Guitarist Hiroya Tsukamoto at Carnegie Library in Oakland, April 26.

The Carnegie Library will host guitarist Hiroya Tsukamoto on April 26 as this month's installment of its World Kaleidoscope series.

Japanese guitarist Hiroya Tsukamoto takes us on an innovative, impressionistic journey filled with earthy, organic soundscapes that impart of mood of tranquility. Eclectic, immersive and mesmerizing, Tsukamoto offers a hypnotic blending of Japanese roots, folk and jazz. Hiroya will share his “chops, passion and warmth” here at the Library, but feel free to find out more at his website. All ages!

The performance runs from 2:00 to 3:00 pm and is free and open to the public. The Main branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is located in Oakland at 4400 Forbes Ave. (map).

2015 Korean Food Bazaar, May 2 in Shadyside.

There is now a poster to go with the April 5 post about the annual Korean Food Bazaar in Shadyside. Look for 2015's Korean Central Church of Pittsburgh Korean Food Bazaar (제20회 선교바자회) on May 2, from 10:30 to 4:00 pm. The annual Korean food festival is in its 20th year, and is held at 821 S. Aiken Ave. in Shadyside (map).

Hong Kong movie A Simple Life (桃姐) at Maridon Museum, April 30.

The Maridon Museum will show the 2012 Hong Kong film A Simple Life (桃姐) on April 30 as the second installment in this spring's Hong Kong Film Series. Dramacrazy provides a summary likely plagiarized from elsewhere:

A solemn yet humorous exploration of seniority, the film tells a bittersweet story revolving around the lives of elderly maid Sister Tao and her master, played respectively by veteran actress Deanie Ip and superstar Andy Lau, whose past screen collaborations serve to inspire enormous chemistry between their characters. Their impeccable performances have earned numerous prestigious prizes for the film, including Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, Best Director, Actor, and Actress at the Golden Horse Awards, and the rare feat of the Big Five (Best Film, Director, Screenplay, Actor, and Actress) at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Sister Tao (Deanie Ip) has served five generations of the Leung family since she was thirteen. Today, at over seventy years old, she continues to take care of Roger (Andy Lau), the only member of the family left in Hong Kong. After suffering a stroke at home one day, Tao realizes it's about time she retired, so she asks Roger to find her a nursing home for rehabilitation. Tao struggles to adjust to the strange new environment as well as her eccentric fellow inmates, but Roger is there to care for this mother figure who has devoted her life to his.

And an excerpt from a Roger Ebert review:

What we understand is that "A Simple Life" is content to regard these two inward people as they express love and care in their quiet ways. A movie in which the old lady is forgotten by the family would have been predictable melodrama, but how much more moving it is when she is remembered. The movie has an emotional payoff I failed to anticipate. It expresses hope in human nature. It is one of the year's best films.

The movie starts at 6:00 pm and is presented by Slippery Rock University's Dr. Ken Harris. The Maridon, an Asian art museum, is located at 322 North McKean St in downtown Butler (map), roughly 40 miles north of Pittsburgh.

The Chinese Nutcracker, May 9 at Byham Theater.

The Yanlai Dance Academy will present its annual Chinese Nutcracker performance on May 9 at the Byham Theater in the Cultural District.

The Chinese Nutcracker borrows from the classic ballet and infuses it with Chinese elements. The performance is a wondrous spectacle filled with glorious costumes, memorable characters and dazzling dances.

Little Yuanyuan receives a white pony toy on Chinese New Year. In the magic of the moonlight, the pony transforms into a prince and little Yuanyuan into a princess. Together they travel throughout China visiting ethnic groups, admiring their native costumes and marveling at their traditional dances. Join the Yanlai Dance Academy as they take you on this magical journey.

The show starts at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $30.75 for adults and $20.75 for children 12 and under, and are available online.

The Korean media is paying close attention to Pittsburgh and to infielder Jung-ho Kang this season.


Via Newsis.

More renderings of Sichuan University - Pittsburgh Institute (四川大学-匹兹堡学院).

