finals week is full of non-stop inspiring displays of visual art, music, video, animation, drama and dance. The creative output never ceases to inspire me. Art school is amazing, and while there may be many detractors or skeptics, i think the fertile creative environment that is a hallmark of Art school is something worth being a part of and contributing to, especially if you are serious about your artform...and especially if you are Asian American. More of us need to nurture our creative talents, and think about making a professional commitment to taking our creative visions farther. While I think there is a growing acceptance in our communities for supporting our burgeoning artists, I know it could be better. For all you music/art/film spectators…have you supported your favorite rising Asian American Artist lately?

The Roy O Disney Hall at CalArts

I am pleased to say that i see a lot of Asian American kids at CalArts across all disciplines. Our numbers are growing. Animation is huge at CalArts (Pixar recruits most of their animators from here), and there is a growing number of students who come from India, Taiwan, Korea, China, and Japan. Last year's character animation Producer's Show, which features the 25 best student animations, featured about 5 anime and Asian themed piece crafted by Asian American students. The same goes for other departments, where i see more Asian Americans pursuing careers in acting, theater, dance and music. I worked closely with Jihyun Song, an MFA Experimental Animator, last year to score a dance and visual piece and this year I got to work with my good friend and brilliant composer Qasim Naqvi to score a hand drawn animated short. The piece featured all classical north Indian music, a major first for animation at CalArts.

Coming from an undergraduate science program at UNC-Chapel Hill, where I was surrounded by Asians in all the professional disciplines (law, engineering, medicine, and science), I must say that it is refreshing to see so many brilliant Asians producing incredible creative work. Let’s face it, Asian American artists are dope.

I sit on the CalArts Diversity committee, and this week, I learned about an incredible project being produced by Hein S. Seok, a recent Fulbright Award winner who is leaving for North Korea next semester to document the testimonies of former Korean comfort women for the Japanese military during WWII. She plans to interview Koon-Ja Kim, an 81 year old survivor who was drafted by the Japenese army at age 17 to serve as as sex slave for Japanese troops stationed in China. For three years she endured unbelievable torture, and one day it all ended...suddenly, after the atomic bomb detonated in Hiroshima, she was free to go. Her story only intensifies, as she endured a harrowing 1 month journey home to Korea, and rejection by the community when she arrived in Korea. It is estimated that over 200,000 Koreans were abducted by the Japanese military.Hein is going to Korea to talk with more survivors, and to produce a multimedia to share their stories in a multi dimensional work which will eventually be shown in LA and across the country.

Nayoman Wenten, Master Balinese musician and dancer, teaching Gamelan and drumming at CalArts

This project deserves our support, if you are interested in supporting her project, feel free to contact Hein S. Seok at hseok@alum.calarts.edu

Ill be reaching out to more amazing Asian American artists in the coming months…please send me links to any amazing ones that you think need to be highlighted!

Robin Sukhadia
Mr. Hyphen 2006/2007