image (right): UCLA Public Health Magazine and http://www.tibetanhealingfund.org/images/sphmag_6_07_kunchok.pdf
Japanese Koto Concert at Horatio Colony House Museum in Keene, NH by Hiroko Varela Thursday, June 5, 2008, 7 pm. Concert location: 199 Main Street, Keene, NH. Parking: St. Bernard's Church parking lot next to the Museum.	The koto is an ancient stringed instrument that is found in both Japan and China. It dates back thousands of years. The concert will be given by Hiroko Varela. Hiroko will explain the symbolism of the instrument’s design, demonstrate the technique of playing and give members of the audience an opportunity to play it. In the image (right) Hiroko demonstrates the koto at Shogatsu, the Japanese new year of 2008, with her daughter looking on. To Hiroko's right, there is a kadomatsu, the ornament traditionally created for Japanese new year. For more information on the Japanese exhibition at Horatio Colony Museum in Keene, click here.
Brattleboro Community Justice Center and Project Harmony Professional Exchanges present: From Winooski to Vandazor: How Seeds of Vermont's Restorative Justice Movement have Grown Roots in Armenia.	A Project Harmony delegation from Armenia discusses how using the Vermont Restorative Justice model has promoted community, police and school partnerships. This is a chance to hear how Restorative Justice is an ideal model for dealing with crimes in the community and to have questions answered by a contingent of Armenian and Vermont corrections officials. Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 6-7:30pm, at Marlboro Tech Center
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: "Celebrate Life, Celebrate Water" a presentation by Ei Ei on the Water Festival of Myanmar (Burma) held each year in April. Friday, April 18th, 2008, 6-7:30 pm. Location: C.X. Silver Gallery, 814 Western Avenue, West Brattleboro. Khin Ei Ei Khin is Masters degree candidate in Management, Leadership and Change at S.I.T Graduate Institute, World Learning. The program will include a powerpoint presentation with video.	The Mekong Water Festival includes the countries Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. The celebration is called Songkran in Thailand, Chaul Chnam Thmey in Cambodia, Thingyan in Myanmar and Pimai in Laos. It is believed that water festival washes away sins and welcomes the New Year. In Myanmar, the water festival represents the most popular, raucous and colorful celebration of the year for more than 120 million people who will abandon any thoughts of work and bring their nations to a standstill. People around the country gather together again and visits pagodas, offers and pay homage to the monks, play traditional games and celebrate with their joyous spirit. This festival has been held in Myanmar (Burma) at the time of the New Year for the past 500 years the second week of April. In Burmese, Thingyan means 'moving from one year to the other." Temporary stages, or pandals, are set up and furnished with water jets to spray on passers-by. People tour the different pandals of a city to get any many soakings as they can. This festival occurs when it is very hot and humid. Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flappingwings/sets/267112/
Friday, April 11, 2008, 8 pm,THE LOFT will host An Evening Of World Percussion And Song, with percussionists N. Scott Robinson and Glen Fittin with South Indian vocalist K.S. Resmi. The evening will celebrate spring, showcasing a multi-cultural approach to rhythm and music making. Limited seating is available and reservations are encouraged! Admission for the performance is $12.00, students are $8.00. Call in advance, 802-380-6360, to make arrangements for wheelchair accessibility.. For more information, reservations or directions, please call or email.	Performance Location: 72 Cotton Mill Hill, Brattleboro * N. Scott Robinson's performances typically feature him on the riq (Arabic tambourine), bodhran (Irish frame drum that he plays with Indian and Persian hand techniques), sanza (finger piano from Central Africa), berimbau (Brazilian musical bow), hindewhu (Central African pygmy whistle), and Tuvan overtone singing. * Robinson's collaboration with percussionist Glen Fittin has brought about music with additional instruments from around the world including the ghaval (Azerbaijani frame drum). * The program at The Loft will blend this multi-cultural approach with the beautiful voice of K.S. Resmi, a singer from South India who is trained in the Carnatic music system. Resmi voice helps give flight to the underlying percussive gooves created by Robinson and Fittin.For more information on Ms. Resmi, including a sound clip, visit her myspace site. * The Loft Youth Percussion Ensemble will open the concert with a short set of their original drumming compositions.
