Read more about our Indiegogo Campaign here. Contribute by Friday May 24, 2013.

Watch the extended trailer of the upcoming documentary “Cambodian Son” here:

A Community Concert and Forum on Art + Justice in the Cambodian Diaspora

Featuring: Hip Hop, R&B Music, Spoken Word and Video Screenings
By Bochan, praCh Ly, Anida Yoeu Ali, Kosal Khiev & Studio Revolt

Friday April 26, 2013, 8pm-11pm

Project Reach NYC (in Chinatown)
39 Eldridge St, 4^th Floor

New York, NY 10002
http://m.google.com/u/m/B1GPco
Sliding Scale: $5-$10 donation or pay what you can

More Info here:

Generation Return: Version 1.5 is an evening of spoken word, hip-hop, and video screenings featuring urban voices from Phnom Penh to NYC. The line up includes performances by Bochan Huy, praCh Ly, Anida Yoeu Ali, Kosal Khiev, and video selections by Studio Revolt. This event highlights artistic practice as a means to address issues of collective legacy and contemporary justice. Featured Cambodian American artists are actively engaged in international dialogues and community activism through art. The event title is a reference to the “1.5 Generation”, individuals who either “came of age” under the Khmer Rouge or were born in refugee camps. As products of war and as intergenerational witnesses to genocide, 1.5-generation Cambodian American artists have been on the frontlines of capturing the traumatic past and pushing for international justice.

A Moderated community discussion on justice and the Cambodian American community to follow with Dr. Cathy Schlund-Vials and 1Love Movement

Community Co-sponsors: 1Love movement, 391 Films/KlapYaHandz, Anvaya, Cambodian Town Film Festival, Detention Watch Network, Families for Freedom, Mekong NYC, The Orphanage Productions, Red Scarf Revolution, Tiny Toones

Featured Artist Bios:

Anida Yoeu Ali is an artist whose works span performance, installation, video, poetry, public encounters, and political agitation. She is a first generation Muslim Khmer woman born in Cambodia and raised in Chicago. After residing for over three decades outside of Cambodia, Ali returned to work in Phnom Penh as part of her 2011 U.S. Fulbright Fellowship.  Her pioneering work with the critically acclaimed group “I Was Born With Two Tongues (1998-2003)” is archived with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program. She is a collaborative partner with Studio Revolt, an independent artist run media lab in Phnom Penh, Cambodia where she currently resides.

Bochan Huy has dedicated her life to spearheading and continuing to sow the seeds of the Neo-Cambodian musical breakout movement. By collaborating with adept pianist and producer, Arlen Hart, Bochan effortlessly bridges the East West gap with an inimitable, soulful yet sweet indie-pop vibe. She authentically draws on her dual country upbringing; combining influences from the ultra urban Oakland scene, coupled with her deep rooted Cambodian inspiration and fellowship, to create her infectious new sound.

praCh Ly is an internationally renown, critically acclaim, award winning artist. His debut album is the first #1 rap album in Cambodia. Newsweek proclaim him as “the first Cambodian rap star”. Through masterful lyrics of powerful rap music, his music not only entertains but also educates. He lectures and headlines events in prestigious institutions and Ivy League universities, from the Smithsonian in DC, to the International ‘Freedom to Write’ festival at BROWN to the Scholars at Risk at HARVARD.

Kosal Khiev is an exiled poet, tattoo artist, and survivor of the US prison system. Born in a Thai refugee camp, Kosal’s family fled to the U.S in 1981. Upon release in 2011, the U.S. government deported him to Cambodia, a country he had never been. Since his arrival, he has taken the urban arts scene by storm, using spoken word to uplift his situation with compelling performances at open mics, universities, and public stages. Kosal was selected as the poet to represent Cambodia at the 2012 London Cultural Olympiad. Kosal continues to collaborate as an artist-in-residence with Studio Revolt on projects such as “Verses in Exile” his upcoming webisode series and the documentary “Cambodian Son” about his first year living in exile in Cambodia.

Dr. Cathy J. Schlund-Vials is Associate Professor in English and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut (Storrs).  She is currently the Director for the UConn Asian American Studies Institute and is the author of two monographs:  Modeling Citizenship: Jewish and Asian American Writing (Temple University Press, 2011) and War, Genocide, and Justice:  Cambodian American Memory Work (forthcoming, University of Minnesota Press, 2012). She also has published work in Life Writing, Modern Language Studies, MELUS, positions, and American Literary History. Her research and teaching interests include Asian American literary studies, Southeast Asian American studies, cultural studies, refugee narratives, human rights, and immigrant literature.

