Chicago, IL - The Center for Asian Arts and Media of Columbia College Chicago will present "Starting from Scratch: Celebrating Creativity," the third biennial Woman Warrior Festival, with a week of events beginning on April 27 and running through May 6, at several locations on campus and throughout the city. The festival kicks off with an opening night gala reception and benefit that includes entertainment, auction and an awards ceremony recognizing women leaders in the Asian and Asian American business and arts communities.
Festival pricing: Opening reception $65; festival pass for additional events $25 general admission, $15 students; single program ticket $10. Admission to a number of events is free. For reservations and information call 312-344-7870 or visit www.asianartsandmedia.org/womanwarrior2005.
The Woman Warrior Festival celebrates the accomplishments and contributions of Asian and Pacific Island women. Starting from Scratch focuses on the varied yet similar processes of artistic creations in film, theater, music, design, performance, media and the culinary arts and explores how women use their creativity to assert and articulate their visions and voices to change, transform and further their lives.
Oscar nominated filmmaker Christine Choy exposes the outcry of the social unjust and human conflicts through her investigative documentaries such as Who Killed Vincent Chin? Playwright Velina Hasu Houston's Calling Aphrodite, performed by Silk Road Theatre Project, explores the states of survival, recovery, renewal and the fluctuations of identity in terms of gender, transnationalism and race through the perspective of a Hiroshima bombing victim. The Korean women's percussion group, OO-RI SO-RI creates No-Ri (a Korean traditional gathering for all people to dance, sing and play - typically dominated by men), to support and empower victims of domestic and sexual violence. In the Helen Fong Dare Story documentary, Nancy Tom and Wenhwa Ts'ao explore the life of Chinese immigrants in the Midwest, as seen through the eyes of Helen Fong Dare - an intrepid and unconventional pioneer who defied gender and cultural discrimination years before the rise of feminism and affirmative action in America. Other highlights of the festival include a discussion on women in the culinary arts and food sampling with local celebrity chefs, a lecture on the changing role of Asian American women and a workshop on drag king and Asian masculinity. The 2005 Woman Warrior Awardees being recognized at the opening reception are Christine Choy (Lifetime Achievement), Julia Zhu (Business Leadership), Libby Chiu (Community Service) and Yoko Noge (Creative Arts).