Southeast Asian Women in the Diaspora: Troubling Borders in Literature and Art at UC Riverside

June 30 , 20120-October 7, 2012

Closing Reception and Readings: Saturday, October 6, 6-9 p.m., free admission

Colloquium: Sunday, October 7, 1-3 p.m., free admission

UCR Sweeney Art Gallery presents Troubling Borders: Southeast Asian Women in the Diaspora

Showcasing writings and visual works by women of Cambodian, Laotian, Filipino and
Vietnamese descent, who create art that bear witness to the legacies
of displacement and the hauntings of empire that linger to this day.
The exhibition will feature paintings, drawings, photographs, videos,
and sculptures by seven international, contemporary artists: Anida
Yoeu Ali, Reanne Estrada, Lin+Lam, Ann Phong, Nalyne Lunati, Hong-An
Truong, and Julie Thi Underhill. The writers who will be reading
include Leakhena Leng, Karen Llagas and Julie Thi Underhill.

Forming an incredibly diverse group, these women writers and artists
point to the ruptures caused by colonization, war, globalization, and
militarization. Their stories and artwork are vital and varied, and
together they provide a sharp contrast to normative narratives and
ideologies that have been constructed in the West and the
nation-states of Southeast Asia, particularly in the aftermath of the
Cold War.

This multi-media art exhibition and colloquium also previews the
contents and celebrates the upcoming publication of the first
anthology by and about Southeast Asian women in the diaspora. Four
years in the making, Southeast Asian Women in the Diaspora: Troubling
Borders in Literature and Art is edited by Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, Lan
Duong, Mariam B. Lam and Kathy Nguyen.

By making these works visible to alarge public and pushing the
boundaries of literature and art, the editors highlight the global
connections that draw many disparate groups of women together. The
art exhibit and colloquium form one part of these larger efforts to
promote the works of Southeast Asian women.

Troubling Borders: Southeast Asian Women in the Diaspora is organized
by UCR Sweeney Art Gallery, sponsored by the Chancellor?s Strategic
Investment Funds at UCR, co-sponsored by UCR?s Department of Media
and Cultural Studies, and curated by Lan Duong, associate professor,
Media & Cultural Studies Department, University of California,
Riverside, andIsabelle Thuy Pelaud, associate professor, Asian
American Studies, San Francisco State University.

RELATED EVENTS

Closing Reception and Reading, Saturday, October 6, 6-9 p.m., free admission
Readings by poets and writers from the anthology, Southeast Asian
Women in the Diaspora: Troubling Borders in Literature and Art.
Artists featured in the exhibition will be present. The evening will
also be the closing reception for Michael Shroads: Drag & Logged
Sculptures + Noise Drawings that is featured in the UCR Culver Center
of the Arts? atrium.

Colloquium, Sunday, October 7, 1-3 p.m., free admission

Artists, scholars and writers fromthe anthology will discuss issues
of community, craft and reception. Moderated by Lan Duong, Isabelle
Thuy Pelaud, and Mariam B. Lam.

CONCURRENT EXHIBITIONS

UCR Culver Center of the Arts

Matters of Decay: Paintings by Constance Mallinson
June 9-July 28, 2012
Closing Reception: Sat., July 28, 6-9 p.m., free admission

Michael Shroads: Drag & Logged Sculptures + Noise Drawings
August 11-October 7, 2012
Closing Reception: Sat., Oct. 6, 6-9 p.m. (concurrent with Troubling
Borders closing reception)

UCR California Museum of Photography

Roots Against the Sky: Photographs by David Whitmire Hearst Jr.
Through July 14, 2012

PASOS: Video Installations by Marsia Alexander-Clarke
Through September 22, 2012

i.e. California: Historic Panoramas of the Inland Empire
July 14-September 22, 2012
Opening reception: Sat., July 28, 6-9 p.m., free admission

Matt Lipps: HORIZON/S
July 28-October 27, 2012

Opening reception: Sat., July 28, 6-9 p.m., free admission

VISITOR INFORMATION AND PRESS INQUIRIES

UCR ARTSblock is located at 3824 & 3834 Main St., Riverside, CA
92501, and includes three venues: California Museum of Photography,
Culver Center of the Arts, and Sweeney Art Gallery, which are open
Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m., plus 6-9 p.m. for First
Thursday ArtWalks. Admission is $3, which includes entry to all three
venues, and is free during First Thursday ArtWalks (6-9 p.m.). For
film screenings, Culver Center opens 30 minutes prior to the start
time. See websites for additional information,
http://sweeney.ucr.edu, http://culvercenter.ucr.edu,
http://cmp.ucr.edu.

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