The event is presented by the following organizations:

The Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU brings together accomplished scholars, community builders, and artists from New York City and beyond in interactive forums, reflection, and new research. www.apa.nyu.edu

freeDimensional is an international network of art spaces and human rights organizations that provide critical support to culture workers who find themselves in situations of danger as a result of their creative practice. Since 2005, fD has come to the aid of over 150 activists – visual artists, journalists, musicians, performers, writers and community organizers – from more than 35 countries. Based on the belief that creative expression fuels social justice movements, freeDimensional works with the global arts community to identify and redistribute resources, and support meaningful relationships between art spaces and activists.

Studio Revolt is an independent artist run media lab that produces films, videos, installations and performance projects in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The media lab serves as a collaborative space for performance artist Anida Yoeu Ali and filmmaker Masahiro Sugano. Since their arrival in 2011, Studio Revolt has become a prominent presence in the contemporary arts scene of Phnom Penh showcasing their works in public screenings, exhibitions, and public art projects.

Joining us for the community forum to follow the concert are organizers from 1Love:

1Love Movement – Born out of a detention and deportation crisis in the Cambodian American community in Philadelphia in 2010, 1Love Movement now exists a national network of grassroots Asian American organizers that unite our communities through leadership development, policy advocacy and political education. We organize for power in our unjust deportation and prison systems, so our families can live together with dignity. 

From Cambodia to NYC: Art in The Diaspora
Wed April 24 – “Legacy of Now” Panel Discussion & Reception – A/P/A Institute at NYU (NYC)
Fri April 26 – “Generation Return: Version 1.5” – Project Reach (Chinatown)
Sat April 27 – “1975” Art Exhibition – TOPAZ ARTS  (Woodside, NY)

***

Wednesday April 24, 2013, 6pm-9pm
Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, in partnership with Season of Cambodia, an Initiative of Cambodian Living Arts presents

Legacy of Now

A Roundtable Discussion and Reception 

Curated & Moderated by Anida Yoeu Ali
Featuring Amy Lee Sanford, LinDa Saphan, Pete Pin, and Prumsodun Ok

LOCATION:
A/P/A Institute at NYU
8 Washington Mews
New York, NY

Details Here: http://www.apa.nyu.edu/
Please RSVP Here 

Description
In the aftermath of war, over 1 million Cambodian refugees fled with their families to rebuild their lives in other countries. From near artistic annihilation, the cultural arts of Cambodia were valiantly recovered and preserved by Cambodians inside and outside of the country thus leading to a unique contemporary intersection. For twenty-first century Cambodians, art has begun to question and engage the present. Recognizing the critical global and local contributions of Cambodian diaspora artists, this roundtable discussion features an intergenerational group of visual and performing artists to share their experiences and ideas. Panelists will address issues of transnational identities and the ways in which the act of returning “home” functions as an important point of encounter or departure for their artistic practices. Curated and moderated by Anida Yoeu Ali, this panel will feature dancer/choreographer Prumsodun Ok, photographer Pete Pin, conceptual artist Amy Lee Sanford, and visual artist/scholar LinDa Saphan.

***

Friday April 26, 2013, 8pm-11pm
Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, free Dimensional, and Studio Revolt present

Generation Return: Version 1.5

A Community Concert and Forum
on Art + Justice in the Cambodian Diaspora
Featuring: Hip Hop, R&B Music, Spoken Word and Video Screenings

By Bochan, praCh Ly, Anida Yoeu Ali, Kosal Khiev & Studio Revolt

Location:
Project Reach NYC (in Chinatown)
39 Eldridge St, 4^th Floor

New York, NY 10002
http://m.google.com/u/m/B1GPco

Sliding Scale: $5-$10 donation or pay what you can
More Info here: http://studio-revolt.com/?p=1090
or  here: http://www.nyu-apastudies.org/2012/event/generation-return-version-1-5/

Generation Return: Version 1.5 is an evening of spoken word, hip-hop, and video screenings featuring urban voices from Phnom Penh to NYC. The line up includes performances by Bochan Huy, praCh Ly, Anida Yoeu Ali, Kosal Khiev, and video selections by Studio Revolt. This event highlights artistic practice as a means to address issues of collective legacy and contemporary justice. Featured Cambodian American artists are actively engaged in international dialogues and community activism through art. The event title is a reference to the “1.5 Generation”, individuals who either “came of age” under the Khmer Rouge or were born in refugee camps. As products of war and as intergenerational witnesses to genocide, 1.5-generation Cambodian American artists have been on the frontlines of capturing the traumatic past and pushing for international justice.

