Korean-themed concert to be held at Northwestern University
2024-02-04 14:00 - 18:00 (America/Chicago) | Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston,, IL, 60208, United States
The Sejong Cultural Society will hold a concert of Korean-themed music on Sunday, February 4 at 2 p.m. with a 4 p.m. reception, at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The concert will be comprised of required pieces used in the Society’s annual music competition.
The Society has commissioned numerous composers to craft pieces with Korean themes, and it has collected more than 150 pieces over the two decades since its founding. The concert is a tribute to the contributions of composers, past competition participants, their teachers and families, and to the supporters of the organization.
The performers are the past winners of the Sejong Music Competition, with two special guests: Kyung Sun Lee, a violin professor at Indiana University, and Sojung Hong, a piano professor at Judson University. The keynote speaker will be David Ludwig, Dean of the Julliard School of Music in New York City.
The Sejong Cultural Society, a non-profit organization in Chicago, fosters awareness and understanding of Korea’s cultural heritage in the U.S. through outreach to youth and young adults through creative and fine arts. It holds musical composition and musical performance contests annually, as well as annual Korean poetry (sijo) classes and competitions, and an annual essay writing contest.
Tickets are $30 (students $10). Location is the Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, Illinois.

Jangmi Arts to hold Seollal Lunar New Year Celebration
2024-02-10 11:00 - 15:00 | White Bear Lake High School South Campus, 3551 McKnight Rd. N., White Bear Lake, MN, 55110, United States
JangMi Arts, a school for Korean dance and drumming in the Twin Cities, will hold its annual Seollal (Lunar New Year) Celebration on Saturday, February 10, with activities from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The celebration will include a Korean traditional marketplace with Korean American organization info tables, a lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with the traditional ddukguk (rice cake soup), served for Lunar New Year in Korea (there is a charge for the lunch). A free performance will take place at 1 p.m. by students of JangMi Arts and students of Lee’s Champion Taekwondo.
The event will take place at White Bear High School South Campus. A ticket link will be added to the JangMi Arts Facebook event listing soon.

HANA Center to celebrate Year of the Blue Dragon
2024-02-10 11:00 - 15:00 | Hana Center, 4300 North California Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60618, United States
HANA Center in Chicago will hold a Lunar New Year celebration for the Year of the Blue Dragon on Saturday, February 10, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the center, located at 4300 N. California Ave.
The event will include a poongmulnori (traditional drumming) performance, with opportunities to try the traditional drums, New Year blessings, an intergenerational saebae (traditional formal bow) during which elders receive bows from the younger generation; games such as yutnori and jaegi-chagi: and a hanbok photo shoot where participants can pose in their traditional hanbok (or other national costume of the participant’s choice).
To register, please see the link: bit.ly/2024HANALNYPartyRSVP and RSVP by February 7.

Free webinar on gendered impact of the Korean War
2024-03-06 18:00 - 19:30
Free webinar on gendered impact of the Korean War
A webinar in observance of International Women’s Day entitled The Gendered Impact of the Korean War; Past, Present and Future will be held Wednesday, March 6 at 6 p.m. (CST). The event will include two feminist scholar-activists: Suzy Kim, professor of Korean history at Rutgers University; and Na-Young Lee, professor at Chung-Ang University (Seoul) and board chair of the Korean Council for the Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.
Kim will provide a historical account of how North Korean and international women intervened during the Korean War. Lee will discuss the impact of the ongoing state of unresolved war on South Korean women, including militarized sexual violence, and efforts underway to hold the South Korean government and U.S. military accountable. Moderator for the event is Ji-Yeon Yuh, a board member at Women Cross DMZ and professor at Northwestern University, Chicago.
The Korean War is considered unresolved because no peace treaty hs been negotiated between the parties in the war. The war is still technically suspended by a 1953 armistice agreement. The result is that U.S. troops are still stationed in South Korea, and South Korean and U.S. troops are engaged in watching the southern border of the DMZ. North Koreans stake out the northern border of the DMZ. War-like incidents that cost human lives have frequently occurred between the troops on the DMZ and in disputed territorial waters off the western coast of North Korea since the armistice was signed
Registration is free and available at the attached link.

