Presenting :33, the newest Miko Kuro's Midnight Tea exhibition book for your hungry art-loving eyes! Sooooo many people helped me make Midnight Tea in Helsinki (the 33rd Midnight Tea) possible especially Bonnie d'Alene, Forum Box, Petteri Cederberg, Sammy Chien, Christopher Shaw, Guitian Li, Alexander Chamas, William Hagy, Lucas Pedersen, Marie Yläoutinen, Mia Martta Mökillä, Tin Ker Bell, Zecarias Ghebreselassie, Emilia Tapprest, and so many more awesome individuals!
>> http://blur.by/1ffx5Pw
10/27/13
1/2/13
Jet-lagged but Happy 2013!
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| Mumbai Twelve member, Jumanne Donahue with two Midnight Tea guests. (Tao Gallery, Mumbai) |
I want to summarize what happened in Mumbai and Goa, but I'm not sure I can just yet. It's all still a cloud of memories in my head. I'm sitting with my daughter, Romie, and she's helping me remember stuff. Her favorite memory is swimming in the Indian Ocean at the end of the adventure. She also mentioned that taxi cabs in Mumbai need something other than an address to get you where you're going. Tis true! While we were in Worli, we would ask to be dropped off at the Poodar Hospital. Landmarks became very important ways to negotiate space and time!
Mostly, I'm in the present. Facing unpaid bills, a mountain of correspondence, application deadlines, and a family full of sick, sore-throated, coughy, sneezy, but adorable people who need more naps. I am slightly stagnated by my to-do list but determined to start off 2013 by not succumbing to procrastination. On that note, lemme snuggle my Muffin and add to this when I'm more rested. Priorities! Priorities! :)
12/18/12
Mumbai = Bombay
I'm not sure when to say this journey began. It began in my heart in 2009, late at night, among friends at my home in Seattle. We were discussing time, culture, and everything in between when we mothered and fathered the Midnight Tea in Mumbai project in my livingroom. And like a caterpillar gorging itself into a fat pupa on leaves, I fed this idea mouthfuls of hope and belief for 3 steady years, until today I saw for the first time, the nearing fruition.
I can not express in words the fullness of India. I am only seeing small slices of Mumbai/Bombay-- a city too much for one name alone-- from the windows of weaving taxi cabs and on my walks around the city. My eyes shift back and forth to take it all in, but there is always more to see, even when I sweep them back and forth, back and forth like a blind person's cane. Even the garbage is fascinating.
On day three, I am here. I am rested enough to function without the nausea that comes from jet-lag coupled with motherhood. I am different inside and I feel it seeping into me, spreading out from my center. I can not name it like the city that refuses to choose between Toby or Kunta Kinte. It's a both/and-situation as my friend, Bettina Judd, would say.
When I went to China in 2011 with my children and hosted a Midnight Tea in Kunming with the amazing artists at 943 Studios, I thought I had gone as far outside of my comfort zone as was possible. I could never have successfully completed that project, halfway around the world, alone except for my children, as an English-only speaker, if it hadn't been for Lifen Liu and her amazing ability to multitask the way women have for generations-- with purpose, without excuses, and with an admirable determination to make space for what is necessary in this world.
I am now, a year later, fully present in my gratitude to Lifen, Xiao Mei and Jianbo, who went above and beyond to help me see my vision through. Now in India, Namrata Bhawnani (Visual Disobedience) has stepped into the role of co-facilitator-- being amazingly generous at every opportunity. Whatever I need is made available. No impossible exists in Namrata's world. That is true power and greatness. And I am humbled by it. In a place like Mumbai, where there is heartbreaking poverty at every turn, finding people like Namrata, who can see through all the potential problems to the solution-- an answer, is simply awe-inspiring. I haven't even met her in person yet, but I love her already.
So why did I start this project? Why do I do this work?
I think it might be for 3 reasons. Friendship. Beauty. And Experience.
I can't summarize my first 3 days with words. Which ones would I choose? But I will try to find words another time. For now, some images:
I can not express in words the fullness of India. I am only seeing small slices of Mumbai/Bombay-- a city too much for one name alone-- from the windows of weaving taxi cabs and on my walks around the city. My eyes shift back and forth to take it all in, but there is always more to see, even when I sweep them back and forth, back and forth like a blind person's cane. Even the garbage is fascinating.