A Moderated community discussion on justice and the Cambodian American community to follow with Dr. Cathy Schlund-Vials and 1Love Movement

Community Co-sponsors: 1Love movement, 391 Films/KlapYaHandz, Anvaya, Cambodian Town Film Festival, Detention Watch Network, Families for Freedom, Mekong NYC, The Orphanage Productions, Red Scarf Revolution, Tiny Toones

***

1975

Art Exhibition of Cambodian Diasporic Women
Curated by Chương-Đài Võ,
Featuring Works by Anida Yoeu Ali, Amy Lee Sanford, & LinDa Saphan,

Saturday April 27, 2013, 6pm-8pm

TOPAZ ARTS
55-03 39th Avenue

Woodside, NY 11377
Event Title: 1975

Opening reception: April 27, 2013, 6pm-8pm
Exhibition Dates: April 27-May 26, 2013, by appointment & Saturday Noon-4pm
Location: Topaz Arts, 55-03 39th Avenue, Woodside, NY 11377

1975 is an exhibition curated by Chương-Đài Võ, featuring works by Anida Yoeu Ali, Amy Lee Sanford, and LinDa Saphan. Ali’s photographs and video installation recall life in a refugee camp following the fall of the Khmer Rouge; Sanford’s video and photographs share a difficult history, the turmoil of the late 1960s and 1970s, as told in letters written by a father she never knew; and Saphan’s drawings of current-day Phnom Penh take us back to her mother’s memories of living there. This exhibition is presented by TOPAZ ARTS, Inc., with funds from NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs, Puffin Foundation, and numerous individual donors.

Details Here: http://www.topazarts.org/visual-arts/

1975

Anida Yoeu Ali | Amy Lee Sanford | LinDa Saphan
Curated by Chuong-Dai Vo
On view April 27 to May 26, 2013
Opening reception: Sat, April 27, 2013, 6-8pm
Viewing hours are Saturdays 12–4pm or by request at info[at]topazarts[dot]or
Location: TOPAZ ARTS, 55-03 39th Avenue, Woodside, NY 11377

This group exhibition brings together three diasporic Cambodian women artists whose works exemplify the dynamic contemporary art scene in Phnom Penh: Anida Yoeu Ali’s photographs and video installation recall life in a refugee camp following the fall of the Khmer Rouge; Amy Lee Sanford’s video and photographs share with viewers the process of uncovering a difficult history, the turmoil of the late 1960s and 1970s, as told in letters written by a father she never knew; and LinDa Saphan’s drawings of apartment buildings and architectural monuments in current-day Phnom Penh take us back to her mother’s memories of living there.

We are currently fundraising to help support costs for this upcoming exhibition. Please consider contributing to our  Kickstarter Campaign which ends on April 17, 2013

FOR DETAILS PLEASE EMAIL US HERE  info[at]studio-revolt[dot]com

“Generation Return: Art + Justice” 2013 TOUR SCHEDULE
Featuring the works of Anida Yoeu Ali & her collaboration with Studio Revolt

Event Title:  Generation Return: Art + Justice Post-Genocide & Post-9/11

Duration:  1.5 – 2 hours total (ranges based on school/community needs):
+ 60-75 min performance/screening,
+ 30-45 min Q&A discussion with the artist

Date/Venue:  April 2- April 26, 2013/USA & North America

April 3 – Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)
April 4 – University of Minnesota (Twin Cities, MN)
April 6 – Oberlin College (Oberlin, OH)
April 8 – Stevenson High School (Lincolnshire, IL)
April 9 – School of the Art Institute (Chicago, IL)
April 9 – Columbia College (Chicago, IL)
April 10 – University of IL (Chicago, IL)
April 11 – Claremont Colleges -Pitzer (Claremont,CA)
April 13 – ArtXchange  (Long Beach, CA)
April 16 – University of Washington (Seattle, WA)
April 18 – University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada)
April 19 – Emily Carr University (Vancouver, Canada)
April 24 – New York University (NYC, NY)
April 26 – Project Reach Chinatown (NYC, NY)
April 27 – TOPAZ Arts  (Queens, NY)

**
TOUR DETAILS
15 appearances / 11 cities / 2 countries…and traveling all the way from Phnom Penh Cambodia to make this happen…Anida’s tour dates and events are as follows:

Wednesday, April 3, 2013
East Lansing, MI 

3rd Annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month “Kick-Off”
Presents “What Empowers You?”
Featuring: Anida Yoeu Ali

Michigan State University
MSU Location: Wonders, Kiva
Time: 6:00 - 8:00pm
FREE & Open to the public

***The evening will end with the traditional launching of sky lanterns!

Sponsored by: The Office of Cultural & Academic Transitions/OCAT, Asian Pacific American Student Organization/APASO, Asian Pacific American Studies Program, and Residential and Hospitality Services/RHS.
Website & details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/450516671694220/?notif_t=plan_admin_added

***

Thursday, April 4, 2013
Twin Cities, MN

KHMER’S NEXT GENERATION presents:
Generation Return: Art + Justice Post-Genocide and Post-9/11

University of Minnesota (Eastbank) 
Smith Hall 100

Time: 4-9 PM

Please join us as we present and discuss our works and ideas about contemporary justice and its residual effects on the Cambodian American experience. There will also be spoken word performances and film screenings!

