Laura Kina: Blue Hawaii

We work closely with visual artist, scholar and professor Laura Kina on the Mixed Roots Stories programming for the Critical Mixed Race Studies conference (November 2014). She consistently explores the mixed experience in her work and in her classrooms. Here’s information on her current exhibition:

This week in Memphis – join Laura in person for the opening reception and artist lecture or visit the show virtually.

University of Memphis
The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art

Laura Kina: Blue Hawai’i

February 21 – March 27, 2014

Opening reception: Friday, Feb 21 5:30-8:00pm

Artist talk: Thursday, Feb 20 7:00pm 3715 Central Ave. #310
“Remembering Painting, Forgetting Photographs”

University of Memphis
The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art
Art Department
Art and Communication Building
3715 Central Ave.
Memphis, TN 38152
Tel 901-678-2216
http://memphis.edu/art/fogelmangalleries.php
https://www.facebook.com/FOGELMANCONTEMPORARY

Join the event on Facebook

All events are free and open to the public.

View the digital exhibition catalog featuring an essay “Okinawan Diaspora Blues” by Wesley Uenten, Associate Professor of Asian American Studies San Francisco State University

See the works online

You won’t find Elvis or surfboards or funny umbrella-topped cocktails in Laura Kina’s dystopic Blue Hawaiʻi. Drawn from family albums, oral history and community archives from Hawaii and Okinawa, these ghostly oil paintings employ distilled memories to investigate themes of distance, longing, and belonging.

Featuring new works and a selection from her ongoing Sugar series (2009-present), the setting is Kina’s father’s Okinawan sugarcane field plantation community, Piʻihonua, on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi near Hilo. Her obsession with blue was inspired by the indigo-dyed kasuri kimonos repurposed by the Issei (first generation) “picture bride” immigrants for canefield work clothes, and colored by stories of hinotama (fireballs) shooting from the canefield cemetery into the night sky. Blue Hawaiʻi echoes the spirits of Kina’s ancestors and shared histories of labor migration.

Pictured above Laura Kina, Elementary School, 30×45 in, oil on canvas, 2013


“Just Checking” In – by Guest Blogger Eddie Nwabuoku

Late last May, I had the television on in the background while I worked. Around that time of day it would usually be tuned to HGTV (to satisfy my inner home remodeling nerd) but if I recall correctly I had it tuned to our local NBC affiliate instead. I can’t remember what show was on, but I do remember when they cut to a commercial break. That was the first time I saw the “Just Checking” ad for Cheerios. My thought process upon seeing the commercial went a little bit like this:

“Oh, would you look at that adorable little girl?…oh, is that her mom?…she said ‘Mom’, didn’t she? She did!…look at those cheeks! Awwwww…hmmm, she looks mixed, I wonder if they’re going to show her — hey, her dad’s black…did she just pour the cereal all over him? Haha!…what a nice little commercial!…hmmm, now I’m hungry…what’s for lunch?…” And I went on with my day, and thought nothing more of it.

A couple of more times during the week I saw the ad repeatedly, on different channels, and at different times of the day. I thought it was an interesting coincidence that such a wonderful commercial should start airing so close to the anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, and throughout the run-up to our annual Flagship Celebration in New York; every airing was a fitting reminder of what the Lovings went through, which made me smile when I thought of it.

And then, seemingly out of nowhere, came this backlash. I heard reports of horribly unkind and quite frankly racist comments being put under the video on the General Mills YouTube channel. I say “heard reports”, because before I had a chance to see them for myself, General Mills disabled the comments section. But knowing what I know about the psyche of Internet keyboard superheroes, who use the supposed veil of anonymity as a license for misbehavior, I could guess what they were saying. The comments were obviously bad enough for the company to disable further comment.

Still, it was puzzling. What could have motivated such vitriol, even virtually? It was such a relatively benign commercial, for breakfast cereal. The “family” was wholesome and attractive, and the child actress who played the daughter could not have been more adorable. Did they have an issue with children? Cheerios? Children eating Cheerios? Cold breakfast cereal, as opposed to warm breakfast cereal? Did they have a problem with children who litter in the comfort of their own homes? What on earth was that all about?

Was the backlash driven from the fact that this commercial depicted an interracial couple? An interracial couple that had the temerity to — gasp! — give birth to a child? Or was it the racial and gender composition of the couple? Would there have been any backlash at all if the couple was (say) a white man and a black woman, or a white man and an Asian woman, for instance?

As it turns out, there was a way to find out.

