UPCOMING EVENTS

Destroyed By Madness

Opening reception July 3, 6-8pm | Exhibition up through July 31, 2009

Born from poverty, from police citation, from literature and narcissism and inward analysis, fluctuating hate and love for Charlottesville and the world, a phenomena of over consumption and masochistic tendencies, confusion, and both acceptance and the refusal to accept, described through a group photograph, paint, audio, and video exhibition curated by Riley Duncan. The exhibition seeks to find a medium, to find soul in the chaos and cacophony of our eclectic lives in this madness.

Renminbi + Wanli + The Hilarious Posters

Sunday, July 5, 2009 | 8pm | $5

“Renminbi—the duo of Lisa Liu and SMV, joined by a string of guest drummers—has developed a solid local buzz based on a style that summons memories of Olympia, Washington’s riot-grrrl scene of the early ’90s: Some songs are tense and wiry; others, relaxed and synth-padded. But on its newly released single, “Portland,” Renminbi demonstrates a serious dose of low-key heavy that calls to mind much of what we all love about noise-pop combos like Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo.” - Time Out New York

HzCollective presents: NanoHz #23

Tuesday, July 7, 2009 | 8pm | $5

Wilson Shook - alto saxophone

Jonathan Zorn - doublebass

Rachel Thompson - viola

Wilson Shook is an improvising saxophonist living in Seattle, Washington.

Wilson’s music emphasizes focus, texture, chance and exploration. It exists in dialogue with its specific and contingent contexts; it is ‘new music’ in that it explores each new moment and seeks to develop a critical awareness of the present. Perhaps better characterized as ‘present music’, it is less concerned with staking out new musical territory than it is with creating relevant and personal communication that places equal value on intention and sensitivity.

Sonically, Wilson’s music is informed by lower case and minimalist aesthetics, while embracing the full range of his instrument. Always aware of balance and the fundamental importance of space, Wilson is especially interested in incidental or ‘between’ sounds: material that exists on the edges and in the cracks of the conventional sonic palate.

Wilson will be joined by local improvisors Jonathan Zorn and Rachel Thompson.

Film Screening and Q and A: The Little Trip of a Dream

Wednesday, July 8, 2009 | 8pm | Donation appreciated

by Jen Lawhorne; 34 min, NTSC subtitled in Spanish and English

“The Little Trip of a Dream” is a documentary that tells the story of an American woman who during a trip to Mexico meets the village of her undocumented friends with whom she works back in Richmond, Va. In interviews with the community, the woman, Jen, comes to understand her friends’ motivations for migrating to the U.S. Jen also runs into former co-workers and her friends’ family members who stayed behind.

Curious, Jen travels to the U.S./Mexico border to see the conditions in which her friends had to travel. There, she meets activists who are trying to help migrants and other people who don’t want migrants to enter the U.S. Jen explores the border and its different manifestations and when she returns to Richmond to share her experience with her friends, she sees them with new eyes.

6th Annual Kundiman Retreat Reading

Friday, July 10, 2009 | 8pm
For six years now, Kundiman has held a summer retreat at UVA, where 18 emerging Asian American poets are selected from a competitive national pool to work closely with three master poets. Each summer, Kundiman holds a reading for the UVA-Charlottesville community to spotlight faculty and fellows. This year, we are proud to hold our annual retreat reading at The Bridge, which will feature our 2009 faculty Rick Barot, Staceyann Chin, and Myung Mi Kim. Our poets span a range of aesthetics—from meditative lyric to experimental to performance; this will be a reading that impresses the audience with the exuberance and diversity of today’s Asian American poetry. Reception to follow.

For more information: www.kundiman.org