Featuring the works of:
Anida Yoeu Ali & her collaboration with Studio Revolt
Chayster Douangphouxay
Elijah Chhum
Phira Rehm

Special thanks to Emily & Kat Eng and our co-sponsors: Smiley, TN and CSAM (Cambodian Student Association of Minnesota)
Website & details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/341817732603069/?fref=ts

***

Saturday, April 6, 2013
Oberlin, OH

Oberlin College
Wilder Hall
135 W Lorain Street
Oberlin, OH

Event: Asia America Art (AAArt) Collective
Time: 3-4pm performance & 4:30-6pm workshop
Free/ Open to the Public
Website & details here: bit.ly/AAArt
Contact: Peter Nguyen pnguyen@oberlin.edu

***

Monday, April 8, 2013
Lincolnshire, IL

Adlai E. Stevenson High School
1 Stevenson Drive
Lincolnshire, IL
7pm

Studio Theater
Free and open to the public
Contact: Cristal Sabbagh

**

Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Chicago, IL

Classroom Visit: 1-3pm School of the Art Institute
Performance: Columbia College Chicago

Columbia College Chicago
HAUS at the Quincy Wong Center for Artistic Expression
623 S. Wabash, 1st floor
Chicago, IL 60605­
6:30-8:30pm

Co-sponsor: This Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: Chicago Roots event is brought to you by Asian American Cultural Affairs at Columbia College Chicago and co-sponsored by Columbia College Chicago’s Asian Student Organization, One Tribe, International Student Affairs, and Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media; and UIC Asian American Resource and Cultural Center, UIC Asian American Studies Program, UIC Asian Studies Program, and UIC International Studies Program (sponsor list information).

No ticket required. Free entrance. Open to the public.
Website & details here: http://events.colum.edu/event/asian_pacific_american_heritage_month_anida_yoeu_ali#.UVLonJM13Qo

**

Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Chicago, IL

Classroom Guest Lectures at University of Illinois at Chicago
And Lunch at Asian American Resource & Cultural Center

**

Thursday April 11, 2013
Claremont, CA

Claremont Colleges- Scripps Campus
Balch Auditorium Scripps College
7-9pm
FREE!

Co-sponsors: SCORE, CAPAS (Pitzer), Asian American Resource Center (Pomona), Adboard, APAM and more.

http://www.idaas.org

Contact: Erin O’brien geobomb@gmail.com

**

Saturday, April 13, 2013
Long Beach, CA 

Art Exchange

http://www.artexchangelb.org
356 East 3rd Street
Long Beach, CA 90802
Time: 5PM – 9PM*

*event coincides with the annual Long Beach artwalk
Fee: Suggested donation at the door or Pay What You Can

Event Details:
Catalyst Network of Communities will host artist, writer and global agitator Anida Yoeu Ali in her public performance entitled “Generation Return: Art & Justice Post-Genocide and Post-9/11” during the 2nd Saturday Artwalk of Long Beach, CA.

Opening acts include traditional dancers from Khmer Arts Academy and TLC dance troupe who will offer a blessing for the Khmer/Thai/Lao New Year.

Special spoken word opening by Hatefas Yop.
Live art by Ritchie Kong, Stuter, and more TBA
Music provided by DJ South

Partnering Organizations Include:
Catalyst Network of Communities: helping people and groups to connect, collaborate, and share resources. http://www.gocatalyst.org/
The ArtX: The ArtExchange supports working artists and arts education through the development of a world-class visual arts center reflecting the rich cultural heritage of our community.
Khmer Arts Academy: offers young members of the Greater Long Beach Cambodian community and other an opportunity to achieve a high level of excellence through year-round classical dance training.http://www.khmerarts.org/
KTL Dance Troupe from Wat Vipassana
Khmer Girls in Action: empowering young Southeast Asian women to become relevant social justice organizers who can respond to the immediate needs of their communities. http://www.kgalb.org/
One Love Movement (Long Beach and San Diego Chapter): A national network of grassroots Asian American organizers that unites communities to organize for power, so families can protect their human rights and live together with dignity.
Cambodian Town Film Festival: The purpose of the Cambodia Town Film Festival (CTTF) is to highlight the diversity of the Cambodian experience through the art of filmmaking. http://www.cambodiatownfilmfestival.com/
Tiyya Foundation: providing basic necessities for refugees and displaced Americans

If you or your organization are interested in being involved, please contact June at jumakae@gmail.com
Website & details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/137641829740706/?fref=ts

***

Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Seattle, WA

University of Washington-Seattle
Location: Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center, Unity Rooms 104,
3931 Brooklyn Avenue NE
Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm

Sponsored by the Southeast Asia Center at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies
For further info contact seac@uw.edu
Website & details here: http://jsis.washington.edu/seac/events.shtml

***

April 17 – 20, 2013
Vancouver, BC (Canada)
Three Scheduled Vancouver events — all are free and open to the public; two are held at UBC and 1 at Emily Carr

Thursday, April 18th, 2013
12:30-2:00pm
“Meet the artist” lunch at the Liu Institute for Global Issues, University of British Columbia
Please RSVP (for this event only) here, so that we can ensure we have enough space and food.