Percussionist/composer Jin Hi Kim to play two dates in Minnesota/Wisconsin
2024-03-14 19:30 - 21:30 | Abbot Concert Hall, 420 E Cascade Ave., River Falls, WI, 54022, United States
Korean percussionist and composer Jin Hi Kim will perform an original work, with some local musical help, in two March performances: the first in River Falls, Wisconsin and the second in St. Paul.
The first concert of Kim’s commissioned work Ritual for the Earth 2024 will take place at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF) campus on March 14, 7:30 p.m. The concert will be held at the Abbott Concert Hall, and is free and open to the public. This concert is part of an annual Commissioned Composer event. Kim is this year’s guest commissioned composer and is doing some guest artist lectures and master classes with students.
The concert will include UWRF students playing a variety of instruments, including handmade percussion instruments made from natural materials such as seashells, gourds, bamboo, wood and metal. Members of Shinparam, a Twin Cities-based traditional Korean percussion ensemble, will provide some Korean rhythms that will be woven into the piece.
In addition, Kim’s new commissioned composition, Vocalization in Motion, for chorus and two percussionists, will be world-premiered at the UWRF concert.
More information on this concert and on the composer may be found at the attached link.
The second concert, entitled Living Sounds: Music of Jin Hi Kim will take place at Zeitgeist Studio in downtown St. Paul, on Saturday, March 16, 7 p.m. The concert will include works by Kim, including NORI II for clarinet, saxophone, and two percussionists (saxophonist David Milne as guest artist), and Ritual for the Earth featuring Zeitgeist, Kim, samulnori ensemble Shinparam, and other musicians. Rounding out the program, Zeitgeist and Kim will join forces in an improvisation.
Also featured on the program will be the premiere of a newly-created work, World Sanjo, by Zeitgeist member Pat O’Keefe, with O’Keefe on clarinet and guest artist Peter O’Gorman on drumset.
Kim’s work has been recognized nationally and internationally. She is known as a pioneer for introducing komungo (also spelled geomungo, a large traditional Korean stringed instrument) into the American contemporary music scene. She has also done extensive solo performances on the world’s only electric komungo with live interactive computer programs in several large-scale multimedia performance pieces such as Ghost Komungobot, Digital Buddha, and Touching The Moons.
Kim’s Living Tones compositions have been commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, American Composers Orchestra, Festival Nieuwe Muziek for Xenakis Ensemble (The Netherlands), Tan Dun’s New Generation East program for Chamber Music Society for the Lincoln Center, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Meet The Composer U.S. Commission, National Endowment for the Arts and many others.

Jin Hi Kim to perform new music concert at Studio Z in St. Paul
2024-03-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Studio Z, 275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200, St. Paul, MN, 55101, United States
Korean percussionist and composer Jin Hi Kim will perform an original work, with some local musical help, in St. Paul on March 16. The event is the second of two local March performances: the first is at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on March 14.
The concert, entitled Living Sounds: Music of Jin Hi Kim, will take place at Studio Z, located at 275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200 in downtown St. Paul, on Saturday, March 16, 7 p.m. Tickets are $20; $15 for students and seniors, and are available at the linked website.
The concert will include works by Kim, including NORI II for clarinet, saxophone, and two percussionists (saxophonist David Milne as guest artist), and Ritual for the Earth 2024 featuring Kim on several instruments, the Zeitgeist wind and percussion ensemble, samulnori ensemble Shinparam, and other musicians. Rounding out the program, Zeitgeist and Kim will join forces in an improvisation.
Also featured on the program will be the premiere of a newly-created work, World Sanjo, by Zeitgeist member Pat O’Keefe, with O’Keefe on clarinet and guest artist Peter O’Gorman on drumset.
Kim’s work has been recognized nationally and internationally. She is known as a pioneer for introducing komungo (also spelled geomungo, a large traditional Korean stringed instrument) into the American contemporary music scene. She has also done extensive solo performances on the world’s only electric komungo with live interactive computer programs in several large-scale multimedia performance pieces such as Ghost Komungobot, Digital Buddha, and Touching The Moons.
Kim’s Living Tones compositions have been commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, American Composers Orchestra, Festival Nieuwe Muziek for Xenakis Ensemble (The Netherlands), Tan Dun’s New Generation East program for Chamber Music Society for the Lincoln Center, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Meet The Composer U.S. Commission, National Endowment for the Arts and many others.
The Zeitgeist ensemble, consisting of percussion, piano and woodwinds, commissions new work and brings guest artists for performances in the Twin Cities. Zeitgeist is working with the University of Wisconsin – River Falls, where Kim is the 2024 guest commissioned composer.

New American Leaders offers women's training program
2024-03-22 - 2024-03-24
A program targeted to Asian American women, called AAPI Women Ready to Lead will be presented March 22 to 24 in Las Vegas by the non-profit organization New American Leaders (NAL).
NAL’s Ready to Lead program is dedicated to preparing first- and second-generation Americans to run and win as candidates for public office and/or have meaningful roles in leading campaigns or in other civic leadership.
The training teaches participants how to embrace their heritage and use it for more effective leadership, and how to employ messaging and fundraising in campaigns. There are 124 alumni of NAL in Nevada, and some have returned to be trainers for the Las Vegas course.
The final application deadline for this training is January 29. An application is at this link. There is a nomination form to nominate someone from your organization at this link.
An information session about this training is at a video recorded January 16 at this link. The passcode is: =Xi70#Qc. In April, NAL will host a second program for participants who identify as new Americans. The program fee is $150 (excluding travel costs) and scholarships are available.
For questions or additional information about location, costs and other details, contact Lorenzita Santos, program manager at New American Leaders, at: lo*******@****************rs.org.

