Earlier

Hidden addressed the particularity of boundaries that separate public and private spheres and explores the multiple meanings of space, as a means of social marginalization, as a link to personal/collective memories, and as a convergence of human interactions. It represents the ambiguous place that immediately demands one to imagine what is or should be "not there"; in such a place the "cart almost always goes before the horse so to speak", the answer is known now what's the question! Six artists were asked to respond to this answer "hidden" with the directive that the works would not be shown in a gallery space but in various locations around the campus of Columbia College. These sites vary from a lobby to the Vice President's conference room and its bathroom to a medium sized office.

The premise for the show allowed the artists to direct their questions in multiple directions, with obvious and not-so-obvious results, some of which are revealed through being seen, others through other methods.

Woman Warrior Festival I, March
Launched in March 2001, the biannual Woman Warrior Festival is the first and only major festival in the Midwest dedicated solely to honoring and celebrating Asian/Asian American women's achievements. The theme of Woman Warrior Festival I was "Moving from Surviving to Thriving."

Speakers and artists explored women's issues of local, national and global importance through thematic presentation of lectures, panel discussions as well as arts and culture by, for, and about Asian/Asian American women expressed through the performing arts, the visual arts, literature, and film.

Festival programs in 2001 included:

Business Leadership Award
Susan Rudd is the corporate relations manager for Asian Pacific Affairs at the St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., where she develops and directs
programs that communicate and support Anheuser-Busch's commitment to the Asian-American community.

Community Service Award
Sara Livingston is a professor in the Television Department of Columbia College Chicago. She has concentrated her professional work in children’s television production and has produced several social action documentaries, working with local organizations including the Gray Panthers, Habitat for Humanity, and Acorn Housing. For the past few years she has worked with the Cambodian Association of Illinois creating a holocaust museum and memorial to honor and remember the 2 million Cambodians lost under Pol Pot’s regime.

Creative Arts Award
Hema Rajagopalan is a Bharata Natyam dancer, choreographer and educator and founder
of Natyakalalayam (Natya) Dance Theatre (link)in 1975. Accolades for her artistic and educational work include seven dance choreography awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Vishva Kala Bharati award from the Bharat Kalachar music and dance festival in India. In the past 25 years, she has taught nearly 900 students, presented numerous workshops and residencies, and has choreographed over 30 full-length productions of Bharata Natyam.

Traces of Memory: The Landscape of Asian Neighborhoods in Chicago exhibit, May

Traces of Memory gives us a small glimpse into the landscape of Asian neighborhoods in Chicago through photographs that artistically document the lives of individuals, businesses and other social services or groups within these communities.

Through images of the streetscapes, places of business, daily activities, community groups, and special celebrations, this exhibit explored the history of several diverse Asian communities in Chicago. A range of historical and contemporary photographs were presented to capture the changing social landscape of Asian community in the context of everyday circumstances, with an analysis of the social, economic and political forces that impact the community.


David Henry Hwang's Flower Drum Song, November
Presented In collaboration with the Art Institute of Chicago.

Pulitzer and Tony Award winning playwright David Henry Hwang joined us for a discussion of his latest work, the rewriting of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song. For Asian Americans, Flower Drum Song represents a monumental cultural presence that is a watershed event in each of its incarnations. C.Y. Lee's 1957 semi-autobiographical novel of life in San Francisco's Chinatown was the first bestseller by an Asian American. The Rogers and Hammerstein musical was the first Broadway show (in 1958) and Hollywood film (in 1961) to portray Asians as "normal" Americans.

Hwang's work include the Broadway landmark M. Butterfly, The Golden Child, and the libretto for Philip Glass' 1000 Airplanes. Flower Drum Song premiered in Los Angeles in April 2001, and is enjoying a hit run on Broadway


Aboriginal Music and Dance of Taiwan November

In conjunction with the MVP Series: Multicultural Voices and Perspectives, the Center presented the Chicago premiere of the Bunun tribe as they performed a selection of ritual songs and dances from their homeland, the isolated highlands of central Taiwan. Fifteen tribespeople presented music and movement from ceremonies marking their agricultural calendar as well as rites of passage
commemorating birth, marriage and death.

Five-Year Anniversary Benefit Gala and Silent Auction November

The Center celebrated our Five-Year Anniversary in style at the Preston Bradley Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center. On hand were Guest of Honor, Pulitzer and Tony Award Winner David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly), ABC anchorwoman Linda Yu, country band Anna Fermin's Trigger Gospel, taiko drummer Ryan Toguri, and young musicians from The Chinese Fine Arts Society.

Sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, American Airlines, and Harris Bank.