Details here: http://www.ligi.ubc.ca/?p2=modules/liu/events/view.jsp&id=1173

Thursday, April 18th, 2013
5:00-6:30pm
Performance at the Royal Bank Cinema
at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts

University of British Columbia
Reception to Follow.

http://www.ligi.ubc.ca/?p2=modules/liu/events/view.jsp&id=1174

Friday, April 19th, 2013 — 7:00-9:00pm
Performance at Emily Carr University.
Reception to Follow.

Anida Yoeu Ali is actively engaged in international dialogues, community activism, and artistic resistance to multiple sites of oppression. She upholds the belief that art is a critical tool for individual and societal transformation. Ali, born in Cambodia and raised nearly all her life in Chicago, returned to live in Cambodia in 2011 after nearly 3 decades away. She is part of a returning diaspora of artists and thinkers creating narratives of Cambodia beyond war and poverty. Through performance and video works, she will present a body of work which provocatively considers the diasporic past/present contours of the Cambodian American experience.

For more information on these events, visit: www.ligi.ubc.ca/events/upcoming.htm.

Hosted in partnership with the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, and 
UBC’s Departments of Visual Arts and Theory, Social Work, Theatre and Film, Political Science, Anthropology, and the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice.

***

April 21-27, 2013
New York, NY

I will be in NYC for 1 week for Diaspora festivities programmed for and in relation to “Season of Cambodia”

Events include:
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
“Legacy of Now” Panel discussion
Curated & Moderated by Anida Yoeu Ali
Featuring Amy Lee Sanford, LinDa Saphan, Pete Pin, and Prumsodun Ok

Location:
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
COST: FREE

To attend this discussion and reception Please RSVP by Monday April, 22, 2013 at www.apa.nyu.edu/events or 212.992.9653.

Website & details here:http://seasonofcambodia.org/event/legacy-of-now/

Friday, April 26, 2013
Generation Return: Version 1.5
Time: 8pm-11pm
Sliding Scale: $5-$10 donation or pay what you can

Location: Project Reach Chinatown, 4^th Floor
39 Eldridge St, New York, NY 10002
http://m.google.com/u/m/B1GPco

Generation Return: Version 1.5 is an evening of spoken word, hip-hop, and video screenings featuring urban voices from Phnom Penh to NYC. The line up includes performances by Bochan Huy, praCh Ly, Anida Yoeu Ali, Kosal Khiev, and video selections by Studio Revolt. Featured artists are actively engaged in international dialogues and community activism through art. As products of war and as intergenerational witnesses to genocide, 1.5-generation Cambodian American artists have been on the frontlines of capturing the traumatic past and pushing for international justice.

Conceived as both a community concert and forum, a moderated discussion on justice and the Cambodian American community to follow with Dr. Cathy Schlund-vials and OneLove Movement

Saturday, April 27, 2013
1975 – Exhibition Opening & Performances
Location: Topaz Arts, 55-03 39th Avenue, Queens, NY 11377

6pm-8pm
Exhibition Dates: April 27-May 26, 2013, by appointment & Saturday Noon-4pm

 1975 is an exhibition curated by Chuong-Dai Vo, featuring works by Anida Yoeu Ali, Amy Lee Sanford, and LinDa Saphan. Ali’s photographs and video installation recall life in a refugee camp following the fall of the Khmer Rouge; Sanford’s video and photographs share a difficult history, the turmoil of the late 1960s and 1970s, as told in letters written by a father she never knew; and Saphan’s drawings of current-day Phnom Penh take us back to her mother’s memories of living there. This exhibition is presented by TOPAZ ARTS, Inc., with funds from NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs.

Website & details here: http://www.topazarts.org/2013/03/topaz-arts-presents-3-cambodian-women-artists/

**

MORE ABOUT THE TOUR
Artist, Writer and Global Agitator Anida Yoeu Ali is embarking on her “Art & Justice Tour” from April 3 – May 6, 2013 in the US and North America. Entitled “Generation Return: Art & Justice Post-Genocide and Post-9/11” Ms. Ali will present and discuss her works and ideas about contemporary justice and its residual effects on the Cambodian American experience.