Korean modern art exhibit upcoming at MIA
2024-03-23 - 2024-06-23 | Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis, 55404, United States
The Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) announced today a new exhibition of contemporary Korean art to be exhibited at the museum’s Target Galleries March 23 through June 23. The exhibit is entitled The Shape of Time: Korean Art after 1989, and organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Tickets are $20, with additional discounts for MIA members.
Using a variety of mediums, including ceramics, painting, fiber, photography, lacquer, installation, metalwork, mixed media, embroidery, and video, these artists explore themes like conformity, displacement, gender and sexuality, coexistence, dissonance, that together offer a deeper understanding of South Korea, and its history and culture.
One of the continuing themes, dissonance, is in some of the artists’ reflections on South Korea’s past and present, the foundations of Korean society, and the paradoxes of a divided Korea. Dissonance is shown in works such as Hayoun Kwon’s video 489 years (2016). The viewer occupies the role of a soldier on a day-long patrol of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), a strip of land separating North and South Korea along the 38th parallel. The work’s title, 489 Years, references the number of years experts think it would take to clear the one million mines within the boundary between the two Koreas. The video depicts a lush, green area filled with wildlife, with the destructive potential of the area hidden.
The theme of reinvention is reflected in some of the artists’ use of traditional art forms, with ancient aesthetics combined with contemporary sensibility. For example, Suki Seokyeong Kang’s vibrantly woven mats are inspired by a handcrafted straw mat tradition dating back to the Goryeo Dynasty (918–1392).
Artists also reflect the theme of coexistence, and imbue Korean values with new meaning. Eui-jeong Yoo’s Treasures of Daily Life (2018) expresses this fusion of ideas in his series of recognizable corporate logos for companies such as McDonald’s, Louis Vuitton, and Hello Kitty.
The theme of “being seen,” challenging patriarchal power structures and cultural standards, is expressed through works depicting experiences that are frequently marginalized, silenced, or erased in popular culture. An Attack by Green Horns, by Sang-hee Yun, is a pair of lacquered and gold dagger-like spikes worn on the front torso and back shoulder. Yun created these spikes to express a sense of protection for the wearer.
The works in the section on “portraying anxiety” raise questions about group participation and larger societal challenges in Korea and elsewhere. In the video Let’s Do National Gymnastics, Jaewoo Oh fuses nostalgia and the impact of a culture of conformity by portraying a compulsory exercise program for students, used in Korean public schools between 1977 and 1999.
Works from MIA’s permanent collection will be added to the exhibition in Minneapolis, including Do Ho Suh’s Some/One, a 2005 sculpture based on a coat of traditional armor. Composed from thousands of polished military dog tags, the work juxtaposes the collective (represented by the armored sculpture) with the individual (symbolized by the dog tags, each representing a single soldier). Also featured is a selection from Byron Kim’s ongoing Synecdoche portraiture project, currently comprised of more than 400 panels, each approximating the skin color of a person Kim has met.

Korean adoptee comic tells his multi-media homeland trip story in Minneapolis
2024-03-23 15:30 - 16:40 | Bryant Lake Bowl and Theater, 810 West Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN, 55408, United States
Edward Yoo Pokropski will present his solo show Case 84: Adopted in the USA describing his return to Korea in 2015 at age 32 to discover his origins as a Korean adoptee. The show is a one-time appearance in Minneapolis, sponsored by AK Connection, an organization by and about adult Korean adoptees.
Case 84: Adopted in the USA uses comedy to explore how the media shapes many misconceptions about adoption. The show uses compelling visuals from pop culture and personal pictures from the artist’s trip to Korea. The content of the presentation is a journey through one adoptee’s life, from childhood to present day.
Prokropski is an executive producer of Asian Comedy Fest, the longest-running all-Asian comedy fest in the country. He is also an Emmy-nominated writer/producer at NBCUniversal.
Doors open at 2 p.m. Bryant Lake Bowl has a full menu, and food can be served in the theater.

Mu Films and Me & Korea to host Koreans and Camptowns conference
2024-04-13 08:30 - 2024-04-14 13:00 | Northwestern University, 633 Clark Street, Evanston, IL, 60208, United States
A conference entitled Korean Adoption and Its Global Legacies: 70 Years and Beyond will be held at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois, April 13–14. The Korean adoptee service organization Me & Korea will co-sponsor the conference, along with Northwestern University and Mu Films, a documentary film company established by Deann Borshay Liem, a Korean adoptee.
The goal of the conference is to bring adoptees, first families, journalists and scholars together to discuss the origins of Korean adoption and its impact on families and individuals, including discussion of birth family search and reunion. The event is in honor of the late Korean adoption researcher Sue-Je Lee Gage.
The conference is intended to provide perspectives that challenge and expand participants’ understanding of adoption’s beginnings in the context of war and militarism, while exploring present-day consequences of South Korea’s adoption practices on adopted Koreans and their first families.
A gathering of alumni of Me & Korea’s many adoptee tours to Korea will be held on the evening of April 12, more details to be released closer to the date.
The keynote address will be by Yuri Doolan, assistant professor of history and sexuality studies at Brandeis University. He will discuss his new book, The First Amerasians: Mixed Race Koreans From Camptowns to America which relates how the concept of the Amerasian was used to remove thousands of mixed-race children from their Korean mothers in U.S.-occupied South Korea to adoptive American homes during the 1950s and ‘60s.
Speakers scheduled for this conference include Kori Graves, Associate Professor of History, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY) will discuss her book A War Born Family: African American Adoption in the Wake of the Korean War. This talk will describe how during and immediately after the Korean War African American soldiers in Korea and African Americans in the states learned about and then endeavored to adopt Korean children and the ways their efforts fit in the larger history of Korean transnational adoption.
Catherine H. Nguyen, who teaches Asian literature at Emerson College will discuss themes of her work-in-progress book Children Born of War, Adoptees Made by War, about Vietnamese mixed-race children who were transnationally adopted during and after the Vietnam War. Patti Duncan, a professor from Oregon State University will discuss how war and militarism in South Korea affected her as a mixed-race Korean American woman.
Veteran Korean photographer and journalist, Yongnam Lee, will present his career-spanning work which documents the people living and working in U.S. military camptowns near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Through his photography and videography, Lee will discuss the Korean women who worked in “comfort stations” for American troops, and the lawsuit they brought that led to a South Korean Supreme Court victory in 2022.
The Sunday panels will focus on the long arc of Korean adoption and its impacts through the lens of birth family search.
The conference registration is free, with the option to purchase lunch and dinner in advance. For more details, and to register, visit https://kadconference2024.eventbrite.com/

