The Oakland Asian Cultural Center’s (OACC) annual Asian Pacific American (APA) Heritage Festival 2010 featured a full and diverse program of events to celebrate Asian and Pacific American culture and traditions from May 19 to June 5. APA Heritage Festival 2010 included culinary workshops, a film screening, a literary night, and jazz performances by various Asian American artists. All events were OACC-produced and were held at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 388 9th St, Ste 290 in Oakland.

Press / Media:

Click here for the Official Flyer
Click here for the Press Release

May 20th, OACC's Co-Director Mona Shah was interviewed on KPFA's APEX Express

APEX Express - May 20, 2010 at 7:00pm

Past 2010 APA Heritage Festival Events

CULINARY WORKSHOPS - May 9, May 22, and June 5

A series of Asian culinary workshops focuses on traditional cuisine that by ordinary practice has always featured seasonal and local ingredients. The workshops reflect the timeless oral tradition where recipes and family and cultural lore are passed to the next generations, fostering the kind of dialogue that happens only in the kitchen. Each workshop will be followed by lunch provided by OACC featuring the freshly made featured dish.

To register for the workshops, contact: April Kim (510) 637- 0462
Limited to the first 15 registrants. All materials provided. $5-$30 sliding scale donation to cover cost of materials. Please register at least one week prior to workshop date.

Spring Dishes from Tibet - Sunday, May 9, 10am-1:30pm  SOLD OUT
Sah Paley is a classic Tibetan picnic dish that originated in Amdho Provence where His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was born. Traditionally served with home-made hot chili sauce, and a drink close to Nigori sake or Korean Makgeolli, Sah Paley is a significant dish all over Tibet. Participants will also learn to make the very simple yet delicious Himalayan salad.

Filipino Regional Vegetarian - Saturday, May 22, 10am-1:30pm  SOLD OUT
This workshop celebrates family-style Filipino dishes that draw from an abundance of garden fresh vegetables (gulay) as they have been reinterpreted through the diaspora. Students will learn to make vegetarian-friendly versions of traditional favorites like kare-kare (a peanut stew with banana hearts), laing (greens simmered with coconut milk, garlic and chilis), and lumpiang sariwa (vegetable-stuffed summer rolls). Presented by Aileen Suzara, who was featured in "The Colors of Nature, Growing Up Filipino" and more.

Chinese Soups for Health! - Saturday, June 5, 10am-1:30pm  SOLD OUT
This workshop pairs traditional Chinese and Western approaches to the recipes brought over by Chinese immigrants from South China. Dishes like fuzzy melon soup will utilize summer produce, following the traditional Chinese approach to health through seasonal ingredients, ying-yang balance, and through the tonifying qualities of the ingredients. An all purpose “mother sauce” with variations will be prepared with several seasonal vegetables. Presented by Teresa M. Chen (author of A Tradition of Soup: Flavors from China's Pearl River Delta) and Jing Liu, a registered dietitian in a community medical center who has taught a class on Asian Food, Culture and Religion in SF State University.

Click here for more details on our culinary workshop series.

Free FILM SCREENING - May 19th 6:30pm

(This is the last installment of our Bay Area Community Cinema series)

A Village Called Versailles, directed by S. Leo Chiang. Light refreshments after the screening. In a New Orleans neighborhood called Versailles, a tight-knit group of Vietnamese Americans overcame obstacles to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, only to have their homes threatened by a new government-imposed toxic landfill. A VILLAGE CALLED VERSAILLES is the empowering story of how the Versailles people, who have already suffered so much in their lifetime, turn a devastating disaster into a catalyst for change and a chance for a better future.

Post-screening discussion will follow with:
S. Leo Chiang, filmmaker of A Village Called Versailles
Sandy Saeteurn, Lead Organizer, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)

For more information about the film, go to www.avillagecalledversailles.com/press

Co-presented by ITVS, KQED, Oakland Asian Cultural Center, The Oakland Film Office, Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) HandsOn Bay Area and DEAF Media.

This is a free screening.

