Japan Society is presenting three major events designed to increase awareness of lesser known elements of Japan with audiences around New York: the island of Hokkaido; the cities of Bizen and Setouchi by the Seto Inland Sea; and vital but disappearing kogei art.

All three events will feature speakers from Japan and conclude in receptions with thematic tastings.

Explore Hokkaido: Tastes and Treasure from Japan’s North

January 30 - 7 PM

This special event highlights the unique culture and foods of Japan’s northernmost island. Known for its majestic natural environment, spectacular seasonal views, adventure travel and local gourmet cuisine, it features a panel discussion focusing on the history, sights, and culture of Hokkaido.

Speakers including including Tsuyoshi Mitsuhashi, Vice Governor of Hokkaido; Kenichi Ikeura, Director and CFO of Nishiyama Seimen Co., Ltd.; and Kensuke Takada, Deputy Director of Sales & Marketing, International Project Team, Hotel Tsuruga Group and Ambassador of the Adventure Travel Trade Association.

The evening’s reception will include Sapporo-style ramen, onigiri rice balls grown from Hokkaido rice, Hokkaido sake, Sapporo beer, and local snacks.

During the reception, attendees can participate in a one-of-a-kind immersive VR experience, flying over Hokkaido’s stunning natural scenery. This event is co-presented by the Government of Hokkaido and Japan Society.

The Beauty of the Cities of the Inland Sea: Bizen and Setouchi Pottery and Food Festival

February 3 - 7 PM

This event features opportunities to hear from talented artisans, experience local delicacies and view stunning pottery pieces all from the cities of Bizen and Setouchi, located along the Seto Inland Sea in Western Japan.

The night begins with an on-stage discussion by renowned Bizen pottery artisans Tadashi Hirakawa and Yukiko Akai, with visitors learning about the history of Bizen pottery, a tradition that goes back over 800 years.

Following this talk, attendees can taste oyster rice bowls, curated desserts and local sake while viewing select pottery pieces made in the Bizen-Yaki and Mushiage-Yaki styles.

This event is co-presented by the Governments of Bizen and Setouchi Cities and Japan Society.

Living Traditions: The Past and Future of Kogei

February 26 - 7 PM

This event is focused on spreading appreciation of Japan’s important traditional arts and is part of Japan Society’s annual Living Traditions event series.

It will feature kogei artist Keiji Onihira from Wajima, Japan in conversation with Dr. Monika Bincsik (Diane and Arthur Abbey Curator for Japanese Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and Dr. Michele Bambling (Senior Director of Japan Society Gallery).

Kogei are handmade items produced from raw materials collected according to traditional practices and manufactured using traditional techniques. Kogei pieces are common items such as baskets or pottery used in daily life, but the artists who create them often devote their lives to honing their skills, and their works are exhibited in galleries and museums around the globe.

However, with changing lifestyles and technologies, it is getting difficult to maintain kogei culture, and there are fewer and fewer artists who now continue kogei practices.

Further, on January 1, 2024, an earthquake struck Japan’s Noto Peninsula, devastating the city of Wajima, which was famed for its traditional lacquer artists. More than half of Wajima’s 300 lacquer studios were destroyed, and over a year later, few have been able to return.

Following on-stage talk, attendees are invited to attend a reception with Japanese food and drink and view a one-night-only display of kogei, including works from the Noto region.

This event is co-presented by the Government of Japan and the Japan Institute of Portland Japanese Garden.

Learn more and RSVP, visit - www.japansociety.org/culture

The exhibition "Grounded by Our Roots" opens April 3 in the Northwest Coast Hall’s at the American Museum of Natural History, and will showcase Indigenous artists who draw inspiration from their cultural traditions.

photo credit: Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Note: I was invited as media to this event. However any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

During a first look media preview, I meet with some of the Indigenous artists to learn about the stories behind their artwork and their individual creative Indigenous communities.

Each artist explained the materials, technique and cultural history behind their creative styles and how it applies to their specific artwork.