Anida Yoeu Ali is actively engaged in international dialogues, community activism, and artistic resistance to multiple sites of oppression. She upholds the belief that art is a critical tool for individual and societal transformation. Ms. Ali, born in Cambodia and raised nearly all her life in Chicago, returned to live in Cambodia in 2011 after nearly 3 decades away. She is part of a returning diaspora of artists and thinkers creating narratives of Cambodia beyond war and poverty. Through performance and video works, she will present a body of work which provocatively considers the diasporic past/present contours of the Cambodian American experience.

The artistic portion of the event is imagined to be a multimedia event featuring performances and video screenings by Ms. Ali. The video works include her collaborative media lab, Studio Revolt, and their cinematic works with the Khmer Exiled American community (who constitute the deported diaspora).

Questions provoked through her work include the following:How is art a catalyst for a larger discussion about collective legacy and contemporary justice amongst 1.5-generation Cambodian American communities? What does it mean to be born in Cambodia during a time of catastrophic war and raised in the United States in the aftermath of genocide? What are the central stakes involved for this same generation to return to their “homeland”, both by choice and by force? How is the identity of the twenty-first century Cambodian American being shaped by hip hop, the ongoing “War on Terror,” and ongoing legacies of forced displacement and violence?

More on the Issues presented by Anida Yoeu Ali & Studio Revolt
In the three years, eight months, and twenty days of the Khmer Rouge’s deadly reign over Cambodia, an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians perished as a result of forced labor, execution, starvation, and disease. Despite the passage of more than thirty years, two regime shifts, and a contested U.N. intervention, only one former Khmer Rouge official has been successfully tried and sentenced for crimes against humanity in an international court of law to date.

The United States has emerged as a significant site for the Cambodian diaspora, and is currently home to an estimated 280,000 Cambodian Americans, many of whom are members of the so-known “1.5 Generation.” Comprised of individuals who either “came of age” under the Khmer Rouge or were born in refugee camps, this transnational generation occupies a precarious position. As products of war and as intergenerational witnesses to genocide, 1.5-generation Cambodian American artists have been at the forefront of capturing the traumatic past and pushing for international justice. At the same time, as bodies targeted by the current “War on Terror,” manifest in forced exile via post-9/11 deportation, Cambodian Americans remain a troublingly vulnerable and problematically racialized population. Nearly 400 Cambodian “Americans” have been deported, and another 1600 are slated for deportation.

These contested frames – which bring together “over there” histories and “over here” politics –  foreground the “Generation Return” tour of Anida Yoeu Ali’s work which provocatively considers the diasporic past/present contours of the Cambodian American experience.

(Above Contextualizing Text written by Dr. Cathy Schlund-Vials and Anida Yoeu Ali)

**

Anida Yoeu Ali (b.1974, Battambang)

Anida Yoeu Ali is an artist whose works span performance, installation, video, poetry, public encounters, and political agitation. She is a first generation Muslim Khmer woman born in Cambodia and raised in Chicago. After residing for over three decades outside of Cambodia, Ali returned to work in Phnom Penh as part of her 2011 U.S. Fulbright Fellowship. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to artmaking, her installation and performance works investigate the artistic, spiritual and political collisions of a hybrid transnational identity. From the Faroe Islands to the Bronx, Copenhagen to Ho Chi Minh City, she lectures, exhibits and performs internationally. pioneering work with the critically acclaimed group I Was Born With Two Tongues (1998-2003) is archived with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program. Her artistic work has been the recipient of grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, the National Endowment of the Arts and the Illinois Arts Council. Anida earned her B.F.A. from University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) and an M.F.A. in from School of the Art Institute Chicago. She is a collaborative partner with Studio Revolt, an independent artist run media lab in Phnom Penh, Cambodia where she currently resides.  Studio Revolt’s short film about Cambodian American deportation, My Asian Americana (2011), won the public vote for the White House What’s Your Story Video Challenge but was dismissed by contest organizers. Anida continues to make art and raise her family in Phnom Penh, a city once home to her father. Website

**

Studio Revolt  (Chicago/Phnom Penh/Osaka)

Studio Revolt is an independent artist run media lab that produces films, videos, installations and performance projects in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The media lab serves as a collaborative space for both performance artist Anida Yoeu Ali and filmmaker Masahiro Sugano. Through his films, Sugano reconsiders cultural and political norms that have constricted our imagination and dulled our senses.  Ali performs unapologetic poems and declarations of the self beyond fixed identities and borders. Together their works open up possibilities for people to exist outside of conventional narratives. Studio Revolt takes it a step further by urging viewers to become participants and stake their claim in this world.

Since their arrival in 2011, Studio Revolt has become a prominent presence in the contemporary arts scene of Phnom Penh showcasing their works in public screenings, exhibitions, and public art projects. The studio selected exiled poet Kosal Khiev as their first artist-in-residence in 2011 with the hopes of garnering international attention on his story through their collaborative media projects. In 2012, “Why I Write” featuring the spoken word performance of Kosal Khiev was awarded “Best Poem Performance on Film” at the Berlin Zebra Poetry Film Festival.