On day three, I am here. I am rested enough to function without the nausea that comes from jet-lag coupled with motherhood. I am different inside and I feel it seeping into me, spreading out from my center. I can not name it like the city that refuses to choose between Toby or Kunta Kinte. It's a both/and-situation as my friend, Bettina Judd, would say.
When I went to China in 2011 with my children and hosted a Midnight Tea in Kunming with the amazing artists at 943 Studios, I thought I had gone as far outside of my comfort zone as was possible. I could never have successfully completed that project, halfway around the world, alone except for my children, as an English-only speaker, if it hadn't been for Lifen Liu and her amazing ability to multitask the way women have for generations-- with purpose, without excuses, and with an admirable determination to make space for what is necessary in this world.
I am now, a year later, fully present in my gratitude to Lifen, Xiao Mei and Jianbo, who went above and beyond to help me see my vision through. Now in India, Namrata Bhawnani (Visual Disobedience) has stepped into the role of co-facilitator-- being amazingly generous at every opportunity. Whatever I need is made available. No impossible exists in Namrata's world. That is true power and greatness. And I am humbled by it. In a place like Mumbai, where there is heartbreaking poverty at every turn, finding people like Namrata, who can see through all the potential problems to the solution-- an answer, is simply awe-inspiring. I haven't even met her in person yet, but I love her already.
So why did I start this project? Why do I do this work?
I think it might be for 3 reasons. Friendship. Beauty. And Experience.
I can't summarize my first 3 days with words. Which ones would I choose? But I will try to find words another time. For now, some images:
12/13/12
How to Participate Remotely
Guests of Miko Kuro's Midnight Tea receive a personalized role and assignment created by their [g]hostess, Miko Kuro, to help guide them through the art ritual.
For the Midnight Tea in Mumbai, people may choose to participate as Guests, Red Chorus members, and Remote Participants. Only invited members of the press and invited friends and family of the Guests, Featured Artists, and Midnight Team will be allowed to observe this event on-site. Others wishing to follow along with the proceedings can do so by following along on the MKMT Facebook Page.
LIKE US now for updates on how to see images and streaming video during the 12-hr event.
Below are the options available for Remote Participants, or people who would like to be involved somehow but can not physically be present in Mumbai during the event.
Options for Participation
(Non-Guest Instructions)
Miko Kuro’s Midnight Tea is a participatory event. Should you feel compelled, you are encouraged to do any or all of the following to participate in the Midnight Tea.
My name is __________________________________________________Red. (e.g. “Owl beak breaks open”)
My mother’s name is __________________________________________Red. (e.g. “Not even”)
My father’s name is ___________________________________________Red.
I come from a people known for ________________& ___________________.
Remember me.
(Non-Guest Instructions)
Miko Kuro’s Midnight Tea is a participatory event. Should you feel compelled, you are encouraged to do any or all of the following to participate in the Midnight Tea.
- Create your own ritual, upload photos, sound, or video of it to the Facebook Community Page or Youtube (be sure to reference "Miko Kuro's Midnight Tea"/ www.mikokuro.com).
- You may also complete the following “Red Lineage”—an international, multidisciplinary project by Miko Kuro’s Midnight Tea founder, Natasha Marin. You can POST in the Community Page or submit it here.
My name is __________________________________________________Red. (e.g. “Owl beak breaks open”)
My mother’s name is __________________________________________Red. (e.g. “Not even”)
My father’s name is ___________________________________________Red.
I come from a people known for ________________& ___________________.
Remember me.
12/7/12
T MINUS ONE WEEK
A week from today, I will be headed to Vancouver with my family and my buddy Zac B, where we will fly to Mumbai, India for a wee adventure!
Why India?
Why India?
India, specifically Mumbai, is where my friends, Shree Joglekar and Jui Mhatre went to art school. The idea for this
project was collaboratively engineered by four very different minds. My
partner, Kelly, and I were hosting Jui and Shree for the weekend, as they were
the Featured Artists at “The Time Tea” which took place in Vancouver on October
31, 2009. We found ourselves discussing how we could use the extra hour during
the upcoming Midnight Tea event (it was the night the clocks turn back an
hour), and we ended up talking about how time is experienced in India. We
imagined together that a tea in Mumbai would have to be an exponential version
of the current project—12 hours in duration with 12 artists to work alongside
participating guests to create a one-of-a-kind art ritual.
And so now it's happening.