While each artist comes from a different Indigenous culture, they all want to honor their community, while bringing their artwork into a modern experience.

Eliot White-Hill Kwulasultun Interview

I spoke with Eliot White-Hill Kwulasultun about how he was able to blend ancient technique while using modern "supplies" for his artwork like Ancestors' Hands (2022): a cardboard sculpture made of a pizza box.

Eliot White-Hill Kwulasultun: I'm a pretty new artist. I only learned in the last few years since when I began practicing. And for me, when I first started learning about Salish design, I tried to go back to the oldest cases, which are often in museum collections like here.

So I studied the forms of it, the shapes, the visual language and it really opened my eyes to how there's a continuity from thousands of years ago to today.

Eliot White-Hill Kwulasultun: And then from there, As I started to immerse myself in it more, I found my own voice. I realized that it became a way to tell my own stories and to use my own voice.

photo credit: Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Eliot White-Hill Kwulasultun: And so I'm inspired by my ancestors, but I'm also inspired by modern art. I'm inspired by episode of Japanese anime. And, I do a lot of graphic design as well.

It's always trying to think about how I can apply the visual language in a new way. We aren't constrained by what people think indigenous art should be.

Eliot White-Hill Kwulasultun: If people think we should be carving or we should be weaving, while we can absolutely do that, but we can do other things as well.

And I think it's really powerful and special for future generations to be seeing all the different ways that our art can be. So that's really one of the main motivates motivations for me.

Eliot White-Hill Kwulasultun (Snuneymuxw First Nation), an interdisciplinary artist who aims to “share our art and our teachings, and ensure that future generations will have that knowledge accessible to them”

• Ancestors' Hands (2022): a cardboard sculpture made of a pizza box that is part of a series centered around an archaeological dig that took place in Snuneymuxw First Nation (Vancouver Island) in the 1980s
• We Fell From the Sky / Together and Apart (2022): mixed media on birch panel that tells one of the creation stories of the Snuneymuxw First Nation, whose ancestors fell from the sky onto Te’tuxwtun
• Through the Spindle / Other Whorlds (2021): a serigraph that explores the concept of the sulsultun (spindle whorl), a sacred source of knowledge within the Coast Salish world

Grounded by Our Roots Exhibit

The exhibition is produced with guest curator Aliya Boubard, the curator of the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art in Vancouver, who is Anishinaabe and a member of Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba.

The artists and works featured in the gallery include:

bottom photo credit: Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Nash’mene’ta’naht Atheana Picha (Kwantlen First Nation), whose work is “focused on learning traditional Coast Salish design language and studying Northwest Coast artwork with the introduction of different material practices”

• Split Serpent (2023): a serigraph on Stonehenge paper inspired by the artist’s effort to overcome a fear of snakes.
• Thunderbirds and Serpents (2022), a serigraph on Stonehenge paper whose design is a study in Coast Salish forms.
• Navigators (2022), a serigraph on Stonehenge paper, which the artist made after research into Nuu-chah-nulth and Coast Salish printmakers.
• Thunderbird’s Visit (2023), a cedar carving that is a reflection of Coast Salish spindle whorls, which are recognized as the “teachers” of contemporary Coast Salish visual design.

Hawilkwalał Rebecca Baker-Grenier (Kwakiuł, Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh), a fashion designer who debuted her first collection at New York Fashion Week in 2022 and sees “fashion as a living practice that is rooted in our art form, laws, and worldview”

• Held by Generations (2023/2024): a vest and skirt made from dentalium shells, ermine, glass beads, leather, and cotton that merge ancestral materials and designs with contemporary style as an outward representation of the artist’s identity

SGidGang.Xaal Shoshannah Greene (Haida), who studied hand-drawn animation before switching to classical and contemporary Haida formline and “love(s) to explore and play between the worlds of classical formline and contemporary mediums”