Studio Revolt’s first collaboration, “1700% Project: Mistaken For Muslim (2010),” a film about hate crimes against Muslims after 9/11, was the grand prize recipient for LinkTV’s One Chicago One Nation online film competition. The following year their short film “My Asian Americana (2011)” addressing the issue of Cambodian American deportations won the popular public vote in a White House competition but failed to be rewarded as promised by contest organizers. Studio Revolt is the 2012 inaugural artist-in-residence at Teo + Namfah Gallery in Phnom Penh. The studio is currently working on a feature length documentary film, launching a web series on the issue of deportations, traveling to and staging a performance at the former site of Kao-I-Dang refugee camp, and collaborating on a new short film about classical Cambodian dance with Khmer Arts.

Relevant Links to Anida Yoeu Ali’s work:

“1700% Project” (multi-disciplinary project on hate crimes against Muslims post-9/11): http://1700percentproject.wordpress.com/

“1700% Project: Mistaken for Muslim” spoken word video: http://vimeo.com/11380785#at=0

“Living Memory/Living Absence” one-woman spoken word theater performance: http://vimeo.com/6913974

“My Asian Americana” – Video entered to White House Contest about Deportations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YQxtfCz4B1o

“Return to Sender” – Video response to White House Contest dismissal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bc9oWFvUQs

Champions of Change, too (a public performance + response to the White House): http://studio-revolt.com/?p=764

“Who’s Got Us” feminist spoken word video http://vimeo.com/34972858#at=0

Studio Revolt’s Trailer for “Cambodian Son” (not yet completed but in process)

We will create a trailer for “Cambodian Son” our current documentary project about poet Kosal Khiev’s first year free from US incarceration but deported to Cambodia and left to fend for himself with no documents and having never been to Cambodia before.

“The Space Between Inside/Outside” solo exhibition catalog 2012-2013:

http://javaarts.org/javaarts-is-proud-to-announce-the-electronic-publication-of-the-catalogue-for-its-inaugural-artist-in-residence-program-with-artist-anida-yoeu-ali/

“The Buddhist Bug Project” – performance project:

http://lejournaldelaphotographie.com/entries/9015/singapore-international-photography-festival

Relevant Press Links/Reviews:

LA Times (04/23/12) “Filmmakers ‘appalled’ by process in White House video contest”

Colorlines (04/11/12) “Deportation Video Wins White House Contest, But Disappears”

Phnom Penh Post (11/09/12) “Phnom Penh disconnect: A refugee’s poetic journey”

(Booking details available upon request)

In collaboration with Khmer Arts, Studio Revolt is proud to release our latest film “Neang Neak (Serpent Goddess).”  For a limited time only, we are releasing the film, which made its recent debut at the Cambodian International Film Festival, to the wider public.  Please watch the film, enjoy, and pass the link along to others. The film will only be up for online viewing from Dec 25 – Jan 25, 2013.

FOR OPTIMAL VIEWING please view on Vimeo and click on “HD” found on the bottom right corner.

Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/56099363
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOARhKk7ZAA

FOR OPTIMAL YOUTUBE VIEWING please change the quality setting to screen at 720 HD (simply press the cog “gear” button on the lower right corner to “720 HD” — it’s the first icon button from the left)

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Neang Neak (Serpent Goddess)
2012 / HD Video / 3 min 50 sec / Dance

Director: Masahiro Sugano
Choreographer: Sophiline Cheam Shapiro
Dancer: Keo Kuntearom

In choreographer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro’s Cambodian classical dance “Neang Neak”, a serpent goddess arrives on earth to live among humans. Director Masahiro Sugano’s experimental film opens a new window onto this modern day metaphor for displacement and the journey to self-discovery by juxtaposing contemporary and ancient storytelling techniques. With a title role performance by Keo Kuntearom, this collaboration between dance makers Khmer Arts and media makers Studio Revolt reflects Cambodian culture’s ever-evolving relationship between tradition and the new and demonstrates how highly stylized, culturally specific art can be universally relevant.

For more details on the film, please visit our website.

“The state of Palestine is the worst public relations disaster I’ve ever seen. They are the only people I know whose innocent ones get killed regularly by a military might and we seem strongly discouraged from feeling any sympathy for them. Palestinian kids are the original “collateral damages”. Hadeel is a poem that reminds us of who they are.” — Masahiro Sugano, Filmmaker / Studio Revolt

Hadeel is named for a young girl whose family died in an Israeli air strike in Gaza. This spoken word video features the powerful storytelling skills of poet Rafeef Ziadah, a third-generation Palestinian refugee, artist, and activist. Her poetry exposes the world’s normalization of Palestinian suffering by telling ordinary stories of resistance and a refusal by people who will not accept anything less than justice, freedom, and equality. Filmed as a live performance in London, filmmaker Masahiro Sugano masterfully plays with minimalist imagery, adding another layer of beauty and cinematic magic to the art of spoken word poetry.