I'm really lucky to be working with some incredible people in Mumbai who have been instrumental in getting the project to where it is:
Namrata Bhawnani (Visual Disobedience) is awesome-- professional, communicative, and supremely connected in Mumbai. She's an ex-journalist with ties to artists of all kinds, from animators to dancers and musicians. She's the real thing! Read more about her here.
Shelly Jyoti is a poet, artist, fashion designer, mother, and maker of beautiful things! We both are connected to Seattle's amazing ArtXchange Gallery in historic Pioneer Square. Shelly's work on the indigo farmers in rural India opened up many interesting discussions about legacy and aesthetics. Visit her website.
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Snigdha Binjola is a tea sommelier, whose company TeaTrunk.com combines with skillfully crafted blends of carefully selected teas with the ambiance created by narrative and storytelling. In Mumbai, she will be serving tea during the Water Cycle at the Tao Art Gallery.
Arshiya Lokhandwala, the director of the Lakeeren Gallery, creates space for innovative concepts-- providing a much-needed impetus for showcasing new, avant-garde contemporary art in India.
To find out more about the Midnight Tea in Mumbai, visit us on Facebook, or online at www.mikokuro.com. All guests must RSVP to attend.
11/30/12
Metrics for Success
My friend and entrepreneur, Nina Carduner, held my hand as I created this set of metrics for success with the Midnight in Mumbai project:
Criteria for Success:
Criteria for Success:
(if the world were perfect)
1 . Documentation - Successful harvesting of video, sound, photos, testimonials, evidence of what happens during the 12-hr event. Scale: 6
2. Media Coverage - Any kind of coverage will be welcome. Scale: unknown
3. Professional Experience - Interaction with galleries and artists. Scale: 10
4. Collaboration & Compromise - Natasha is unruffled by
inevitable snafus. Harmonizing intention despite differing viewpoints, perspectives and areas of expertise during the 12 hr tea. This is largely dependent on self-care. Which means: Getting rest, food, sleep, tai chi, and meditation. Scale: 7
5. Safety - Nobody gets hurt, hospitalized, or arrested. Scale: unknown
6. Future Opportunities - Reasons to return to India, including meeting artists and potential future collaborators. Scale: 8
7. Creative Engagement - So far, this work as been very admin-heavy, as such some more emphasis on creative engagement would be welcome from here on out.
This is also an internal issue. Scale: 6
8. Beach Time & Relaxation - Go to a beach, relax, smoke,
laugh with James Cagney and play spades with Zac, etc. Scale: 5
9. Genuine Encounter & Learning - The internal grace and willingness to grow and exceed one's prior self. Evolution. Scale: 8
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| RSVP for Midnight in Mumbai here. |
My friend and advocate, Sakara Remmu, helped me make a list of excuses that I might tell myself that would keep me from success. Together we developed a daily mantra for success:
It's not too hard. I can do this.
Time is a figment of my imagination.
Time is a figment of my imagination.
I have as much time as I think I have and plenty of energy.
I will prioritize self-care so my energy does not get depleted.
The unknown excites me.
I want this opportunity to validate myself and others.
I am ready for a new landscape, new perspectives, and new friendships.
11/2/12
Kickstarter - Midnight in Mumbai
2.jpg)
THANK YOU!