• Shines Like Gold (2022): an archival pigment print on cotton rag that is inspired by Haida argillite plates. This piece refers to the story of Nang Kilslaas (also known as Raven), after he has successfully stolen the light that was concealed.
• Nang Kilslaas and The First Xaaydas (2023): an illustration on cotton archival watercolor paper that is one of several pieces from the project Our Guiding Ways of Being, a series of traditional and contemporary stories focused on Haida beliefs and values

photo credit: Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Alison Bremner Naxhshagheit (Tlingit), who works in woodcarving, painting, digital collage, among other media, “exploring the present-day Tlingit experience, each concept ultimately dictating the medium”

• Midnight at the Fireworks Stand (2022): an acrylic painting made on vintage and found wallpaper focused on Indigenous communities that are heavily affected by generational trauma inflicted from Western contact
• Church and State (2024): an acrylic painting on canvas born of frustration with the Supreme Court’s authority to govern Indigenous matters

Northwest Coast Hall Renovation

The Museum’s Northwest Coast Hall reopened in 2022 following a transformative renovation and reinterpretation in consultation with Indigenous communities from the Pacific Northwest Coast. As part of the revitalization, a rotating art gallery was created to showcase the continuity and transformation of Indigenous creative traditions.

Featuring exhibits that showcase the creativity, scholarship, and history of the living cultures of the Pacific Northwest, the Northwest Coast Hall focuses on the material culture of 10 Native Nations and language communities of the Pacific Northwest and presents more than 1,000 restored cultural items, enlivened with new interpretation developed with Consulting Curators from the Coast Salish, Gitxsan, Haida, Haíłzaqv, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth, Nuxalk, Tlingit, and Tsimshian communities.

The curator of the Northwest Coast Hall is Peter Whiteley, curator of North American Ethnology at the Museum, and the co-curator is Ḥaa’yuups, Nuu-chah-nulth scholar and cultural historian.

Learn more, visit - www.amnh.org/exhibitions/grounded-by-our-roots

In time for Black History Month, The Paley Center for Media new exhibit highlights National Geographic’s series Genius: MLK/X—Two Minds, One Movement from February 1 through March 3, 2024.

Note: I received media tickets for review purposes. Views expressed are always 100% my own.

I was invited to see the exhibit and decided to take along my teen son. While I've grown up learning about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, sadly these teen boys don't know as much as they should.

Visiting the exhibit helped both start a conversation about the "real" men the show is based on, and how that history is still relevant for the black community today and in the future.

The boy were amazed by all the "history" they learned from the authentic costumes, props, and set pieces from the series, along with screening an episode of Genius: MLK/X.

ARTIFACTS

Get up close with posters, signs, newspapers, and personal items that marked the paths of these influential leaders. Watch video clips and historical archival footage to gain a deeper understanding of their contributions.

ORIGINAL COSTUMES

The exhibit will feature original costumes from the series, including iconic, period-accurate zoot suits, a Fruit of Islam uniform, watches, and hats.

SCREENINGS

Step into Paley's theater and immerse yourself in a curated selection of documentaries and interviews celebrating the incredible lives of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, as well as the premiere episode of Genius: MLK/X.

This Black History Month Experience Presented by Citi is based on the Emmy Award-winning anthology series on National Geographic and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

Besides the exhibit, Paley Center also has another area with black history trivia and activities.

FAMILY FUN and TRIVIA

Family events and arts & crafts activities that aim to educate and inspire, or test your knowledge with interactive trivia game.

Browse through carefully selected MLK and Malcolm X books for both kids and adults in our library and explore curated shows related to the Civil Rights movement.

Learn more, visit - www.paleycenter.org

Starting Friday, July 28 through Sunday, July 30, Queens County Farm Museum’s "Thunderbird American Indian Powwow" presented in partnership with the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, is back for its 44th year.

Queens County Farm Museum is the longest running presenter of Native American arts and culture in New York City. This year, the Thunderbird American Indian Powwow will feature

• Three days of intertribal dance competitions
• A Native American Craft and Food Market
• Two evening programs culminating in a bonfire at dusk welcoming the audience into the dance circle.

