Last day for “little red string”

In from my friends at the Asian Arts Initiative:

Monday, July 6th marks viewers’ last chance to see Jonathan and Kimberly Stemler’s the little red string, a brilliant cluster of lanterns installed at Carlton Street between 11th and 12th Streets in Chinatown North.

To honor the little red string, the Asian Arts Initiative will host an evening of music, food and celebration under the lanterns on Monday, July 6th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.  Light refreshments will be provided.  Entertainment will include live music by local guitar players Annie Seng, Owen Zhong, and others.  Community members are encouraged to bring dishes to share in a potluck picnic and their own instruments and join in the jam session.  The event is free and open to the public. 

Visually suggesting stars and constellations, the little red string literally lights the way beneath a dark viaduct tunnel for the community’s expansion in Chinatown North. The lanterns are inscribed with personal stories from youth and senior Chinatown community members describing their connection with the night sky in their respective homelands, ancestors and traditions.

The removal of the little red string echoes the Asian Arts Initiative’s own current struggle to settle in a permanent home.  Recently displaced due to the expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, the organization is working to secure $2 million in eligible funds from the State of Pennsylvania to secure its current location before the purchase option expires on September 30th.

The little red string is one of four works of art on display in the Asian Arts Initiative’s four-month-long public art exhibition, Chinatown In/flux: Future Landscapes, a public art exhibition celebrating the growth, change, and resiliency of Philadelphia’s Chinatown.  The remaining pieces, including Rebecca Hackemann’s Visionary Sightseeing Binoculars, Nadia Hironaka’s Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio and Kikuchi + Liu’s Chinatown Orange will be on display through August 2, 2009.  Maps and information are available at the Asian Arts Initiative at 1219 Vine Street or online at www.chinatowninflux.org.

Closing Reception for Chinatown In/flux installation the little red string, Mon. July 6, 7:00-9:00 pm
Carlton Street between 11th and 12th Streets, Philadelphia, PA, 215-557-0455, www.asianartsinitiative.org.