culturalboundaries

Rick Griffith, Design Director & Principle at Matter is organizing, curating, and presenting: Pressed: An Exhibition of Letterpress Printed Ephemera along with few other forms of typographic mischief throughout Denver May 28th through July 4th.

On Friday the 28th of May Untitled #29: TYPO kicks off the weekend with Printing demonstrations, Spoken word, and various sorts of Typographic mischief that are sure to tickle senses throughout the night. The show opens at 7pm and runs until 10pm.

The following day the ABOUT FACE Symposia will be set into motion with two type related film screenings: Typeface, by Justine Nagan & Jack Stauffacher, and Printer by Jim Faris. The screenings will be followed by a Panel discussion lead by Nick Sherman of FontBureau & Woodtyper, Jim Sherraden & Brad Vetter of Hatch ShowPrint, Rick Griffith of MATTER and Tom Parson of Now it’s up to you publications.

Closing out the weekend on Sunday May 30th Pressed: An Exhibition of Letterpress Printed Ephemera will open to the public. The show will feature work from the Hamilton 10th Anniversary show, Hatch Showprint, and Works produced at the TypeLab/Rob Roy Kelly American Wood Type Collection.

As part of an ongoing series sponsored by NY chapter of the AIGA, Pablo Medina recently presented student work from his Experimental Type Design class at Parson School of Design where he has taught for more than ten years. The project titled, “How Can Type Help Haiti,” was presented at Museum of Art and Design in NYC. Medina’s students showed six projects to an audience of design and industry professionals, at the end of the presentation the audience voted for the best of the six groups. “A Small book for Heros, was voted the most effective project. Now, Medina’s  next step is to get this project in front of  UNICEF in hopes to get it produced. One big suggestion from the audience was for Pablo to identify other non-profit foundations to get the other five projects produced.

As reported on Black Design News:

Call to Action: Students respond Graphically to the Haiti Earthquake

by Steve Jones

We were all shocked and saddened to bear witness to the devastating earthquake that rocked Haiti January 12, 2010. After seeing the aftermath, I knew, as a designer and instructor, I had to respond.

I always regretted not doing a project with my students in response to the U.S. invasion in Iraq. I knew after the Haiti quake, I couldn’t stand by on the sidelines—the event demanded a graphic response. Upon returning from my Winter Break, I assigned the students in my Typography class (San Francisco State University), the task of designing a response to illustrate the aftermath of the earthquake.

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KianLam Kho

Chinese New Years Banquet

While traveling through China I noticed how eager everyone was to prepare for the Chinese New Year holiday celebration. It seemed like everywhere I went, red and golden trinkets were sold in outdoor street markets, major department stores and even supermarkets. It’s obvious that these decorations will quickly erase any remnants of Christmas. Besides celebrating at my Daotist center, I usually gather, with friends and family for a traditional Chinese Banquet in Chinatown.

All of this has changed in recent years, thanks to my friend Kian Lam Kho. He loves to cook and his food is far superior to that of any place’s I’ve eaten in Chinatown in New York City. Instead of having his friends flying off to China, Kian invites a select group of his foodie friends, chefs, and restaurant folks to share a tasty meal in the intimate setting of his home.

Kian is from Singapore, he grew-up eating what he defines as authentic Chinese home cooking, with bold flavors that might be considered too harsh for the American palate. Hanging out with these foodies allows me an entry into the world of “tasting” at some of New York City’s major new restaurants. (I’m always fascinated by the way chefs and restaurant professionals easily critique a dish, the restaurant decor, the service, wine list and more, in one setting.) But this time we’re eating at the home of one the best Chinese Chef’s in New York City.

Redcook/KianLam

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BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) — The first thing Qiwen did when she woke up Sunday on the first morning of the Year of Tiger was to run towards the windows. As she found trees and houses standing tall, safe and sound, the four-year-old cracked a smile.

In her first outdoor venture on a Chinese New Year Eve at Saturday night, the little girl huddled up against her mother in attempt to cushion earsplitting firecrackers while taking safe peeks at the lightened up sky.

THE CHINESE Year of the Tiger begins on Feb 14, 2010 and will end on 2 February 2011. The Tiger is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The year of the tiger is believed to bring with it mythical heroic powers.

Chinese New Years Lion Dance

This is 4707, the year of the tiger, if you celebrate Chinese New Years. My Tai Chi teacher, Sat Hon whom I’ve practiced with over the past 10 years at the Daotist Center in Manhattan calls this holiday the Asian New Year. His reasoning is that every Asian cultural has some form of celebration to usher in the year.

I love celebrating festive occasions that have a celebratory feeling, so for me Chinese New Years is one of those joyous moments. Sat Hon’s students gather for a communal festive celebration, with music, Chinese poetry, meditation, eating and a performance of the lion dance. Suited up, his two daughters and one male student performs a gyrating dance with a figurative style Chinese lion head costume. The long sinuous body looks like a giant caterpillar its curving body snakes above the floor.  The lion costumes head, bobs up and down, or suddenly twists from side to side its eyes fluttering in sync with the music’s drumbeats. Despite the lion’s grotesque features and menacing fangs the sinewy body slows down to reveal itself as a soft focus Chinese shadow puppet. Then the drumming beats picks up speed and beats faster and faster the body shakes, shimmies and then the head drops.

A loud applause erupts, his daughters and the other student emerge from under the costume. Sat hugs his daughters.

We all shout Kung Hei Fat Choi (best wishes for Health, Happiness & Prosperity to all.)

Now its time to get down to eating and mingling with friends.

Beijing

Finding people beyond your hotel or at major restaurants and tourist venues that speak fluent English is not easy. While the majority of the signage throughout the Beijing is in Chinese and English, I would highly recommend that visitors and businesspeople take a quick course in Mandarin. Scott bartered Spanish lessons with a colleague fluent in speaking and writing Mandarin who taught him the language and cultural nuances. I learned a few phrases myself, including typical greetings, and Thank you,” and “I do not eat meat.” This was the most important phrase since I do not eat anything with more than two legs, and pork is a main ingredient in a lot of their dishes.

Otherwise navigating the city might prove to be difficult. Even the simplest task of catching a cab requires that you keep your hotel’s business card with the name written in Chinese to hand to the cab driver. I would highly recommend the China Institute in Manhattan as a great place to take classes, and it’s a wonderful resource for information on Chinese culture.

photo by m. washington

My recent trip to China was another benefit of my relationship with my partner Scott Barton, who was granted a fellowship, for an intensive 2-1/2 week program that focused on the culture, history and ritual practices of eating of the people of Hong Kong. Who lives for all things food, Scott is a PhD candidate in the Food Study program at New York University. For the past 25 years he has worked as a chef and restaurant consultant all over the United States and in several European cities.

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