For further information or questions, email: co********@********ea.org

Taiko artist and teacher Jennifer Weir to speak at Adoptee Hub event
2024-04-27 15:30 - 20:30 | Roseville Center Ice Arena, 2661 Civic Center Drive, Roseville, MN, 55113, United States
The organizer of a global women taiko drummers event in the Twin Cities is the featured speaker at the Adoptee Hub annual gala and fundraiser. The event will take place Saturday, April 27 in Roseville.
Korean adoptee Jennifer Weir, who created the project and is the founder of her own taiko school, Taiko Arts Midwest, will discuss her upbringing and her diverse career as an actor, producer, and drummer.
The convergence of women taiko artists from many countries in February 2022 was the first of its kind in history, and was captured in the documentary film Finding Her Beat, co-directed by Dawn Mikkelson (producer, director) and Keri Piekett (director of photography, editor). The film will be screened at the event.
Weir is also the artistic director of Ensō Daiko and a performing member of the taiko group Ensemble-MA, led by Iris Shiraishi. Weir is also a theater director and dramaturg with Theater Mu, and a past recipient of grants for composing, producing and performing new music.
Weir was brought up in North Dakota, and had no references during her upbringing to Asian American culture, community or identity. As a young adult in Minneapolis, she found her way to the Asian American theater organization Theater Mu and its taiko performance group Mu Daiko (now Enso Daiko).
Weir writes in her bio that “Taiko allows me to become a bigger, better version of myself. It integrates my mind, body and spirit. It allows me to embody strength, grace, and to claim and celebrate my ‘Asian-ness.’ ”
Adoptee Hub is a Twin Cities service and advocacy organization for and about adult Korean adoptees. It offers regular events and facilitates services for adult adoptees to assist in travel to Korea, translation and birth parent searches. Tickets are $25 until April 1, $35 April 1-26 and and $45 on the day of the event. In-person attendees of any other Adoptee Hub event in March and April can purchase Gala tickets for $25.

Korean and Korean American composers featured in East Meets West concerts
2024-05-03 20:30 - 21:30 | University Lutheran Church of Hope, 601 13th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, United States
A selection of works from Korean and Korean American composers will be featured during May in four performances in Minneapolis and St. Paul entitled East Meets West.
The concert will be presented at four venues in May: University Lutheran Church of Hope, Minneapolis, on Friday, May 3 at 7 p.m.; MacPhail Center for Music, (Gary Sipes Hall), Minneapolis, Saturday May 4 at 2 p.m.; Hamline United Methodist Church, St. Paul, Friday, May 10 at 7 p.m.; and Metronome Brewery, St. Paul, Saturday, May 11 at 2 p.m.
Admission to all the concerts is free, with suggested donations. The concert is made possible with a grant through Metropolitan Regional Arts Council through a grant from the state Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
The concert, presented by the ensemble 10th Wave Chamber Music Collective, will include musicians playing Western instruments, and gayageum (a Korean traditional stringed instrument), with voice performers. Performers in this concert include: Angela Cabrera, percussion; Eun Cho, flute; Weily Grina-Shay, clarinet; April Kim, piano; Soomin Kim, voice; Soojin Lee, gayageum; Ruth Marshall, cello; Ashely Ng, violin; and Mikyoung Park, voice.

