TO MACEDONIA?

Richard didn't know until today that I was from Manipur. My entire first decade in NYC I didn't get into my own heritage and identity. Ironic since I was so into Asian American cultural representation. I think I wanted to make it on my own and to let people know that what I was doing should be judged on its own cultural merits.

The Rockefeller offices are a museum in their own right. Rothko, Rauschenberg, Picasso, all hung oh so casually like posters in a school dorm.

So it looks like the Macedonia leg of our project is taking off. When Yoshiko said she wanted to do something in Manipur, I was clear I did not necessarily have to be involved. But she did want to work with me and its a bit humbling because I have done so little work in performance. The media installation aspect is my connection to it. I proposed adding a European segment, dropping Laos, identifying partners in each city and then setting up the theme of conflict as it plays out in each culture.

Richard seemed to like it. Yoshiko's DVD of her performance in the Kalimai Temple did the trick. Oh what would I do without my iBook!

Its fascinating how artists' talk makes its own impact. Yoshiko's ideas in my word, if such a thing were possibel, would not have had half the impct it did on Richard.

So maybe we go to Skopje in the fall for the Balkan Platform..

KHADISHOP LAUNCHED

Funky and kinda hard to believe we did this in just 6 months. Lata is a real pro and fun to work with.

Zett'e pl;ace looked good. She tidied up. Tom laid out the clothes. Malcolm shot. We had Yoshiko and her dancers on hand. Peach ice tea.



Too bad the black garments are not here.

But most importantly, people LIKED the clothes and bought them! So not a bad start. I didn't know what to expect.