Two holidays bookmarked the “Just Checking” Cheerios ad: Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day. To take advantage of the selling opportunity, Kmart released two commercials: “Mommy’s Little Helper“, and “Butler in a Box“. Both feature the same naughty Capuchin monkey causing drama, and both feature the same interracial family. The father is Indian. The mother is white. They have not one, but two, kids. And the kids are each pretty clearly mixed Indian & white.

So I stood back, and braced for the imminent backlash…a backlash that never came.

Nothing. Not a single outraged tweet or Facebook post to be found.

You know that phenomenon where soon after your friend buys a white four-door car, all of a sudden it seems like every other car on the street that you see is also a white four-door car? Although I had always noticed commercials and advertising and movies and television shows that somehow featured interracial couples, post-“Just Checking” there seemed to be more and more and more. There was the series of ads for Samsung Smart TVs that featured a multi-generational Asian and white household. There’s the multi-generational, multi-racial “Family Picnic” ad for Lincoln Financial Group.

Then there was the Swiffer commercial with the Rukavinas. This real-life family comprises Zack, his wife Afi and their two children. Afi is black, and not only is Zack white, he also is an amputee. AdWeek’s article about this ad is titled “Most Inclusive Ad Ever?”

It was an entirely unscientific poll, but the results were fairly clear. The backlash was most probably fueled by the fact that the commercial showed the result of an interracial coupling between a black man and a white woman. Almost two decades into the twenty-first century, apparently, this particular pairing still was enough to raise the ire of those whose thinking was stuck in the charged racial atmosphere of decades long gone.

But, as often happens, a silver lining emerged from the dark cloud of online bigotry. In Georgia, a couple watched the Cheerios ad and was also baffled by the racist backlash. Michael David Murphy & Alyson West looked at the ad as a reflection not only of their reality (he is white, she is black, and they have a girl), but also as a reflection of a profound demographic shift in the United States. “According to the 2008 census,” as they said, “15% of new marriages are interracial. And yet, it still feels rare to see something like the Cheerios ad represented in mainstream culture.”

In response, they created the tumblr site We Are the 15 Percent, and invited readers to submit photographs of their mixed families. People from all across the country and from many countries around the world have added their family photographs to the collection. As the couple told TIME Magazine, “The site is such a natural outgrowth of our lives together; we’re in both for the long haul. We hope the site can persist long beyond its initial inspiration, and create a consistent, ongoing resource for families like our own. We can imagine that someone who submitted a wedding photo yesterday might submit a family picture, with their children, years from now!”

When General Mills released the “Just Checking” ad, representatives from the company said that although they were “a bit surprised it turned into a story…Ultimately we were trying to portray an American family, and there are lots of multicultural families in America today…and Cheerios just wants to celebrate them all.” Not only did the company stand by their commercial and what it was meant to portray, they have in fact doubled down. During Super Bowl XLVIII, one of the world’s most-watched sporting events, Cheerios debuted “Gracie“, a sequel to “Just Checking” where we learn that Gracie will soon have a baby brother. Looks like this series of advertisements is going to be around for a long while yet to come. Stay tuned!

By: February 2014 Guest Blogger – Eddie Nwabuoku
When he isn’t working on his world-changing Android app, tweeting inane yet pithy things, facebooking himself into oblivion, basking in the glow of his latest Drupal site, or speaking about himself in the third person, Eddie is the Director of Technology for the Loving Day Project.


Closely Related Keys – World Premiere Play Opens 2/28/14

Closely Related KeysClosely Related Keys tells the story of a young attorney whose carefully constructed life begins to crumble with the discovery of an Iraqi half sister who has fled Iraq,  arriving unexpectedly in the U.S.  It’s about love and loyalty, secrets and lies, and how the past , never being dead, just hovers around waiting to smack us upside the head.   Join us for this journey about picking up the broken pieces of the past to imperfectly assemble a new family and future.
Tickets now on sale!
Closely Related Keys Lounge Theatre
6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
In Wendy Grafs World Premiere drama, an African-American attorneys carefully constructed life begins to crumble when she is shocked to discover she has an Iraqi half-sister who comes to the U.S. with a questionable agenda. Directed by the award-winning Shirley Jo Finney.
February 28 – March 30, 2014Box Office:
www.plays411.com/relatedkeys — with AJ Meijer andSandy Joseph.