Korean and Korean American composers featured in East Meets West concerts
2024-05-04 14:00 - 15:30 | Hamline United Methodist Church, 1514 Englewood Avenue, St. Paul, MN, 55104, United States

Korean and Korean American composers featured in East Meets West concerts
2024-05-11 14:00 - 15:30 | Metronome Brewery, 385 Broadway, St. Paul, MN, 55101, United States

Classes in Korean traditional needlecraft jogakbo to be held
2024-06-22 12:00 - 16:00 | Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis, 55404, United States
Minneapolis-based textile artist Jae Hyun Veenstra is offering a series of free classes in the traditional art of jogakbo, a Korean hand-sewing patchwork craft used since ancient times to make wrapping cloths and traditional crafts. In modern times, jogakbo has become a recognized art form and can be used to make innovative designs.
The series, entitled Colorful Korean: Re-Rooting with Jogakbo, is funded with a grant, and targeted to Korean adoptees and their family members, age 16 and older. Enrollees will be referred to a Facebook group to stay in touch during and beyond the class.
Each of the series of four classes will introduce a new craft project. Classes are free and include all the supplies. Enrollees may sign up for one or more of the four-hour classes.
The dates, locations and project types are:
June 22, noon to 4 p.m.: guebul noligae (an accessory intended to protect the wearer) and how it is depicted in the film Spirits’ Homecoming – class to be held at Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA), Minneapolis.
June 29, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Making a yedanbo (a textile envelope, used for a formal letter, typically an offer of marriage) – class to be held at the Textile Center, St. Paul.
July 20, noon to 4 p.m.: Making mini beoseon (traditional socks) at Minneapolis Central Library.
July 27, noon to 4 p.m.: catch-up class and instruction on hyangnang (decorative pouch) – to be held at MIA or Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, final location to be determined. Catch-up class is recommended for participants who have incomplete projects at that time.
An exhibit of the participants’ work will be held after the series has been completed.
Registration is required; there is also a waiting list if classes are full. Registration is at this link.
To volunteer to prepare, clean up and do other tasks on class day, please sign up at this link.
The artist maintains an Instagram account at this link: https://www.instagram.com/colorfulkoreaproject

Classes in jogakbo, a Korean needlecraft, to be offered
2024-06-29 11:00 - 15:00 | Textile Center, 3000 University Avenue SW, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, United States
Minneapolis-based textile artist Jae Hyun Veenstra is offering a series of free classes in the traditional art of jogakbo, a Korean hand-sewing patchwork craft used since ancient times to make wrapping cloths and traditional crafts. In modern times, jogakbo has become a recognized art form and can be used to make innovative designs.
The series, entitled Colorful Korean: Re-Rooting with Jogakbo, is funded with a grant, and targeted to Korean adoptees and their family members, age 16 and older. Enrollees will be referred to a Facebook group to stay in touch during and beyond the class.
Each of the series of four classes will introduce a new craft project. Classes are free and include all the supplies. Enrollees may sign up for one or more of the four-hour classes.
The dates, locations and project types are:
June 22, noon to 4 p.m.: guebul noligae (an accessory intended to protect the wearer) and how it is depicted in the film Spirits’ Homecoming – class to be held at Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA), Minneapolis.
June 29, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Making a yedanbo (a textile envelope, used for a formal letter, typically an offer of marriage) – class to be held at the Textile Center, Minneapolis.
July 20, noon to 4 p.m.: Making mini beoseon (traditional socks) at Minneapolis Central Library.
July 27, noon to 4 p.m.: catch-up class and instruction on hyangnang (decorative pouch) – to be held at MIA or Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, final location to be determined. Catch-up class is recommended for participants who have incomplete projects at that time.
An exhibit of the participants’ work will be held after the series has been completed.
Registration is required; there is also a waiting list if classes are full. Registration is at this link.
To volunteer to prepare, clean up and do other tasks on class day, please sign up at this link.
The artist maintains an Instagram account at this link: https://www.instagram.com/colorfulkoreaproject

AAPI voting summit to be held in Philadelphia
2024-07-11 - 2024-07-12 | Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown, 201 North 17th St., Philadelphia, 19103, United States
A National AAPI Leadership Summit will be held July 11-12, 2024 in Philadelphia to learn about emerging voting issues and how to mobilize the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
The event, to take place at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown, is a platform for partner organizations, issue experts, and communities from across the country. The purpose is to empower Asian American and Pacific Islander AAPI communities to make their voices heard during a historic election year.
Information about specific workshops and speakers will be available in the months leading up to the event. Registration will be $40 for general admission and $20 for students.
The Summit is sponsored by Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) the nation’s leading nonpartisan non-profit organization dedicated to engaging, educating, and empowering (AAPI) communities to strengthen and sustain a culture of civic engagement. It advocates for policies that protect the freedom to vote, increases equity for communities of color and guards against discriminatory practices.
The Summit will culminate Saturday, July 13 with a Presidential Town Hall at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Presidential candidates will have time to directly address AAPI community members, leaders, and organizers about the issues important to this growing electorate.
For more information on our Summit and Presidential Town Hall, please visit the APIAVote website. Prospective attendees are requested to please fill out the survey, so that APIAVote can be in contact to send the official registration link.
Please direct questions to ad***@******te.org.

U of Minnesota conference offers one-day event on adoption as a life experience
2024-07-12 08:00 - 16:00 | Northrop Auditorium, 84 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, United States
Two Korean adoptee experts on adult adoptees’ issues will join a group of experts in a day-long symposium on the challenges faced by adoptees face at every stage of adulthood.
This symposium is part of a four-day event, the 8th International Conference on Adoption Research (ICAR-8). The symposium will be held July 12, 9 a.m.to 4 p.m. (doors open at 8 a.m. for continental breakfast) in the Northrop Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.
Lifelong Issues in Adoption: Reframing the Discourse through Lived Experience is the title of the one-day symposium. The symposium was organized by adoptees, and all of the speakers/artists are adopted persons. Admission is $75 and includes a full day of lectures, panel discussions, music, and audience participation. Continental breakfast, a morning coffee break, and a box lunch will also be provided. Information and tickets are available on the Northrop Auditorium website.
The two Korean adoptee speakers are Hollee A. McGinnis and HeeWon Lee. McGinnis is a Ph.D. social worker, researcher, and a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work. She has achieved a 30-year career in a community organizing, adoptee empowerment, and adoption policy and research.
In 1996, she founded Also-Known-As, which is still an active organization of adult intercountry adoptees in New York City. McGinnis will speak on her own research project, Mapping the Life Course of Adoption (MAP): Health, Well-Being, and Adoptee Connections in Adulthood. In 2023, KQ reported on the information-gathering phase of this research project here.
Heewon Lee is an assistant professor and the assistant program director of the genetic counseling graduate program at the University of Minnesota. She also works with the National Institute of Health (NIH) Coordinating Committee for Practitioner Education in Genomics and other groups of research professionals concerned with genomics and genetic testing. She will speak on the topic: Invisible Families: How Adoptees Use Genetic Testing.
Another Minnesota adoptee speaker is Shannon Gibney, a writer, educator, activist, and the author of the young adult novels See No Color (2015) and Dream Country (2018) that won Minnesota Book Awards in 2016 and 2019. Gibney teaches writing at Minneapolis College, and was recently selected as one of three Educators of the Year in the Minnesota State College and University system. Her new novel, The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be (2023), explores themes of transracial adoption. Her speech is entitled: The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: Exploring themes of transracial adoption through speculative memoir.
The ICAR-8 website has more detailed information on continuing education credits offered for various disciplines and certifications, and a brief summary of speakers, bios and topics for the other three days of the conference.

Textile artist to offer classes in Korean needlecraft art jogakbo for Korean adoptees
2024-07-20 12:00 - 16:00 | Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55414, United States

Korean Language Village to open new buildings at its northern Minnesota campus
2024-07-20 12:00 - 16:00
The Korean Language Village, one of the Concordia Language Villages in northern Minnesota will officially open its two new Korea-themed buildings with a grand opening ceremony and tour on July 20.
The event, to be held at the camp (Sup Sogui Hosu), located on Turtle River Lake near Bemidji, will recognize the supporters of the language immersion camp over the 25 years since it was established. Beginning at noon on Saturday, July 20, participants will have a tour of the new buildings, Korean food booths, and a dedication ceremony, followed by a reception.
The first phase of the building project was funded with a $5 million gift from Kenny and Simone Park, of the South Korean company, the Simone Corporation. It includes an administrative complex, dining hall with a commercial kitchen, two camper cabins, a soccer field and waterfront development. Other residential buildings and space for traditional music and martial arts learning are included in the second phase of the new campus development.
The day’s events are open to the public, but reservations are requested. Please RSVP by July 8 with names of guests to Renée Duval at rd****@**rd.edu.
More information about the Korean Language Village capital project is at this link.

Textile artist offers series on traditional Korean needlecraft to Korean adoptees
2024-07-27 12:00 - 16:00
Minneapolis-based textile artist Jae Hyun Veenstra is offering a series of free classes in the traditional art of jogakbo, a Korean hand-sewing patchwork craft used since ancient times to make wrapping cloths and traditional crafts. In modern times, jogakbo has become a recognized art form and can be used to make innovative designs.
The series, entitled Colorful Korean: Re-Rooting with Jogakbo, is funded with a grant, and targeted to Korean adoptees and their family members, age 16 and older. Enrollees will be referred to a Facebook group to stay in touch during and beyond the class.
Each of the series of four classes will introduce a new craft project. Classes are free and include all the supplies. Enrollees may sign up for one or more of the four-hour classes.
The dates, locations and project types are:
June 22, noon to 4 p.m.: guebul noligae (an accessory intended to protect the wearer) and how it is depicted in the film Spirits’ Homecoming – class to be held at Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA), Minneapolis.
June 29, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Making a yedanbo (a textile envelope, used for a formal letter, typically an offer of marriage) – class to be held at the Textile Center, Minneapolis.
July 20, noon to 4 p.m.: Making mini beoseon (traditional socks) at Minneapolis Central Library.
July 27, noon to 4 p.m.: catch-up class and instruction on hyangnang (decorative pouch) – to be held at MIA or Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, final location to be determined (see registration site). The catch-up class is recommended for participants who have incomplete projects at that time.
An exhibit of the participants’ work will be held after the series has been completed.
Registration is required; there is also a waiting list if classes are full. Registration is at this link.
To volunteer to prepare, clean up and do other tasks on class day, please sign up at this link.
The artist maintains an Instagram account at this link: https://www.instagram.com/colorfulkoreaproject