Click here for official screening flyer

LITERARY NIGHT CELEBRATING THE APIA AND LGBT EXPERIENCE - May 27, 7pm
Featuring Aimee Suzara, Joel Tan, and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

OACC is proud to present an evening of readings reflecting on the Asian Pacific Islander American queer experience. Featured writers are Aimee Suzara, Joel Tan, and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha will read from their work on May 27, 7pm - 9pm. Co-curated by Kenji Lui, Claire Light, and OACC.

(This event is supported in part by Poets & Writers Inc., through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation.)

Admission is based on sliding scale donations—no one turned away for lack of funds

ASIAN ARTS TOGETHER - May 29th, 1pm - 3pm

A Family Day workshop to celebrate APA Heritage Month. OACC presents a hands-on playdate for children and families to work together to learn how to make Japanese paper dolls, Japanese Daruma dolls, Cambodian theater masks, Korean kites, Lunar New Year Tiger puppets, and Vietnamese dragon mobiles.

This is a free event and is open to the public.

JAZZ AND DANCE PERFORMANCES BY VIDYA AND RINA MEHTA - May 29th, 8pm

   

OACC’s new artists in residence VidyA and Rina Mehta will be featuring new pieces.  Click here for more information on our Artists in Residence.

VIDYA shows what happens when the richness of South Indian Carnatic classical music meets the improvisations of jazz. Featuring Prasant Radhakrishnan (saxophone), David Ewell (bass) and Sameer Gupta (drums), VidyA will present original compositions as well as some re-imagined traditional Carnatic music pieces.

The Kathak dance tradition is based on upaj (improvisation), tayari (preparation of technique), layakari (performing and improvising intricate rhythms) and khoobsurti and nazakat (beauty and subtlety of movement and expression). It is a tour-de-force performance of percussive footwork, singing, poetry, and acting. Rina Mehta, disciple of Pandit Chitresh Das, presents excerpts from a full-length traditional solo including a vandana (invocation), a gat-bhao (full-length) story and Kathak Yoga. Rina is accompanied by Ben Kunin, disciple of Maestro Ali Akbar Khan, on sarod and Salar Nadar, disciple of Ustaad Zakir Hussain, on tabla.

Tarana: a collaboration featuring OACC 2010 Resident Artists
The evening concludes with a collaborative piece featuring OACC resident artists Rina Mehta (solo Kathak) and Prasant Radhakrishnan (VidyA) with their full ensembles. The artists use a tarana, composed by Pt. Chitresh Das, to create a strikingly original, effortless dialogue between the forms of Kathak, Indian classical music and American jazz.

Admission: $12 Adult, $9 Seniors and Students
Weekend pass $20 Adult, $15 Seniors and Students

JOHN COLTRAINE'S "INDIA" WITH ANTHONY BROWN'S ASIAN AMERICAN ORCHESTRA - MAY 30, 2pm

The Asian American Orchestra presents India: A Tribute to John Coltrane to celebrate his visionary music inspired by master sitarist Ravi Shankar. John Coltrane (1926-67) is regarded as among the most influential American musicians of the 20th century, who created a style of jazz rooted in spirituality and humanity. Dr. Anthony Brown has arranged Coltrane's original jazz composition to blend Indian musical instruments with the sonorities and improvisation of the jazz big band, for an intercultural presentation including guest artists Steve Oda on sarod, Dana Pandey on tabla and Pushpa Oda on tambura with the Asian American Orchestra.

A panel discussion will precede the concert performance to explore the influence of Asian culture on Coltrane's music, and Coltrane's global influence on music today. Panelists include musician Steve Oda who switched from jazz guitar to North Indian sarod after hearing Coltrane perform India in 1961 in NY; and Drs. Herman Gray (UCSC), Tommy Lott (SJSU) and Asian American Orchestra director Anthony Brown, who have contributed chapters to the forthcoming book, John Coltrane and Black America's Quest for Freedom: Spirituality and the Music due in August 2010 on Oxford University Press.

Admission: $12 Adults, $9 Seniors and Students

This program is made possible with generous support from:

MEDIA SPONSOR:
Apex Express

CO SPONSORS:
Alameda County Human Relations Commission
API Wellness Center
Asian Improv aRts
CAAM
Chhandam School of Kathak
ITVS