Family movie event: THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL, a National Geographic film, showing in the Main Hall at All Souls Unitarian Church (also known as West Village Meeting House) 29 South Street in West Brattleboro, Sunday, March 30, 2008, 1 pm. Film showing will be preceded by a potluck lunch at 12 noon. Bring something to share. No admission fee.	The Story of the Weeping Camel (2004, 87 minutes, Mongolian with English subtitles) follows the lives of a family of nomadic herders in Mongolia's Gobi Desert. A mother camel unexpectedly rejects her newborn calf after a particularly difficult birth. More information on the film is available at the National Geographic website. There are also lesson plans related to this film on the Xpeditions webpages of National Geographic for grades K through 2, grades 3-5, grades 6-8, and grades 9-12. For further information, contact Adam Silver, (802) 579-9088. The source for the image to the right is: http://www.unbossed.com/media/1/20050528-bild02-xxl.jpg
INDIAN VEGETARIAN DINNER BUFFET and learn HOW TO MAKE INDIAN BREAD. back by request 1 weekend only, Saturday 3/29 & Sunday 3/30, 2008, 5:30-8:30 pm.	The Indian Buffet at Sheetal and Ketan's Austrian Haus Lodge is back by request for one weekend only. Cost for adults, $16; children 7-12 $10. Location: The Austrian Haus Lodge, Route 100 North, West Dover, VT. Reservations appreciated: call (802) 464-3911. Directions: 4.5 miles north on Route 100 from center of Wilmington, VT. 23 miles from downtown Brattleboro via Route 30 (9 miles), left turn onto Depot Road to left turn onto Dover Road continuing on Dover Hill Road and East Dover Road (13 miles total) to right turn onto Route 100 and 1 mile to #6 Abroad Road (the first lodge going north into West Dover on the left up the side-road.)
On Friday and Saturday, March 28th and 29th, 2008, Sandglass Theater presents ANIDA YOEU ALI, in her dramatic one-woman show Living Memory/Living Absence. Tickets are $15, $10 for students and seniors. Reservations are encouraged, as seating is limited. SANDGLASS THEATER is located on Kimball Hill Rd. in Putney, VT, a short distance from the Putney General Store. For directions to Sandglass Theater, please call 802-387-4051 or visit www.sandglasstheater.org. This performance is part of the Voices of the Community series.	Ali’s performance traces her fears of returning to her birth country to the joy she feels immersed in ancient Khmer traditions, and clashes with the irrepressible legacy of genocide that lingers in the streets. Grappling with the compelling themes of memory and exile, and the pain of these experiences within the bodies of Cambodian genocide survivors Living Memory/Living Absence takes us “in search of the Apsara, or heavenly nymphs, which exist as a force within all people”. In this interdisciplinary piece, spoken word and Butoh-inspired movements are set against a backdrop of powerful imagery of the sites and sounds of Cambodia created by video artist Masahiro Sugano, and light designers Yasmeen Shorish and Giau Troung. Anida’s work is haunting, both in its beauty and its rawness – a sensitive exploration of both aesthetics and of the interface where these two extremes meet, the area of conflict where so many original and creative possibilities are hatched. “She evokes delicacy, grace, power, and even horror with ease... Her talent aids in her storytelling as she can make concepts like loss, despair, and loneliness appear clearly with just her physicality.”