I am really, truly, deeply grateful to our 63 backers for making this happen:
| Alice Marshall |
| Alicia Bowman |
| Amber Kruel |
| Amie Colonna Gillingham |
| Amy Jean Swanson |
| Angel Stewart |
| Anne Liu Kellor |
| Barbie-Danielle DeCarlo |
| Bonnie Brooks |
| Brent Amaker |
| Brigid Ferkett |
| C Davida Ingram |
| Casey Jones |
| Cora Edmonds |
| Corey Paganucci |
| Cristina Orbe |
| David H. Adler |
| Edward Bennett |
| Ellen McGrath Smith |
| Eman Hassan |
| Emily Price |
| Erika Peterson |
| Felicia Hayes |
| Ian Obermuller |
| Jaime Lemonberry-Farkleface Mcclung |
| James Cagney |
| Jaye Marin Skinner |
| Jenny Asarnow |
| Jessie Caryl |
| Jim Demetre |
| Karen James |
| Karen Toering |
| Karen Tsang |
| Kat Morris |
| Kate Weale |
| Kelly O'Brien |
| Ken Shook |
| Laila Suidan |
| Laura Lucas |
| Lauren Davis |
| Leilani Lewis |
| Lisa Marie Rollins |
| Lisa Pollman |
| Lydia Swartz |
| Matt Daly |
| Mike Soriano |
| Natalie Diaz |
| Nicole Bearden |
| Nikki Turner |
| Nina Carduner |
| Ramata Diebate |
| Renee Marin |
| Sakara Remmu |
| Sarah Levine |
| Shannon Stull |
| Sharan Strange |
| Stacey Bennetts |
| Stephanie Pruitt Gaines |
| Timothy Lennon |
| Tommye Blount |
| Van Diep |
| Virginia Wright |
| Yonnas T Getahun |
After Amazon.com and Kickstarter's fees (!!!) we should have about $2300 to put towards those efforts. Below is the more sobering reality check-- getting to India is a bit pricey. Additional donations will be gladly accepted via the event website
REAL EXPENSES:
$1500 - Venue Fees (damage deposit, cleaning fees)
$4,400* – Roundtrip Airfare for 2 Featured Artists
$2,200* - Roundtrip Airfare for 1 Childcare Assistant
$1000 - Production Design (Set elements, Lighting, and Sound)
$500 - Marketing and Public Relations
$400 Translation and Transportation Assistance in Mumbai
TOTAL: $10,000
*Average RT flight to Mumbai from Seattle (December): $2200 per person
Please help us to spread the word by telling your friends. If you have ideas and/or suggestions about what we can do better, let us know. Yes, we want to connect with you through art, creativity and TEA! Just email mikokuro@gmail.com and visit www.mikokuro.com for more more more.
10/23/12
Spotlight on Stafanya Talenti
Stafanya Talenti has been a member of the Midnight Team since 2009 when teas were held monthly at 45WEST STUDIOS in Vancouver, Canada.
While editing the Midnight in Mumbai video, she created a series of vignettes that feature moments from past gatherings. See more of her work.
Here's one from the archives ...
Audio: Mugoux Varra
8/26/12
Effervescent, Vibrant, Connected, Whole. Midnight Tea Ritual is a source of power.
The kind of reviews that matter the most to me come from the actual participants who are Special Guests at Miko Kuro's Midnight Tea. The quote above is from JU, who played a key role in co-creating the "Transformation Room" at the most recent Midnight Tea in Seattle.
Sammy Chien, an artist friend of mine from Taipei/Vancouver, created the sound installation which can be heard here. Which was combined with sound created by Khadijah Queen in collaboration with her son, Tariq, here. Both pieces really set the tone for the entire evening and I am so excited and happy with what took place.
The 12 Guests produced their own Midnight Tea rituals in preparation for the main event and posted the results to the MKMT Facebook Community page.
During Friday's "New Media Tea" as part of the PUSH Arts Festival, people could participate in the Midnight Tea remotely by posting comments, images, sound, video etc. on Twitter (@mikokuro), Facebook, etc. Vancouver Midnight Team members, Stafanya Talenti and Lord Loxley contributed an awesome video of their Midnight Tea ritual.
Here are some more contributions:
This event was sponsored in part by Blue Gourami. Please check them out on the web. xoox
Sammy Chien, an artist friend of mine from Taipei/Vancouver, created the sound installation which can be heard here. Which was combined with sound created by Khadijah Queen in collaboration with her son, Tariq, here. Both pieces really set the tone for the entire evening and I am so excited and happy with what took place.
The 12 Guests produced their own Midnight Tea rituals in preparation for the main event and posted the results to the MKMT Facebook Community page.
During Friday's "New Media Tea" as part of the PUSH Arts Festival, people could participate in the Midnight Tea remotely by posting comments, images, sound, video etc. on Twitter (@mikokuro), Facebook, etc. Vancouver Midnight Team members, Stafanya Talenti and Lord Loxley contributed an awesome video of their Midnight Tea ritual.
Here are some more contributions:
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| Lydia Swartz, as NI |
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| Trenton Flock, as JUNI |
This event was sponsored in part by Blue Gourami. Please check them out on the web. xoox
8/22/12
Jesus. Mary. And Joseph
Is it fair to say that I am a shitty blogger? I think it's fair. I'll bet if I had a clone instead of two incredibly adorable kids, I'd be a better blogger. But that isn't even true because there are tons of amazing bloggers out there who are parents too. So it's just me then ... sucking. Or at least feeling a bit on the sucky side today because I realize that the summer is almost over and I have SO MUCH MORE TO DO and I haven't even been blogging about all the stuff that's happened.