AK Connection to celebrate Chuseok at Arbeiter Brewery, Minneapolis
2024-09-15 13:00 - 16:00 | Arbeiter Brewing Co., 3038 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55406, United States
The organization AK Connection, by and for adult Korean adoptees, will host a Chuseok celebration on Sunday, September 15, 1 to 4 p.m.
Chuseok is a Korean holiday that celebrates the harvest season with special foods and family get-togethers.
The hosts will offer build-your-own rice bowls (bibimbap, with vegetarian options available) and offer enjoy Korean crafts and games at Arbeiter Brewing Co., located at 3038 Minnehaha Ave, Minneapolis. Arbeiter is a craft brewery that makes and offers its own labels, currently an Oktoberfest lager.
Admission is free, but RSVP is required; Korean adoptees of all ages and their loved ones are welcome. RSVP link: https://forms.gle/b4tM3pwydfyPkfJY9

Panel discussion on U.S.-South Korea relations in St. Paul
2024-09-18 18:00 - 19:30 | St. Paul College, 235 Marshall Avenue, St. Paul, 55102, United States
The organization Global Minnesota will join the Korea Economic Institute in a joint event, The Future of U.S.-South Korea Relations, to be held September 18 at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
The event will include a panel discussion featuring representatives from the U.S. State Department and the Korean Embassy. These include Andy Hong, program officer at Korea Economic Institute; Keome Rowe, desk officer for the Republic of Korea at the U.S. State Department; and Jiho Lee, counselor to the Republic of Korea Embassy in the U.S.
Topics will include important context about the strategic relationship between the United States and South Korea, the ongoing tensions on the Korean peninsula, and the outlook for Korea’s economic, political, and cultural influence globally.
The event will be held at the University Center at St. Paul College,235 Marshall Avenue, St. Paul.

Korean Culture Festival set for Mall of America
2024-09-21 13:00 - 17:00 | Mall of America, 2131 Lindau Lane, Bloomington, MN, 55425, United States
Korean Americans will take the stage at the Huntington Rotunda at the Mall of America on Saturday, September 21, 1 to 5 p.m. for a free Korean Culture Festival.
The event, hosted by the Korean American Association of Minnesota and the Korean Consulate in Chicago, will feature cultural performances, such as the Korean martial art taekwondo, Korean traditional dance and drumming, a gayageum (Korean stringed instrument) performance, K-pop music and dance by the MKDC Kpop performance team.

Kimchi Festival to be held in St. Louis Park
2024-09-29 10:00 - 18:00 | Wolfe Park, 3700 Monterey Drive, St. Louis Park, MN, 55416, United States
Vendors, Korean cultural performances, kimchi tasting and a kimchi-making contest will all be featured at the Kimchi Festival, to be held Sunday, September 29 in St. Louis Park.

The festival is free to the public (no registration required) and will have family-friendly activities scheduled throughout the day.

The event is sponsored by AdopteeHub, an organization by and about Korean adoptees in the Twin Cities,. Many local Korean American and Asian American organizations will participate. The festival will be held at Wolfe Park, 3700 Monterey Drive, St. Louis Park. AdopteeHub recommends bringing lawn chairs and blankets to watch performances.

The AdopteeHub website has a link to register for the kimchi-making contest, and for on-site classes on how to make kimchi. Participants can register up to the day of the event. For more information, please contact AdopteeHub, at: in**@********ub.org.

Chicago group hosts adoptee-only roundtable event
2024-11-24 14:00 - 15:30 | Albany Park Library, 3401 West Foster, Chicago, IL, 60625, United States
Korean Adoptees of Chicago (KAtCH) will host an adoptee-only roundtable event to encourage a variety of topics of interest to adoptees, and to review an eventful year.
The free event will be held at the Albany Park Library, 2 to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 24.
The roundtable will be facilitated by Kim Langrehr, a professor at Roosevelt University and a licensed psychologist who works with adult adoptees and others impacted by adoption. Langrehr’s scholarship is focused on socialization among transnational adoptees, and navigating white fragility. Along with Katie Stefani and Anne Mills, Langrehr helped to co-found KAtCH in 2008.
Please register for this event at the link. The Albany Park branch library is a 10-minute walk from the Kimball Station (Brown Line). Bus routes are: 82 – Kimball; 92-Foster or 93- California-Dodge.

Comedy play Dinner for One to open in Minneapolis
2024-11-30 19:30 - 21:00 | Jungle Theater, 2951 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN, 55408, United States
The comedy play Dinner for One will open in Minneapolis November 30, starring Twin Cities actor (and Korean adoptee) Sun Mee Chomet. The show will run until January 5, with preview shows on November 27 and 29.
The play is based on a comedy sketch from the 1920s, and tells the story of a dutiful butler (played by Jim Lichtschiedl) who is trying to help his employer Miss Sophie (Chomet) celebrate her birthday. There are unpredictable mishaps, a little too much wine, and some enchanting live music.
Directed by Christina Baldwin, the play is returning to Jungle Theater a year after its premiere in 2023, when it was reviewed warmly for its comedic timing, humor, music and beautiful set and lighting.
One of the special performances planned is Jungle Theater Bash Night, to be held December 20, with Dinner for One-themed drinks and food. There is also a New Year’s Eve performance to be held December 31.
Jungle Theater also offers accessibility shows and special “pay as you are” pricing, which allows for those who cannot pay the $45 (market value) theater ticket to pay less if they choose to do so. Paying more than the market price covers costs of someone else’s ticket and helps Jungle Theater to offer its plays to a broader audience.
For more information on accessibility and ticket pricing, contact the box office at 612-822-7063 (or at https://www.jungletheater.org/box-office)
Jungle Theater is located at 2951 Lyndale Ave South, Minneapolis.