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: HINAMATSURI DOLL FESTIVAL OF JAPAN: in West Brattleboro, 814 Western Avenue at the C.X. Silver Gallery.	Doll exhibition and activities for all ages. A day of wishes for happiness, success, and healthy growth. Dolls wear imperial court costumes from the Heian period of Japan (8th-12th centuries). Learn origami doll making, a Japanese song, calligraphy, haiku poetry, and how to wear a kimono! Take your picture in a kimono with the Hinamatsuri display. For future years during the second weekend of March, tableau for the doll festival and its setup and take-down are needed for this festival to take place. Contact Adam Silver if you have such a tableau and are willing to collaborate with ACCVT to create this event.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presented Shakuhachi Master ELIZABETH REIAN BENNETT IN CONCERT at THE LOFT performing on the Japanese bamboo flute in Brattleboro on the eve of the Japanese festival Hinamatsuri. Sunday, March 8, 2008 Concert location: The Loft, 72 Cotton Mill Hill, Brattleboro. Elizabeth also performed a CONCERT FOR CHILDREN (and adults!) on the Japanese bamboo flute in Brattleboro at the C.X. Silver Gallery on the occasion of the Hinamatsuri festival. Sunday afternoon, March 9, This 30-minute concert followed at the conclusion of the Hinamatsuri Festival.	The program of March 8 included: - Kinuta Sugomori (Autumn Rhythms) a piece based on the sound and rhythm of the beating of blocks used to fluff up padding in winter clothes, a sound heard all over cold climates of East Asia, mimicked in music, referred to in poetry and prose, and depicted in painting; - Hoshosu (From Phoenix to Fledgling) a piece based on the phoenix and its rebirth through fire; - Namima Reibo (Space Between the Waves) - Henro (Pilgrimage), from her CD, Song of the True Hand - Rain on Leaves (a piece commissioned last year for Reian Bennett). Elizabeth Reian Bennett is the first woman to be certified a Grand Master of the shakuhachi, the Japanese bamboo flute, and one of only a handful of western players trained in traditional Japanese music. She has studied and performed with Living National Treasure Aoki Reibo, recognized as Japan's foremost shakuhachi instrumentalist, for 25 years. Reian Bennett has per-formed frequently in Japan and worldwide; recent appearances in Japan include Tokyo National Theater and NHK, Japanese National Television. Her repertory spans the ancient wandering monk solos, classical Japanese chamber music, east-west contemporary compositions and works of her own improvisation. For more information on Reian Bennett visit www.cdbaby.com/cd/erbennett. For further information contact Adam Silver at (802) 257-7898 ext. 1 or (802) 579-9088.
A retrospective exhibition for Xi Hua, 1927-2007, through April 2008. Open hours: Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 9-1 pm, and by appointment, 254-9377. Location: West Village Meeting House, All Souls Unitarian Church, 29 South Street, West Brattleboro, straight up driveway behind the West Brattleboro fire station.	Mr. Xi, Hua (pronounced ‘Shee Hwah’) had a 50-year career as stage designer, costume- and make-up designer, actor, and visual artist in the city of Chongqing, China. Early years in the 1940s were spent as a banker in Shanghai where he founded a theater company. After emigrating to the United States, he continued acting in radio and television advertisement as the ‘elderly Chinese gentleman’ and did artwork for staged productions, performance pieces, and a Chinese cultural center in New York. He recently exhibited traditional bird-and-flower paintings at the West Village Meeting House in Brattleboro.There will be a presentation with powerpoint images on Xi Hua's life and work. Reception and discussion of Xi Hua and his work: Saturday afternoon, Feburary 9, 1-3 pm, at the West Village Meeting House, 29 South St., West Brattleboro.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents a Community Project of GIANT DRAGON & PHOENIX MURALS, plus LAO LAO and OTHER TALES of dragons and phoenixes in downtown Brattleboro at The River Garden, 157 Main St. This is a free public event with donations welcomed to defray the cost of materials and other event expenses. Sunday, January 27 2008, 2-4 pm.	Acknowledgements to Oak Grove School Students & Staff and to Andy Davis, Karen Diorio, and Franklin Chrisco for coordinating the artistic presentation for Chinese New Year in 2007 that resulted in the murals shown at right. This year, another dragon and phoenix, with a blue background and bright paint colors, will be created to adorn public space in a project of team performance art for all ages. (Parents, bring a smock for your young elementary or preschool child.) While the painting is going on, we will listen to storytelling of timeless tales of Asian dragons and phoenixes. Potluck refreshments will be available. Feel free to bring something to add to the variety of refreshments.
Stone Church Arts presents an evening of Music from the Republic of Tuva: the ALASH ENSEMBLE. at the Bellows Falls Opera House. Saturday, January 26, 2008 7:30 pm. Advance tickets at Village Square Booksellers (Bellows Falls), Heartstone Books (Putney), Brattleboro Books, and Misty Valley Books (Chester) are $17 for adults, $12 for children & seniors; at the door tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for children & seniors.	: The members of Alash are students of Kongar-ool Ondar, the master throat singer and former member of the Tuvan parliament who is featured in the movie Genghis Blues. In 1999 they formed the ensemble that evolved into Alash, and Kongar-ool Ondar became the artistic director. They add non-traditional instruments including guitars and accordions, and draw upon their knowledge of complex rhythms and western harmonies. More information about the Ensemble is at: http://www.alashensemble.com including samples of their music. More information on the Republic of Tuva, situated in the geographic center of the Asian continent, is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuva and at http://en.tuvaonline.ru. For more information on the event in Bellows Falls, contact Stone Church Arts at sca@sover.net, (802) 463-3100.
