JANM: Imagined Futures

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Got this passed along my way and sounds like it should be pretty cool - so mark your calendars and head on down if you get the chance (I'll post some links on the side when I get a chance as it's a couple months away):

“Imagined Futures” a special one day free conference, from 1 to 5pm on
Saturday May 2, 2009 at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo. This conference will teach as well as inspire young Japanese Americans and Asian Pacific Americans to future artistic and cultural production through an innovative conference format.

Following a special dance performance by U.C.L.A.’s Nikkei Student Union, participants will hear from keynote speakers: Eric Nakamura, publisher of Giant Robot, and George Takei, actor. Then participants will have the opportunity to take a two hour workshop from leaders in the fields of: Filmmaking, Anime/Comics, Blogs/New Media, Spoken Word/Hip Hop, Fiction, and the Art and Business of Clothing. Following the workshops, participants are invited to join the workshop leaders for a closing reception with light refreshments.

*Filmmaking with director/writer/producer Quentin Lee
*Anime/Comics with the author of the biweekly column “Asian Pop” for the San Francisco Chronicle, Jeff Yang
*Blogs/New Media with Phil Yu of Angry Asian Man
*Spoken Word/Hip Hop with LA hip-hop sensation Shin-B
*Fiction with award winning writer, Naomi Hirahara
*The Art and Business of Clothing with Ryan Suda of Blacklava

Through the generous support of the Aratani Endowment at the University of California at Los Angeles and the Japanese American National Museum, the conference is offered free of charge. Registration is required in order to ensure a place in the workshops.

To find out more information and to register for the workshops, participants can visit the Imagined Futures group on Facebook, email ImaginedFutures2009@gmail.com, or call the Japanese American National Museum at 213-625-0414.
See what else is going down at the JANM.