Just as last year’s Asia Week reflected how we dealt with the pandemic back then – moving forward for the time being only to soon realize that events had to be canceled or postponed – this year’s edition shows the cautious optimism many of us are beginning to feel .
Hundreds of works – from a South Indian bronze sculpture of a deity from the 11th or 12th century to the colorful paintings by Tokyo-based contemporary artist Manika Nagare – are on view in the viewing rooms on the Asia Week website until March 27th also information on participating auction houses and links to shows and programs from institutions such as the Asia Society and the Peabody Essex Museum. Of the 29 exhibiting galleries, 13 are in New York and will be open to the public by appointment at least until Saturday. This mix of online and in-person viewing provides access to a range of pieces that we expect from this annual spotlight on Asian art.
MELISSA SMITH
To dance
For the dead and the living
In September, choreographer Eiko Otake did what few New York artists have done last year: she attracted a large crowd for a live performance. At Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, Otake offered “A Body in a Cemetery”, a solo for a socially distant audience – and for ghosts. “This is my service for the dead,” she wrote about the work.
Sitting on the slopes of the lush circular clearing known as Cedar Dell, spectators could appreciate Otake’s ability to raise and hold attention to somehow slow time. The vastness of the room emphasized their weakness, but also their strength.
A film version of the work, published in February, offers a different perspective and captures details that were difficult to see in person: a foot pressing into the grass, the textures of a gravestone. The 15-minute video is available indefinitely through Pioneer Works, one of the moderators of the performance, on their YouTube channel and website, which includes Otake’s written thoughts on the project.
SIOBHAN BURKE
CHILDREN
Sleuthing, storytelling and sketching
Children cannot congregate en masse in the French institutional alliance Française, but they will soon help bring back some of their other welcome sights.
During TILT Kids Weekend, which will be broadcast live on Zoom, the play “Le Mystère” will entice the audience to catch a thief who stole the theater lights, the popcorn maker and the bust of Molière from the institute. On Saturday, the Broken Box Mime Theater will perform one version of the show for ages 3 to 6 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time and another for older viewers at 5 p.m.
The weekend, presented in English, also includes the Drag Queen Story Hour with Harmonica Sunbeam on Saturday at 10:30 am and a drawing workshop with illustrator Kris Di Giacomo on Sunday at 11:00 am (families can make reservations at fiaf.org. The story hour and the workshop is free for members and $ 10 for non-members; the piece is $ 10 for members and $ 15 for non-members.) Sketching focuses on Parisian pigeons but doesn’t require special skills: young artists can give it wings.
LAUREL GRAEBER
comedy
The ultimate guessing game
Keith Malley and Chemda Khalili have been broadcasting their Keith and the Girl podcast from Queens for 16 years and nearly 3,400 episodes, first from an apartment in Briarwood, then from separate recording studios in Astoria and later from Long Island City, and now from theirs because of the pandemic own houses.
One of their latest bonus offers is the monthly livestream game show “Silent Trailers”. While Khalili describes the plot in muted movie trailers from the perspective of someone who is incredibly ignorant of Hollywood, comedians compete against Malley to identify the films that rely solely on Khalili’s verbal portrayals. This month’s episode, which begins Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, will feature Michael Ian Black, Jo Firestone, Chris Gethard, Pete Holmes and Mara Wilson.
Tickets for the live stream are available from Eventbrite for $ 10. A $ 30 backstage pass allows viewers to go behind the scenes at 7:15 p.m. to meet Malley and Khalili and see them and the comics as they prepare for the show.
SEAN L. McCARTHY
The Alternative Guitar Summit annually celebrates a range of talents ranging from Spitfire experimenters, jazz-rock fusion players, and improvisers rooted in global traditions – reflecting the style and beliefs of its iconoclastic founder, guitarist Joel Harrison, reflects.
The festival was canceled last year due to the pandemic, but this year it’s back with two days of streamed performances featuring many of the leading improvised music guitarists. Saturday’s program, which begins at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, will pay tribute to Pat Martino, a lighthouse whose career dates back to the late 1950s. Guitarists like Kurt Rosenwinkel, Rez Abbasi and Adam Rogers offer interpretations of his compositions.
On Sunday at 2 p.m., an equally impressive array of guitarists will be performing 20-minute back-to-back sets from home, including longtime avant-garde Michael Gregory Jackson, future border shifter Mary Halvorson, and French guitarist Nguyên Lê.
Tickets for the streams on both days are available for a fee and can be reserved at alternativeguitarsummit.com.
GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO