TIA CARR WRITES — Just last week, the popular app TikTok was flooded with frantic posts from prominent figures saying goodbye to their beloved online forum and urging followers to keep up with them on other online platforms. This came in response to President Trump’s executive order, demanding that Apple…
Category: Arts and Culture
SOUTH KOREA: THE ACCIDENTAL TRANSLATOR
ANDREA PLATE WRITES — Lizzie Buehler, 25, raised in Texas, is the translator of The Disaster Tourist, South Korean author Yun Ko-eun’s first novel to be translated into English and published in the US recently. This truly original book is about international tourists who thrive on visiting world-famous tragic sites…
CULTURE: TIK TOK, TIME IS RUNNING OUT?
LIAM ROGERS WRITES – On August 24, TikTok Inc. and ByteDance Ltd., TikTok Inc.’s parent company, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. This lawsuit, filed with the United States District Court for the Central District of California, accuses the Trump Administration of depriving Tiktok Inc. of due process, which…
K-POP CULTURE V. US IGNORANCE: THE BTS ‘CONSPIRACY’
LILLY WEBBER WRITES — In a tweet posted recently on his official Twitter, Floridan politician KW Miller asked the following question: “Why was AOC conspiring with Koreans such as Junkook and BTS (Big Time Socialists) to undermine our President?”. Miller’s tweet was in response to the low audience turnout at President Donald…
CORONAVIRUS CHRONICLES: I’LL HAVE A PLATE OF NOSTALGIA WITH A DASH OF DIALOGUE WITH THE MOON
JOSEPH LITTAUA WRITES – Quarantine has given me the opportunity to analyze how internet culture has changed this year. From the Zoomers’ (Gen Z’s unofficial nickname) rapid and constantly changing sense of humor and memes to new trends from the most seemingly random of songs, some social media trends come…
CORONAVIRUS CHRONICLES: #PLAYAPARTTOGETHER
JOANNE PANG WRITES – COVID-19 continues to spread amongst communities, and Hong Kong’s zero-case streak has been reset now to over 100 cases daily. The government urges citizens to stay at home unless necessary; but for the gamers out there who want to play with their friends, what can be…
CULTURE: CANCELING FROM THE WEST TO THE EAST
ASSOCIATE EDITOR ZHI JIAO DANIELLE GOH WRITES—These days, it’s not hard to hear “You’re canceled.” But do people understand what this is really about? Cancel culture refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for (canceling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered seriously offensive.…
VIETNAM: SPIKE LEE’S MOVIE ‘DA 5 BLOODS’ IS OUT OF SYNC WITH THE COUNTRY IT PORTRAYS
CHARLOTTE TRUONG, WHO HAILS FROM VIETNAM, WRITES — Recently, Netflix has stepped into the Asian movie market through collaborative works such as Kingdom of Korea and The Victim’s Game of Taiwan. Among them, Da 5 Bloods (Vietnamese title: 5 Chien Huu) is a film directed by Spike Lee, filmed in…
SOUTH KOREA: IS WORLD-FAMOUS AUTHOR BAE SUAH “UN-KOREAN?”
ANDREA PLATE WRITES — (This is the third in an original series about new wave feminist writers in Korea.) Why, for the past fifteen years, has literary icon Bae Suah — author of at least twelve sensationally popular surrealist novels, several short story collections, winner of two Korean literary prizes…
CORONAVIRUS COLLATERAL DAMAGE: THE LONELY CHINESE RESTAURANT
LILLY WEBER WRITES — With highly influential individuals like President Donald Trump referring to the coronavirus using the phrase the “Chinese Virus”, it’s not entirely surprising that Asian Americans are being negatively affected by such rhetoric. While the entirety of the restaurant industry has been hit hard by the shelter-in-orders…
SOUTH KOREAN CINEMA: ‘PARASITE’ THRIVES IN AMERICA DESPITE XENOPHOBIA
LILLY WEBBER WRITES – After sweeping the Oscars and finishing the night with four different awards, including Best Picture, the South Korean dark comedy thriller film Parasite by director Bong Joon-ho has surprised international audiences and film connoisseurs alike with its success. Parasite’s victory is unprecedented in the Oscars’ history…
25TH ANNUAL LA ART SHOW: HIGHLIGHTING THE BEST ASIAN ART
ANNALISA DEL VECCHIO, ASIAN ART EDITOR, WRITES – Chong-II Woo – Women of the Joseon Dynasty Nude Woo, also known for his work as a photographer for Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar magazine, gives his interpretation of Korea’s modern history through this beautiful pigment print on Hanji paper. Sogen Chiba –…
NEW ZEALAND AT OSCARS 2020: TAIKA WAITITI PUTS THE SPOTLIGHT ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
NATHAN RIVAS WRITES – During this year’s Academy Award ceremony at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater, Taika Waititi became the first person of Maori descent to win an Oscar (for “Jojo Rabbit”), which he dedicated to all of the indigenous children of the world “who want to do art and dance and write…
ANN ARBOR: ASSOCIATION OF ASIAN STUDIES ANNUAL BOOK AWARDS
THE ASSOCIATION OF ASIAN STUDIES WRITES — The AAS is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s prize competitions and offer congratulations to all honorees. We encourage everyone to attend the Awards Ceremony at the upcoming AAS annual conference in Boston, MA on Friday, March 20, where the award winners will…
Orange County: A DAZZLING ASIAN SPIN ON THAT SWEET OLD NUTCRACKER MASTERPIECE
ANDREA PLATE WRITES – It was Christmas Eve, the final performance of a three-week “Nutcracker Ballet” series at the University of California, Irvine’s Barclay Theater. “Are there, like, a ton of Asians around, or is it my imagination?” someone in the crowd mumbled to his friend. But of course! How…
AMBUSH IN TOKYO: FASHION GETS CORNERED BY CULTURE … BUT BY HAPPY DESIGN
NILE BROWN WRITES — Broad shoulders, billowy trousers and bold neon colors permeate AMBUSH’s recently released Spring/Summer 2020 lookbook. At first look, it may appear that the Tokyo based fashion label has recontextualized styling techniques popularized in the 80s, but head designers Verbal and Yoon Ahn take it a bit…