Earlier this month, new artistic renderings of the planned Sichuan University - Pittsburgh Institute (四川大学-匹兹堡学院) were revealed online via the Chinese university's social networking sites. The engineering institute is scheduled to open in Sichuan University's Jiang'an campus in Fall 2015 with an initial cohort of 100 students.





It differs significantly from the initial drawings released in July 2014.



While the new drawings appear to be originals, a previous rendering was taken from a Chinese real estate website that showed an apartment complex under construction in Sichuan.

Documentary on early Cambodian rock music, Don't Think I've Forgotten, at Hollywood Theater in May.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont will show the 2014 documentary Don't Think I've Forgotten on May 29. A summary, from the documentary's website:

During the 60’s and early 70’s as the war in Vietnam threatened its borders, a new music scene emerged in Cambodia that took Western rock and roll and stood it on its head – creating a sound like no other.

Cambodian musicians crafted this sound from the various rock music styles sweeping, America, England and France, adding the unique melodies and hypnotic rhythms of their traditional music. The beautiful singing of their renowned female vocalists became the final touch that made this mix so enticing.

. . .

DON’T THINK I’VE FORGOTTEN: CAMBODIA’S LOST ROCK AND ROLL tracks the twists and turns of Cambodian music as it morphs into rock and roll, blossoms, and is nearly destroyed along with the rest of the country. This documentary film provides a new perspective on a country usually associated with only war and genocide.

Showtimes and ticket information is pending.


Trailer.

Shibori Peace Quilt Event at Children's Museum, April 18.

via Remembering Hiroshima, Imagining Peace.

The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh (map) will hold a Shibori Peace Quilt Event on Saturday, April 18.

Last fall, visitors created Shibori pieces in the Studio that were sewn together in MAKESHOP to form a quilt. Not just one quilt was made, but four!

Shibori is a Japanese word for dying fabric. Shibori is a 1000-year old art form in which cloth is tied, stitched, folded and wrapped in many different ways and then dyed to create beautiful patterns.

The quilts were displayed at the Children's Museum; and now, members of the group Remembering Hiroshima, Imagining Peace are ready to take two quilts to New York City for the International Peace & Planet Conference a Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just, and Sustainable World, where the quilts will be presented to delegates from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to take back to Japan. The quilts will be received in Japan by New Japan Women's Association and Chihiro Art Museum Azumino. Our Shibori Quilt project reminds us of the beauty that triumphs when cross-cultural understanding and respect is met.

The event includes a violin performance and a dove release. It runs from 12:00 to 1:00 pm and is free with museum admission.

"One Night in Beijing: Butterfly Lovers" at CMU, April 25.

The student group American Roots in Chinese Culture [ARCC] will present its annual spring performance One Night in Beijing on April 25. The 2015 production is the fairy tale Butterfly Lovers (梁山伯与祝英台). The ARCC event page summarizes:

An Eastern rendition on Romeo and Juliet, the cast of ONiB 2015 will captivate you with an entrancing love story, a myriad of modern and traditional dances, songs, and other performances. From lion dances to rare Chinese instruments, ONiB 2015 has it all!

The event starts at 7:00 pm in the Rangos Ballroom of the Cohen University Center (map). Tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door.

Singaporean film Ilo Ilo (爸妈不在家) at Northland Public Library, May 13.

The May installment of Northland Public Library's Foreign Film Series is the Singaporean film Ilo Ilo (爸妈不在家) on May 13. A summary from the Three Rivers Film Festival, where the movie played in 2013:

Set in Singapore during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, this delightful film chronicles the day-to-day drama of the Lim family – troublesome grade-schooler and his overstressed parents. Comfortably middle-class and with another baby on the way, they hire Teresa, a Filipino immigrant, as a live-in maid and nanny. An outsider in both the family and Singapore itself, Teresa struggles to manage the boy's antics and find her footing in her new community. The two eventually form a unique bond, but just as Teresa becomes an unspoken part of the family, unforeseen circumstances arise.

The movie will play at Northland from 1:30 pm, and the library is located off of McKnight Road and Rt. 19 in McCandless Township (map). The film is free and open to the public.