Written and Performed by Rafeef Ziadah
Filmed, Edited and Animated by Masahiro Sugano

Performance from Poetry Parnassus 2012, Southbank Centre, London

This is the prologue for this performance:

About Rafeef Ziadah

“We are encouraged to think that poetry shouldn’t make sense and shouldn’t move people to action, it’s simply self-expression for the sake of art itself. Not to say that artists shouldn’t be true to themselves, but when I’m on stage I am not providing a product for consumption, rather a story and a way to connect that story to the audience. It’s finding that balance between what’s inside you and what message you want to put out and putting it in a way people can relate to and understand.” — Rafeef Ziadah (Women’s Views on News interview May 14, 2012)

Rafeef Ziadah is a Palestinian spoken-word artist and activist. She received an Ontario Arts Council Grant from the ‘Word of Mouth’ program to create her debut album Hadeel. Rafeef started performing poetry in Toronto in 2004 with the spoken word collective Pueblo Unido and is the winner of the 2007 Mayworks Festival Poetry Face-Off. Rafeef’s poetry speaks to the struggle of immigrants to “make it to/in Canada” and the politics of exile. Being Palestinian she reflects on the realities of her homeland today, to which is not allowed to return.

Rafeef’s debut album Hadeel is dedicated to Palestinian youth, who still fly kites in the face of F16 bombers, who still remember the names of their villages in Palestine and still hear the sound of Hadeel over Gaza. For more information, visit: www.rafeefziadah.ca

***LIMITED ONLINE PREVIEW SCREENING FROM DEC 25, 2012 – JAN 25, 2013***

FOR OPTIMAL VIEWING please view on Vimeo and click on “HD” found on the bottom right corner.

Video can also be viewed on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOARhKk7ZAA
(FOR OPTIMAL YOUTUBE VIEWING please change quality setting to screen at 720 HD (simply press the cog “gear” button on the lower right corner to “720 HD” — it’s the first icon button from the left)

In choreographer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro’s Cambodian classical dance Neang Neak, a serpent goddess arrives on earth to live among humans.  Director Masahiro Sugano’s experimental film opens a new window onto this modern day metaphor for displacement and the journey to self-discovery by juxtaposing contemporary and ancient storytelling techniques.  With a title role performance by Keo Kuntearom, this collaboration between dance makers Khmer Arts and media makers Studio Revolt reflects Cambodian culture’s ever-evolving relationship between tradition and the new and demonstrates how highly stylized, culturally specific art can be universally relevant.

a Khmer Arts + Studio Revolt production
Based on ”Seasons of Migration” a dance by Sophiline Cheam Shapiro

Producers: Anida Yoeu Ali & John Shapiro
Director, Cinematographer & Editor: Masahiro Sugano
Choreographer: Sophiline Cheam Shapiro
Dancer: Keo Kuntearom
Stadium Walkers: Chum Chanveasna, Nil Sinoeun, Sok Sokhan, Sorn Udom, Sot Sovanndy
Art Director: Anida Yoeu Ali
Music Arrangement & Lyrics:  Sophiline Cheam Shapiro
Music Performance: Khmer Arts Ensemble
Neang Neak’s Costume Design: Sophiline Cheam Shapiro
Dresser: Khut Sothavy
SFX: Masahiro Sugano
Lighting Tech: Krouch Ran
Production Assistants: Phyrak Khun, Som Thea, Tho Vath, Yean Reaksmey
Special thanks: Choun Sarin, Ros Chinda, Ros Sokun

Copyright © 2012 / Studio Revolt LLC and Khmer Arts Academy / All rights reserved.

Who’s Got Us when we fall? Who will be there to catch us when the sky becomes too heavy to hold up? What does it mean for women to fall, to fail, to break down? What constitutes her slippage in both the literal and figurative sense? Part anthem, part litany and part rhetorical, this spoken word video calls attention to the strength of women and the necessity to build alternative support systems in the face of great hostility and oppression. This poem makes clear that a woman’s survival is an act of resistance and resilience.

Producer & Writer: Anida Yoeu Ali
Director, D.P. and Editor: Masahiro Sugano
Spoken Word Performers: Anida Yoeu Ali, Amina Demir, & YaliniDream
Women in the City: Abra Johnson, Mouzam Makkar, & Mia Park
Assistant Producer: YaliniDream
Musicians: Chesney Snow (Beatbox) & Varuni Tiruchelvam (Cello)
Music Arrangement: Silong Chhun
Music Theme: Masahiro Sugano
Second Camera: Sanghoon Lee
Production Assistants: Emily Rohman & Rominna Villaseñor