Friends of Mevlana present a Sema, the CEREMONY OF THE WHIRLING DERVISHES that was developed to commemorate Rumi's life and teaching. Sunday, Jan. 20 2008, 4 pm at the Brattleboro Stone Church on the corner of Main St and Grove. While this event is free, any donations will go to the Brattleboro Drop-In Center. This is a very rare and beautiful event, not likely to be held publicly like this again here.	2007 was named the year of Rumi by UNESCO, celebrating the world renowned poet's 800th anniversary. Although Rumi is one of the most read poets in America, few people know that he was also the founder of the Mevlevis, the order of the Whirling Dervishes. Everyone is welcome in keeping with his inclusion of people of all faiths. Music will be performed during the ceremony by Fred Stubbs on ney and voice and Shanteri Baliga on voice and drum. There will also be some reading from Rumi's work. Image source: Turkish Student Association of Syracuse University, (http://web.syr.edu/~tsa/org_index.html). For more general information on Rumi and his octocentennial : http://www.mevlana800.info and http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0705/detail/rumi_2.html.
Two Conversations on Central Asian Film with Dr. Gulnara Abikeyeva of Kazakhstan, film critic and expert, writer, publisher, professor, and judge at film festivals worldwide: Saturday, November 10th, 7-9 pm and Sunday November 11th at 12:30-2:30 pm., 2007, at the C.X. Silver Gallery, 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro. Saturday featured the Kazakh film, Land of the Fathers. Sunday featured Daughter in Law a film from Turkmenistan. Both films are for general audiences, have English subtitles, and run 70 to 90 minutes each.	In the United States for two weeks as a guest of Bowdoin College, Tufts University and, in between, the Asian Cultural Center of Vermont, Gulnara has directed arts and culture programs in Kazakhstan for The Soros Foundation since 1997, has edited magazines and journals on Asian film and, since 1995, has taught film at the Kazakh Academy of Arts. She was a Fulbright Scholar at Bowdoin College in 2002. She is frequently asked to offer analysis of film and cinema worldwide. Her dissertation from the All- Union Institute of Cinema in Moscow was on "The Interaction of Cultures of the East and the West in Modern Cinema Process."A selection of her articles and film reviews are at: www.kinokultura.com/CA/index.html. Before coming to Brattleboro, Gulnara presented at Bowdoin's film forum, "Kazakh Nation Building Through Film: Family and Women as its Cornerstones." Gulnara helps us understand Central Asian cultures by exploring with us film makers' symbolic language, aesthetics, understanding of their national and ethnic identities, histories, and present society. Gulnara provided an overview of Central Asian culture through the different cinematic traditions, including a 28-minute collage documentary of scenes from a variety of films across different countries.This was a free event open to the public.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents: 'The Many Faces of Afghanistan' by Jonathan Hoffman, an exhibition of photographs of contemporary Afghanistan, October 29 - November 30, 2007 at C.X. Silver Gallery. During the reception, there was a conversation with Jonathan about Afghanistan and his experiences there.	Through his nonprofit, Direct Aid International, Jonathan Hoffman has been visiting Afghanistan working on projects to bring a sense of normalcy to people in war-torn crisis areas by building schools, a library, latrines, and drilling wells for drinking water supply. In the town of Yakshi where an elementary girls school was built, this photo was taken shortly after Jonathan's arrival.Images of the destruction of the collosal Buddha at Bamiyan are included. Jonathan is also the sole U.S. distributor for Afghan saffron.