Over forty Indian Nations will be represented at this three-day program including Hopi, Winnebago, Cherokee, Kiowa, Lakota, Navajo, Santo Domingo, Taino, Matinecock, Shinnecock, San Blas Kuna, Rappahanock, Choctaw, Osage, and Delaware Nations.

Food and Craft Market

In addition to dance demonstrations and competitions, the Thunderbird American Indian Powwow will host a one-of-a-kind food and craft market featuring Native American vendors.

A signature dish not to be missed is the native fry bread, a traditional plate of deep-fried confection that is enjoyed by many Native communities in various forms. Additional fare includes smoked meats plus local fish and seafood from local tribes.

The Native American Food and Craft Market features over 15 North and Central American vendors specializing in food, traditional handcraft, artisanal instruments and drums, wampum, modern and vintage jewelry, ceramics, stones and crystals, beadwork, and textiles such as woven garments and embroidery.

Powwows

“Most people think of Native American culture as a thing of the past,” said Louis Mofsie, Director of the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers. “This Powwow showcases a living, developing culture. This is a wonderfully educational and entertaining cultural event.”

Native American powwows are significant cultural gatherings that hold deep meaning for indigenous communities. They serve as a vibrant celebration of Native American traditions, heritage, and values, while also providing an opportunity for intertribal connections and cultural exchange.

Powwows have evolved over time and vary among different tribes, but they generally share common elements that highlight the richness of indigenous cultures. The modern powwow, developed after the institution of the Reservation System, is derived from the Plains Indians Dance gatherings and primarily features dance styles developed in the Plains.

Tickets

Admission to Queens County Farm Museum is free, but tickets are required to attend the Powwow and the Native American Craft and Food Market.

Tickets to view the dance competitions are $12–$18. Three-day passes are available for $24–$36.

Tickets can be purchased online at - www.queensfarm.org

Warm up on a cold winter’s day at The National Museum of the American Indian with these family friendly events happening in January and February.

All events are free unless otherwise noted. The National Museum of the American Indian is free, open daily 10 a.m.–5 p.m. and is located at 1 Bowling Green, New York, NY 10004.

Winter Blast: A Day of Indigenous Games
Saturday, Jan. 28, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.

Play Native games from across the Western Hemisphere. Try your hand at Inuit yo-yo, ring and pin, Hawaiian chess, hoop throwing, and more.


Fresh Focus on Native American Photography
Saturday, Feb. 4, 1–5 p.m.

Examine the work of photographers who are lending their voices to defining what it means to be Indigenous today. Photojournalists Donovan Quintero (Navajo), Tailyr Irvine (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), and Russel Albert Daniels (Diné descent and Ho-Chunk descent)—whose works are featured in the museum’s Developing Stories: Native Photographers in the Field exhibition in New York—discuss their personal journeys.

The event will be livestreamed at www.americanIndian.si.edu/livestream
To attend in person, register at www.americanIndian.si.edu/calendar

Native Cinema Showcase Screening: Encanto
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2 p.m.
(USA, 2021, 120 mins.) Directors: Byron Howard, Jared Bush, and Charise Castro Smith

Encanto tells the tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in a magical house in a vibrant town in the mountains of Colombia.

The magic of this wondrous, charmed Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift, from super strength to the power to heal—every child that is except one, Mirabel (voice of Stephanie Beatriz). But when she discovers that the magic surrounding Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she might just be her exceptional family’s last hope.

Special support for Native Cinema Showcase provided by the Walt Disney Company.

imagiNATIONS Activity Center
10 a.m.–12:30 p.m. and 1:30p.m.–4:30 p.m.

The interactive, family-friendly imagiNATIONS Activity Center provides visitors a lively space to explore scientific principles behind Native innovations and technologies that are so ingenious, many remain a part of our daily lives. The experience will leave visitors with a key takeaway—Indigenous people are the original innovators of the Americas. Recommended for ages 10 and older.

For information, visit - www.americanindian.si.edu/calendar