Performance by Nobuko Miyamoto and traci kato-kiriyama
Connect with jamo
Not Yo’ Butterfly and Navigating With(out) Instruments Reed College Performing Arts Hall Atrium Park in the West Parking Lot. The new year 2023, brings a new exhibit, InterACT!: The Art of Creating Together. Included are workshops, artist activism, book talks and a rare visit by national artists Nobuko Miyamoto and traci kato-kiriyama, bringing their talents and inspiration to our Portland community of artists dedicated to social justice, storytelling and the performing arts. On Saturday, January 21, we have the pleasure of hosting a special night of readings, storytelling, and music from Nobuko Miyamoto (A Grain of Sand; 120,000 Stories, Smithsonian Folkways Recording; Founder of Great Leap; Not Yo’ Butterfly, University of California Press) and traci kato-kiriyama (TALES OF CLAMOR, PULLproject Ensemble; Director/Founder of Tuesday Night Project; Navigating With(out) Instruments, Writ Large Press). traci will read and talk story from Navigating With(out) Instruments – poetry / micro essays / notes to self while reflecting on lessons learned from her big sis/longtime hero/early teacher/mentor, Nobuko, as well as lessons learning from tkk’s kaleidoscopic existence in various arenas of performance (incl. devised theatre; literary arts; multimedia performance/installation; acting; audiobook narration) and community organizing & cultural production (incl. Vigilant Love; National Nikkei Reparations Coalition; TNP, in its 25th year presenting the longest running Asian American public arts series in the country). Nobuko will play music and read from Not Yo’ Butterfly, reflecting on decades of collaborations with a countless multitude of Asian Americans and artists of color through concerts, musicals, music videos, Obon songs, and projects like FandangObon that engage communities to cross and demolish cultural borders. She will offer stories and wisdom from an incredible, expansive life. “STRIVING MY FIRST THIRTY years trying to make it in showbiz AND the next fifty years creating an alternative.” Together, Nobuko and traci will spend some time in music and in conversation – discussing everything from history, family and relations to art, collaboration, activism and cultural solidarity work. Join us! About Nobuko Miyamoto About traci kato-kiriyama As a storyteller and Artivist, tkk is grounded in collaborative process, collective self-determination, and art+community as intrinsically tied and a critical means toward connection and healing. She is a performer & principal writer of PULLproject Ensemble, two-time NET recipient; NEFA 2021-22 awardee for their show TALES OF CLAMOR. This event is part of the month-long InterACT! The Art of Creating Together program at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon.
Performance, conversation and book signing with Nobuko Miyamoto and traci kato-kiriyama
Saturday, January 21
Reception: 7:00pm
Performance: 7:30pm
3017 SE Woodstock Blvd
Portland, OR 97202
Nobuko Miyamoto is a third-generation Japanese American songwriter, dance and theater artist, and activist, and is the Artistic Director of Great Leap. Her work has explored ways to reclaim and decolonize our minds, bodies, histories, and communities, using the arts to create social change and solidarity across cultural borders. Two of Nobuko’s albums are part of the Smithsonian Folkways catalog: A Grain of Sand, with Chris Iijima and Charlie Chin, produced by Paredon Records in 1973, and 120,000 Stories, released by Smithsonian Folkways in 2021.
traci kato-kiriyama (they+she; based on unceded Tongva land in the south bay of Los Angeles)–author of Navigating With(out) Instruments (Writ Large Press)–is an award-winning multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary artist, recognized for their work as a writer/performer, theatre deviser, cultural producer, community organizer, and audiobook narrator.