IU will be home to the largest Chinese arts and culture festival in the Midwest starting February this year, according to an IU press release.
The inaugural Global Arts and Humanities Festival will begin this spring and is called “China Remixed: Arts and Humanities in Contemporary Chinese Culture.” The event is sponsored by the IU Bloomington Arts and Humanities Council along with several other organizations on campus.
The event will feature Chinese authors, musicians, exhibits, films and more. According to the press release, the event is intended to highlight the international aspect of IU’s campus.
“The Bloomington campus attracts creativity from all corners of the globe,” said Lauren Robel, IU provost and executive vice president, in a press release. “China Remixed’ launches into the stratosphere from that base and gives our entire community an unparalleled opportunity to become immersed in the work of some of today’s finest Chinese and Chinese-American artists and thinkers.”
Every spring semester the event will highlight a new country’s or region’s art and culture.
All events for this semester, which number more than 40, will be free to the public.
Some guests include graphic novelist and MacArthur fellow Gene Luen Yang, novelist Ha Jin, Grammy-winning musician Wu Man, comedian Joe Wong and others.
The 2017 festival will be focusing on modern cultural aspects of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Chinese-American community within the United States, according to the release.
“China was a natural choice for our first Global Arts and Humanities Festival,” said Ed Comentale, chair of the IU Bloomington Arts and Humanities Council. “Chinese students and Chinese faculty have made countless contributions to IU’s history and success. The festival reaches into every corner of the campus and highlights the many ways we facilitate dialogue and exchange between cultures.”
IU students will also have an opportunity to collaborate with students from Chinese universities.
Students in the IU Contemporary Dance Program will perform with 22 students from Taipei National University of the Arts on Feb. 24.
The New Music Ensemble from Jacob’s School of Music will join Wu Man, a world-renowned pipa player, March 31 for a performance.
Chinese students, with the assistance of chef Dave Tallent, will translate their family recipes and offer the food at IU’s First Thursdays event April 6. The food will be served on the Arts Plaza.
According to the release, IU has 2,800 Chinese students on campus, and they make up 45 percent of the international population.
Cody Thompson