Midnight Tea in New York was, how do you say ... AMAZING! Yes. Khadijah Queen, Anastacia Tolbert, Bettina Judd, Ashaki Jackson and I spent a wonderful weekend doing things like conjuring rituals at midnight, going to see the Kusama exhibit at the Whitney and catching up with my fellow writer-friend, Gloria Steinem.
And now the PUSH NEW MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL has Miko Kuro's Midnight Tea as part of their featured programming this weekend! This will be my first attempt at hosting a Midnight Tea in-person and online on Facebook and Twitter. I'm really grateful to the EM Fine Art Gallery for being so generous and accommodating with their beautiful space!
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| Carolyn Forche, Gloria Steinem and me at Hedgebrook (vintage) |
And now the PUSH NEW MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL has Miko Kuro's Midnight Tea as part of their featured programming this weekend! This will be my first attempt at hosting a Midnight Tea in-person and online on Facebook and Twitter. I'm really grateful to the EM Fine Art Gallery for being so generous and accommodating with their beautiful space!
6/25/12
I've been a naughty blogger.
I am definitely blaming it on the neverending gray that was Seattle up until *very* recently. It is almost July goddamnit. July. Let's just say I let the year get away from me pretty quickly. I am getting ready for Midnight Tea in New York City with Khadijah Queen, Ashaki Jackson, Bettina Judd and Anastacia Tolbert!
I finally started playing with the footage from the China tea for grants and award applications and such. The noggin is still doing it's thinkings.
4/19/12
The Wakuda Effect
My artist-compadre, Jonathan Wakuda Fischer, hung up some wonderful work at our home today. One of my faves is this Kabuki David Bowie! Rad isn't it? Yes it is.
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| (c) Jonathan Wakuda Fischer |
4/16/12
Inspiration: Milk for Lambs 2011
ALMAGUL MENLIBAYEVA
I love her work. Saw her video Milk for Lambs at the Wing Luke Museum last week. Love love love.
4/12/12
Add to the Booklist
My semi-annual email account purging has begun. Knowing my incredible ability to parse a task out over millenia, this may never result in a tidy inbox. But until then, here is a link to a book that I told myself to read in 2009. Alas and le sigh.
Schopenhauers Porcupines
Schopenhauers Porcupines
3/29/12
The Vein of Gold
I wish typing with one hand was easier and more fulfilling. Motherhood leaves little time for frivolity. There is always more to be done. Today, while talking to my friend, Christa Bell (Sheism) I found myself wishing there was an "Artists Way" type of book for moms. Because I couldn't do my morning papers this morning and I don't want to feel guilty. Instead, I first woke up at 3 am to a very awake and alert little boy, who later woke me with some warm spit-up at 8 am.
But my orchids are beautiful and Seattle knows how to make a thoughtful rain last and last and last.
But my orchids are beautiful and Seattle knows how to make a thoughtful rain last and last and last.
3/22/12
Milk
I had a dream last night that I would like to actualize. I was at an art event wearing a black gown. Across the chest was a monitor with high definition video of my breasts dripping with milk. I was having conversations with people and watching them struggle to keep their eyes from the monitor. Alas, if only my technological capabilities were more substantial. Le sigh.
3/11/12
Resources: ArtzPub
Via my friend, Chris:
ARTIST RESIDENCY
Offers artists residencies (up to three months) in contemporary and traditional dance and performance studies in Trinidad & Tobago in an open, comfortable environment with many opportunities for interaction, exchange and learning. The goal of the residency is to provide a space where professional dance artists from the Caribbean can engage in creation, conversation and performance with dance and performing artists from around the world.
For further information, contact: Program Coordinator, Jennifer Joyce. Read the Application Guidelines here.
ARTIST RESIDENCY
Offers artists residencies (up to three months) in contemporary and traditional dance and performance studies in Trinidad & Tobago in an open, comfortable environment with many opportunities for interaction, exchange and learning. The goal of the residency is to provide a space where professional dance artists from the Caribbean can engage in creation, conversation and performance with dance and performing artists from around the world.
For further information, contact: Program Coordinator, Jennifer Joyce. Read the Application Guidelines here.
3/10/12
Mumbai Inspiration: Monali
Who is this person? I am so drawn to this work. Could the world be generous enough for us to meet? To work together someday? I can dream. Yes I can.
http://www.project88.in/monali_selected_work.html
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