A memorial exhibition for Xi Hua, 1927-2007, October 2-29. Tree planting commemoration ceremony of Xi Hua and Xia Wei Saturday October 6, 10:30 a.m. followed by a reception at C.X. Silver Gallery. Friday evening, October 19, 7-8:30 pm, there will be a presentation with powerpoint images: "Three Generations of Chinese Painters" by Xi Cai (Cai Xi Silver).	Mr. Xi, Hua (pronounced ‘Shee Hwah’) had a 50-year career as stage designer, costume- and make-up designer, actor, and visual artist in the city of Chongqing, China. Early years in the 1940s were spent as a banker in Shanghai where he founded a theater company. After emigrating to the United States, he continued acting in radio and television advertisement as the ‘elderly Chinese gentleman’ and did artwork for staged productions, performance pieces, and a Chinese cultural center in New York. He recently exhibited traditional bird-and-flower paintings at the West Village Meeting House in Brattleboro.Cai discussed Xia Jing Guan, her great-grandfather who was a landscape painter in Shanghai in the first half of the 20th century. She also provided a retrospective of Xi Hua's life and work.
Shamanism Around the World: lecture, demonstration & discussion, with Susan Grimaldi, Saturday, October 13, 2007., 7:00-8:30 p.m. Program: a PowerPoint, "Photographing Indigenous Visionary Healers," shamanism in China and Siberian Asia (the Tuvan, Ulchi, Mongol, and Manchu shamans) and relating shamanism of Asia with shamanism of North and South American and African peoples. Susan will be bringing some shamanic regalia (costume) newly designed by herself to show and demonstrate. The program is free to the public.	Currently in China, there is a growing interest in reintegrating shamanism back into contemporary culture. Susan Grimaldi, an internationally renowned Native American shaman, based in Vermont, has worked with communities in North China and Inner Mongolia, experiencing the living traditions of the Manchu and Mongol people, including ancient harvest rituals, healing ceremonies, and interviewing Asian shamans. Susan was invited to China to demonstrate her healing approach and help shamanism flourish in China again. She was at the opening of the Shaman Culture Museum of Changchun University in northeast China where she donated some of Shamanic regalia and was invited to participate in the formalities. The images of Susan (at right) show her holding a mask, demonstrating the drumming, and explaining the elaborate and heavy headpiece and other ornaments and their functions. The fringe of the headpiece is designed to cover the eyes. The lower two images are from her presentation here in Brattleboro last April. For further information about Susan and her work, visit www.susangrimaldi.com
Shattered Angels: Nagasaki's Own Story Sunday morning, Aug. 13 2007, 10 am - noon All Souls Unitarian Church, 29 South St., West Brattleboro	Presented by Harvey Nystrom, from witness accounts of 1945 of Takagashi Nagai’s The Bells of Nagasaki, and afterwards, group calligraphy led by Cai Xi Silver. For more information, contact Harvey, 254-5484.
Paintings by Hiroshima Youth of 1945: An exhibition on loan from Phyllis Rodin for two weeks only, August 15 to 31, 2007 at the C.X. Silver Gallery in West Brattleboro, open daily for this show from 12-6 p.m. These artworks were made from tiny strips of cloth by Japanese schoolchildren in 1945.	What Ataki-san taught was kir-i, a formal kind of painting which uses tiny scraps of colored cloth held down to board with hand-mixed rice glue. He patiently taught the girls how to do this, and over the next months the girls created dozens of these paintings, mostly of traditional Japanese life and of remembered scenes around Hiroshima. In the Hiroshima of the 1945 aftermath, Phyllis Rodin helped many of the 150,000 hospitalized hibakusha ("explosion-affected people" - survivors) deal with the incapacitating post-traumatic stress. After many months and in honor and gratitude for her work in the city, Atika-san and the people of Hiroshima presented Phyllis with 20 of these incredible kir-i cloth "paintings." We are very pleased to have 19 of these paintings on loan from Phyllis.
Hiroshima memorial event and service Saturday afternoon & evening and Sunday morning & afternoon August 4 and 5, 2007 at Walpole Unitarian Church, Walpole, NH (across the river from Bellows Falls, VT), For more information, contact Michael Billingsley 254-3975. Robert Jonas will be playing the Shakuhachi (Japanese flute) at the 10 am Sunday ecumenical service. All weekend, the folding of paper cranes, and the exhibition of the kiri-e fabric collage paintings by Hiroshima school children.	Atika-san, a teacher at Hiroshima Girls High School, was firmly convinced that his female students would survive the trauma better if some fragment of order was restored in the middle of this chaos. Therefore, he went from neighborhood to neighborhood searching for his surviving students, finding those strong enough to attend "school." He created a makeshift school with 52 out of what were once 350 students, in a tent with a small supply of food and provisions, and began to teach with what he had.
