#oe2015

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Christian completes his story, discussing how he transitioned from dancing alone to participating in a dance that can only be if in a group.

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Christian Christian works with Immigrant Movement International, an organization based in New York City with a very articulate, important, and multifaceted mission. Through his work with IMI, Christian became a core group member of La Ruedada, a dance group that utilizes a method called “migration mapping” to share community narratives and articulate commonalities among high-school aged participants. Emphasizing arte útil and the value of recognizing (im)migrant’s role in the advancement of society at large, this open-access group translates storytelling into dance, providing a platform for communicating the challenges and triumphs of being an (im)migrant.  Potential video of dance coming soon.

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Huang Xiang was the first writer-in-exile to arrive to the City of Asylum in 2004. He radically altered the format of the City of Asylum structure, orienting it towards a much more community-engaged form. “He covered his residence with Chinese calligraphies of his poems -- a joyful and celebratory response to his freedom from censorship. The response from neighbors and visitors was overwhelming and unexpected: Poems were slipped through his mail slot; people came by to hear him read his house-poems. Support from the community for City of Asylum/Pittsburgh swelled.” Diane recalls how a class assignment she received when a young student reminds her of the complex ways in which Huang Xiang impacted her own life as well as the entire community in Pittsburgh.

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Diane

Diane is co-founder of City of Asylum/Pittsburgh, an amazing organization that creates a thriving community for writers, readers, and neighbors by providing sanctuary to endangered literary writers, and offering a broad range of literary programs in a community setting to encourage cross-cultural exchange. The organization’s programming has “evolved organically, in response to the way that the community and the writers have interacted.” While hosting a tour for the Open Engagement conference in Pittsburgh, Diane told the stories of the first three writers-in-exile hosted. Khet Mar, a Burmese journalist, novelist, fiction writer, and essayist, was imprisoned at the age of 22 for her activist writings. In 2008, when her humanitarian actions following the devastation of Cyclone Nargis brought her close to imprisonment for a second time, she moved to Pittsburgh and became a part of the City of Asylum. In this clip, you hear the story of her arrival to Pittsburgh with her husband and two sons, which leads Diane into a reflection on the power of the City of Asylum has in connecting the community to international cultures and current events.

[wendyssubway]

Open today. The last day of the WS reading room for #oe2015, stop by!

[artandcetera]

Artandcetera @ Open Engagement 2015

Place and Revolution In Conversation: Rick Lowe and Lisa Lee

Above is the poster taped-up above Rick Lowe’s desk in his office at Project Row Houses (PRH), an arts and cultural community located in a historically significant and culturally charged neighborhood in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1993, PRH renovated twenty-two shotgun-style houses, houses which supposedly had African and Haitian influences that were popularized in New Orleans in the early 1800s.

[wendyssubway]

@aliaseditorial books in our #oe2015 library. Thrilled to share Galaxias Explosivas and Campos de acción!

[wendyssubway]

The WS reading room is open until 6pm for #oe2015. Pick up a catalog and check out the collection! (at Carnegie Mellon University)