Virtual book talk on The Korean Myths by father-daughter coauthors
2024-12-18 18:00 - 19:30 | Reher Center for Immigrant Culture and History, 99-101 Broadway, Kingston, NY, 12401, United States
Father-daughter authors Heinz Insu Fenkl and Bella Myong-wol Dalton-Fenkl will give a free virtual talk, followed by discussion, Thursday, December 12 on their recent book The Korean Myths: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes and Legends.

The zoom event will be held at 6 p.m. (Central Time) and is a part of a book talk series entitled Migra-Story Circles, sponsored by the Reher Center of Immigrant Culture and History in Kingston, New York. Please see registration information at the link.
Dalton-Fenkl is a writer and artist. A graduate of Vassar College, she has translated poetry from Korean and classical Chinese, and her writings, translations, and artwork have appeared in Asymptote, The Adirondack Review, Words Without Borders, Sijo: An International Journal of Poetry & Song, AZALEA: Journal of Korean Literature & Culture, the International Examiner, and Korean Quarterly. She has received a number of awards for her poetry, including the Mary Rousmaniere Gordon Prize sponsored by the Academy of American Poets and the Sister Arts Poetry Prize.

Her bilingual (Korean/English) comic strip, Space Bunny, has been serialized in Korean Quarterly since 2008.

Fenkl is an award-winning writer, translator and editor. He is known for his collection, Korean Folktales, which he completed with the support of a Fulbright Research Award. His recent novel, Skull Water, was one of The New Yorker’s ‘Best Books of 2023’. His earlier novel, Memories of My Ghost Brother, was a PEN/Hemingway Award finalist. Both recount experiences from his childhood and youth, growing up in the U.S. Army camptowns in South Korea, caught between two cultures as the son of a Korean mother and a German soldier father.
His fiction and translations have been published in The New Yorker and he is the translator of the classic 17th-century Korean Buddhist novel, The Nine Cloud Dream, by Man-jung. Kim. He has also translated a wide array of contemporary Korean fiction and poetry.

Fenkl is also a lifelong comic book/graphic novel reader and aficionado, and has translated several classic serialized North Korean comics for publication in Korean Quarterly. He is a professor of English at the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz, New York.

Fenkl’s co-translation of Chang-dong Lee’s short story collection Snowy Day & Other Stories will be published by Penguin Random House in February.

The Migra-Story Circles series is supported by: Humanities New York. The National Endowment for the Humanities and the Reher Center.

Korean dance and taekwondo program set for Lunar New Year
2025-02-15 11:00 - 15:30 | White Bear Lake High School South Campus, 3551 McKnight Rd. N., White Bear Lake, MN, 55110, United States
Korean traditional music, dance, the martial art taekwondo, festive foods and a traditional painting workshop will be included in a Lunar New Year (Seollal) celebration.
The Korean Cultural Association, the support organization for JangMi Arts traditional dance and drumming school, is sponsoring the annual event at the White Bear Lake Area High School (south campus) on Saturday, February 1, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The entertainment program (1 to 2:45 p.m.) by JangMi students and Lee’s Champion Taekwondo students is free and open to the public. There will be a charge for the tteokguk lunch (a traditional good luck soup for the new year) (11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.). A Korean marketplace, with Korean crafts and games, will be held 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Also, a minhwa (traditional painting) workshop will be held from 3 to 5 p.m.
JangMi’s drum and dance program reaches out to Korean adoptees and their families in the Twin Cities area by getting children and youth together for friendship and to learn traditional performing arts.
The White Bear Lake High School south campus is located at 5045 Division Street, White Bear Lake.

AK Connection to hold Seollal dinner and performances
2025-02-15 13:30 - 16:00 | Northeast Recreation Center, 1530 Johnson Street NE, Minneapolis, MN, 55413, United States
AK Connection will celebrate the Year of the Snake with a Seollal party, to be held Saturday, February 15.

The event will include a meal of traditional foods for New Year, including tteokguk (a traditional soup for new year), japchae (noodles), rice, and kimchi (provided by Myonghi Kimchi), and chicken mu from the bb.q Chicken restaurant.

There will also be performances, Korean traditional games, crafts, and a sebae, or traditional bow to elders that happens on New Year day.

The event will be held at the Northeast Recreation Center, located at 1530 Johnson Street NE, Minneapolis, from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Reservations are available at the link.

Participants are encouraged to pay what they can for event costs with the following guidelines: $5 for a portion of event costs; $10 for break-even; and $20 to cover the costs of someone who cannot contribute.

Korean adoptees and their loved ones are welcome to join, but reservations are strongly encouraged. Seats are limited to the first 90 people who sign up.