Bhutanese Textiles: Weaving from the Heart. July 15-August 12, 2007; The Wangmo weaving continues to be available at C.X. Silver Gallery, in West Brattleboro.	Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presented an exhibition of rare and brilliant weaving and ornaments from the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, nestled in the Himalyas between India and China/Tibet. Opening reception on July 14th Also shown: “From the Land of the Thunder Dragon; Textile Arts of Bhutan” a one hour video produced by Peabody Essex Museum. The size of Vermont and New Hampshire together, Bhutan is nestled between Tibet/China and India. With its high snowy peaks and deep lush valleys, Bhutan has been in a long, self-imposed geographic isolation. Only recently has this culturally rich nation begun to open itself up to the outside world and has the outside world begun to understand the intricacies of its exquisite weavings. The exhibition will give a comprehensive viewing of the national dress of Bhutanese men and women. The producers of these rarely seen textiles have mesmerized museum curators and weavers for their techniques not found elsewhere in the world.
Torie Olson Photos of Bhutan and the Bhutanese, July 15-August 12, 2007.	Last fall, Torie Olson traveled to Bhutan to photograph and research the rich weaving traditions and age-old herding systems. As a volunteer development consultant, Olson's focus is on documenting, promoting, and preserving the world’s traditional arts and rituals before they are lost to globalization, imitation, and repression. Proceeds from her photographic work benefit folk artists and other marginalized peoples.
The I-Ching: A presentation by Adeline Hooper, with discussion, Saturday evening July 28 2007, 7-8:30 pm.	The I-Ching, or Book of Changes, has been used for more than 3,000 years as a source of wisdom and oracles and has been much translated from the Chinese. C.G. Jung's description: "The I Ching does not offer itself with proofs and results; it does not vaunt itself, nor is it easy to approach. Like a part of nature, it waits until it is discovered."
Tibetan Culture: Lecture, PowerPoint & Discussion with Rachel Park at 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro Saturday evening, June 30 2007, 7 - 8:30 pm	Rachel Park has been visiting Asia for more than 30 years. She just returned from travels in Tibet including being at Mount Kailash. For more information, visit Rachel’s website, www.potalaworld.com. Free event; donations went to Khempo Phuntsok Gelek for the building of the only library for several hours travel in any direction in the Kham (Eastern) part of Tibet, work begun in June 2007. The library will function as a school for Tibetan language and Buddhism.There will be classical Tibetan Buddhist writings in the library but Khempo is more interested in modern interpretations and there are scholars, in Kham mostly, who are writing and teaching very interesting things. There will be literacy classes and plans for computers. Although there is no internet yet in the village but Khempo wants everyone to be ready when it comes.
Tibetan Monk Geshe Ngawang Singey: Teachings on Buddhist Culture and Thought. Saturday evening, June 9, 2007, 7-8:30 pm at C.X. Silver Gallery	Understanding Mind, Heart and Consciousness: Teachings on the Culture of Buddhism by Geshe Ngawang Singey, also known as Geshe-la, offers teachings on Buddhist thought, psychology, and communication. More information on Geshe Ngawang at: thosumgephelling.com/ about.shtml Free event; Donations welcome. Ages 9 to adult.
*Godzilla and Friends: The Art of Kaiju* Cinema in Japan:** lecture with film excerpts and discussion, presented by Harvey Nystrom, M.A., M.S.W. Wednesday, April 25, 2007, 7:00-8:30 pm	Kaiju is the genre name of films popularized in Japan that are about giant monsters. The word, kaiju, actually means ‘mysterious beast’ in Japanese. Kaiju are typically modeled after conventional animals, insects or mythological creatures. The kaiju genre of Japanese cinema grew from the mid 1950s.
Kuan Yin: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 7:00-8:30 p.m. Ages 9 and up.	Come learn about a key figure of Asian Buddhist culture and her many forms in art and literature. Presenter: Harvey Nystrom.
