Media Alert: August 2019 Events at Asia Society Texas Center
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HOUSTON, July 17, 2019 — Asia Society Texas Center (ASTC) welcomes Tibetan Buddhist monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery, returning to Houston for their fifth consecutive year to construct a sand mandala and perform music and dance ceremonies on August 14–18.
Over five days at ASTC, the monks will meticulously place millions of grains of colored sand to create the mandala. Viewing hours are FREE and open to the public, who are also invited to create Tibetan prayer flags which will be strung together and displayed at ASTC.
On Saturday, August 17, visitors are welcome to try their hand at placing sand for a community mandala during viewing hours. Additionally, the monks will present Sacred Music Sacred Dance for World Healing, which draws from ancient Tibetan temple traditions, for two performances: a shorter, family-friendly afternoon matinee and a full-length evening program.
Plus, in mid-August, ASTC opens new exhibition Scraping the Sky: Photographs by Vicky Roy, featuring images of human industry in radically different environments. The exhibition pairs a selection of Roy’s photographs of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center in New York with images from his extensive time in the Himalayas where he captured the high-altitude architecture constructed there with extremely limited raw materials. Roy compares these different approaches to building and engineering, and asks us to consider their environmental impacts. Admission to this exhibition is FREE and open to the public.
Artists' Talk: Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba and Prince Varughese Thomas
Artists Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba and Prince Varughese Thomas will discuss their works in Asia Society Texas Center's exhibition Site Lines: Artists Working in Texas. Through video, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba emphasizes the effect that individual imagination has on the accrued power and histories of specific places. With his installations, Prince Varughese Thomas focuses on the impacts of geopolitical events on particular communities.
When: Saturday, August 3, 1–2:30 p.m.
Where: Asia Society Texas Center
Admission: Free for Asia Society Members, $5 Students and Seniors, $8 Nonmembers
Mandala Sand Painting by the Mystical Arts of Tibet
Tibetan Buddhist monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery return to Houston to create a mandala sand painting with opening and closing ceremonies. During mandala viewing hours, families can create their own lung ta ("wind horse") prayer flags, which will be strung together for display at Asia Society.
When: Wednesday, August 14 – Sunday, August 18, Viewing hours vary daily
Where: Asia Society Texas Center
Admission: Free and open to the public
Sacred Music Sacred Dance for World Healing by the Mystical Arts of Tibet
Tibetan Buddhist monks return to present Sacred Music Sacred Dance for World Healing. Robed in magnificent costumes and playing traditional Tibetan instruments, the Drepung Loseling monks will present ancient temple music and dance. These ticketed performances complement the mandala sand painting that will be ongoing at ASTC.
When: Saturday, August 17, 2 p.m. Family Matinee, 7 p.m. Full-Length Performance
Where: Asia Society Texas Center
Admission: Matinee: $15 Asia Society Members, $25 Nonmembers | Full-Length: $35 Asia Society Members, $45 Nonmembers
Out of the Gobi: From Mao Zedong's China to the American Dream
In his new book Out of the Gobi, Weijian Shan shares his improbable journey from exile in the Gobi Desert at age 15 to becoming one of Asia's best-known financiers.
When: Thursday, August 22, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Asia Society Texas Center
Admission: $15 Asia Society Members, $25 Nonmembers
Family Night: Back-to-School Bento
Join us for a fun family night to get ready for the new school year! Learn about school life in Japan and make your own Bento box, to be replicated at home for packing school lunches.
When: Friday, August 23, 6 p.m.
Where: Asia Society Texas Center
Admission: One child and one adult: $25 Asia Society Members, $30 Nonmembers | Group of 4: $40 Asia Society Members, $50 Nonmembers
Artist Talk: FOCA (Formosa Circus Art)
In this discussion, catch a glimpse behind the scenes and under the big top of Taiwan's Formosa Circus Art (FOCA) and their unique mixture of historical storytelling, music, and circus magic.
When: Sunday, August 25, 3 p.m.
Where: Asia Society Texas Center
Admission: Free and open to the public
Ongoing Exhibitions
Site Lines: Artists Working in Texas (CLOSES IN AUGUST)
In ASTC's first-ever exhibition to focus on locally-based artists, Site Lines: Artists Working in Texas draws connections between Asia and Texas via works by Asian American artists living in Austin, Dallas, Tyler, and Houston. Through video, drawings, paintings, installations, and collage, Ambreen Butt, Abhidnya Ghuge, Beili Liu, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, and Prince Varughese Thomas address themes such as the value of work, cultural memory, and the importance of place.
Learn more »
When: On view through August 18, 2019
Where: Asia Society Texas Center
Admission: Free for Asia Society Members, $5 Students and Seniors, $8 Nonmembers
Scraping the Sky: Photographs by Vicky Roy (NEW — OPENS IN AUGUST)
This exhibition compares two bodies of work by Vicky Roy. Selected by the U.S.-based Maybach Foundation to photo-document the reconstruction of the World Trade Center in New York, Roy produced a body of photographs focused on the rebuilding in 2009. ASTC will mark the 10th anniversary of Roy's unique views of the city in recovery by featuring a selection of his photographs from the WTC site.
Roy has also spent extensive time in the Indian Himalayas, where he captured the natural beauty of the world's tallest mountain range as well as the people who inhabit "the roof of the world," notable for the range of architecture made with extremely raw materials. By featuring photographs from his Himalayan series alongside his New York works, this exhibition compares the vast range of human ingenuity put to the service of engineering and building feats in radically different environments.
Learn more »
When: On view August 10 – October 20, 2019
Where: Asia Society Texas Center
Admission: Free and open to the public
About Asia Society Texas Center
With 13 locations throughout the world, Asia Society is the leading educational organization promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among the peoples, leaders, and institutions of Asia and West. Asia Society Texas Center executes the global mission with a local focus, enriching and engaging the vast diversity of Houston through innovative, relevant programs in arts and culture, business and policy, education, and community outreach.