On Mixed Privilege

GCC Spring 2014I’ve been thinking a lot lately about whether there is such a thing as ‘mixed privilege’. Today in my ESL class one of my students said he would let his daughter marry anyone…except for a Black person. I’ve shared with my students many times and in a number of ways that I am proud of being Black (& other things too). I also often use the exploration of ‘race as a social construct’ in order to teach English at the more advanced levels (as this class was). So what made this student feel comfortable enough to say this to me? Is it that I have a privilege that makes him feel like this kind of blatantly discriminatory statement is OK to say to me? A prolonged conversation ensued with historical context and personal anecdotes, but I was too fired up to ask directly why he felt this was OK.

Maybe when our privilege as mixed folks (that is, the times in which a person doesn’t immediately label us by how we appear) is indicated so clearly, we can take advantage of the opportunity. I’m thinking particularly of when we are asked the (in)famous ‘What are you?’ question. The person is implying that WE (unlike others) have the right/opportunity to label ourselves, and they have not yet judged our worth. What if we respond with a question like, ‘What information will you glean from the answer? or ‘What will you be more or less comfortable saying once you (think) you know the answer?’  Or…?

How would you have responded to my student?


United Solo Festival Submissions Open DEADLINE 3/3/14

The 5th annual UNITED SOLO THEATRE FESTIVAL

September 18 – November 23, 2014

Theatre Row

410 West 42nd Street, New York City

 

UNITED SOLO THEATRE FESTIVAL™ is an annual international festival for solo performances held in New York City. Through a variety of one-person shows, the Festival explores and celebrates the uniqueness of the individual. Productions are selected from openly solicited submissions and presented at the highly acclaimed Theatre Row in the heart of the New York City theatre district on 42nd Street. Renowned solo performers as well as new talents bring their works in many categories (e.g. storytelling, puppetry, dance, multimedia, documentary, musical, improv, stand-up, poetry, magic, performance art, drama: tragedy or comedy). The artists benefit from being presented by United Solo, a company made up of artists and producers with vast experience in solo performance. Theatre companies are given the opportunity to reach out to the industry, generate income from ticket sales from up to eight performances at the Festival, and receive media attention through previews, profiles, and reviews. Shows are also considered for participation in the exclusive United Solo showcase in Europe, as well as for script publication and other honors at the Festival. Submissions open early in the calendar year, and selected participants are announced in spring.

Official website: http://unitedsolo.org/us/ufest/


New Film about Roger Ebert: Life Itself

Not only was Roger Ebert one of the most well-known film critics of our time and an outspoken social activist, he was also very open about his interracial relationship. Kartemquin Films (the production company behind the great documentaries Hoop Dreams and The Interrupters) premiered their new documentary about Ebert, Life Itself, at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. We can’t wait to see it!

Here’s a clip of Ebert defending the Asian American filmmakers of Better Luck Tomorrow – showing his intimate understanding of the importance of allowing us to tell our own stories: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSzP9YV3jbc

 


Wanted: Stories About the Asian American Experience

From the CAAM website: The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian American experiences to the broadest audience possible. We do this by funding, producing, distributing and exhibiting works in film, television and digital media.

We encourage you to tell your unique story – and then take advantage of the many resources out there to help get your story distributed to a wider audience. Others will benefit greatly from your truths!



Hafu – Upcoming Screenings

Synopsis from the Hafu website:

With an ever increasing movement of people between places in this transnational age, there is a mounting number of mixed-race people in Japan, some visible others not. “Hafu” is the unfolding journey of discovery into the intricacies of mixed-race Japanese and their multicultural experience in modern day Japan. The film follows the lives of five “hafus”–the Japanese term for people who are half-Japanese–as they explore what it means to be multiracial and multicultural in a nation that once proudly proclaimed itself as the mono-ethnic nation. For some of these hafus Japan is the only home they know, for some living in Japan is an entirely new experience, and others are caught somewhere between two different worlds.

Upcoming Screenings

Please check our screenings page for the latest updates.

January
19~25 Zushi, Kanagawa Cinema Amigo
24 – London Premiere! at Birbeck University

February
8 – Stuttgart, Germany – Deusch-Japanische Gesellschaft Baden-Württenberg
8 – 14 Osaka Premiere! Nanagei Cinema @ 18:45(Playing once a day)
9 – Phoenix, Arizona Japanese Culture Club of Arizona
15 – 21 Osaka Nanagei Cinema @ 20:35(Playing once a day)
22 – Washington D.C., Organized by JETAADC

If you would like the film to be screened in your hometown visit our website  for details or simply email us to info@hafufilm.com