Chinese Astronomy: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 7:00-8:30 p.m. Ages 12 and up.	Come discover Chinese innovation, design and history in science of astronomy and the calendar! Presenter: Harvey Nystrom, M.A., M.S.W.
Monkey King’s meaning for us today: Reading, Viewing and Roundtable. Sat., during the Brattleboro Literary Festival '06, 814 Western Avenue.	Readings from Chinese folklore and the classic, Journey to West, will be followed by viewing an excerpt from the movie of the Monkey King with ongoing narrative commentary and discussion.
The Art of the Chinese Word: Reading, Viewing and Roundtable. Sunday, during Brattleboro Literay Festival '06, 814 Western Avenue.	Presenting emerging book illustrator Cai's new paper-cut picture book on Chinese characters, a display of children's Chinese book making, calligraphy and art, and a discussion about intuitive associations within and between Chinese words.
Introduction to T'ai Chi with stress reduction techniques	For improved health and well-being, learn basic self-acupressure techniques and other movement routines, as well as t'ai chi movements, positions, and rhythm.
Dragon-making: a Friday in February 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. $6/person; ages 4 and up. Advance registration required, 257-7898 or accvt[at]myfairpoint[dot]net	Using found materials, make a dragon that protects your place year round as a symbol of prosperity, good health, and abundance, that welcomes in the New Year.
Loy Kratong: Thai festival: Saturday, in November, for all ages.	Loy Kratong (‘floating lantern basket’) has been celebrated continuously in Thailand for at least 700 years. One focus of this festival is to show gratitude to ‘Mother of the Water,’ for using the water of the planet.
Chinese cooking: Making vegetarian dumplings: $25/person, ages 7 and up.	Learn how to make jiaozi, including the stuffing, flour wrappers, tips for cooking, and a pleasing presentation. Then, enjoy eating your dumplings!
Events yet to be scheduled: To have any of these events or series below arranged for your school, senior center, or community space, call, 802-257-7898 - extension 1, or email Adam Silver at accvt[at]myfairpoint[dot]net.
Song Kran: Festival for Thai New Year in April	More information to follow!
Making an art book of Chinese words: Fridays, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Three 1-hour classes/session; $30/session/person; ages 7 up.	Students learn Chinese vocabulary, creating one page per word, illustra- ting the word-idea with calligraphy, phrases or sentences, and pictures. The resulting pages are bound into a book for the student’s keepsake. Class will be held if there is sufficient registration.
Making a paper lantern: $6/person; ages 7 and up.	For special occasions year round, including your own calligraphy on rice paper as the centerpiece of the lantern.
Making a hanging calligraphy scroll: $10/person; ages 4 and up.	Learn and practice Chinese words, the feel of the ink on rice paper, and mounting the calligraphy into a decorated hanging scroll.
Introduction to T'ai Chi with calligraphy: 8:30 - 9:30 a.m., $15/person, for adults.	Learn of qi, the inner energy, through movement and rhythm of the body and of brush and ink on rice paper.
Making vegetarian sushi	Learn how to make vegetarian sushi, including use of ingredients, utensils, presentation, and variations. Then, enjoy eating your sushi!
Cooking delicious dishes with seaweed
Other Chinese cooking workshops
T'ai Chi sword
Chinese for travel: crash courses	Practice Chinese phrases, key vocabulary and short conversations to be understood in Chinese. Learn tips to make the most out of communicating while traveling in a variety of Chinese-speaking places.
Chinese for business	Including understanding etiquette, non-verbal communication, verbal and written conventions, and key technical vocabulary
Lecture/Demonstration Series (yet to be scheduled):
Movement and gesture in the Asian arts
Introduction to linguistics of India
Sacred architecture of Asia
Chinese landscape painting: Topics: - overview of shan shui hua ('mountain and water' painting) - album format - journey of 1000 li beginning with a step - paintings of the Song and Yuan dynasties - the Eccentrics
*Forums:*
Messages and assumptions in non-verbal communication
China, past and present: the economy, development the changing landscape

ASIAN CULTURAL CENTER OF VERMONT:
CONNECTING PEOPLE AND INSTITUTIONS THROUGH ASIAN ARTS AND CULTURE

For information about events, programs and policies related to the Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT),
contact ACCVT Executive Director Adam Silver, (802) 257-7898, ext.1 or (802) 579-9088.
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