DIALECTS draws from sounds, songs, and stories about migration and displacement, both human and nonhuman. Szu-Han Ho's work explores the relationship between bodies and the places that preserve history and memories. Presented by Soundwave curator Patricia Cariño Valdez.
DIALECTS considers Szu-Han's personal history and delves into her interest in language. The project germinates from stories of her family's history in Taiwan: her great-grandfather's murder, her family's migration story to the U.S., and their history of owning a tamarind farm in Tainan. This performance emerges from a reflection on the tamarind fruit and its translation in Taiwanese which means salty, sour, and sweet. Szu-Han finds inspiration in the ways in which language conveys not only meaning, but a method to transmit quality of tones, sounds, and emotions. She asks how both a musical chord and a memory can sound salty, sour, and sweet. Language and sounds bridge time and distance: "I was separated from my mother at a pretty young age for a matter of months when she came to the US. She left a cassette recording of her voice and her singing for me. It's probably what held me together in some ways. The feeling of being displaced or constantly looking for a home is one that is really familiar to me." For DIALECTS, Szu-Han invites collaborating vocalists to weave together diasporic narratives with abstracted dance beats and harmonies to consider transformations and dynamism in migratory movements.
Szu-Han Ho's work in performance, sound, installation, and text addresses the practice of exchange through diverse collaborations and constellations. Recent projects include Migrant Songs, a choral performance art piece incorporating stories and songs of human and nonhuman migration; BORDER TO BAGHDAD, an exchange between artists from the US-Mexico border and Baghdad, Iraq; and Shelter in Place, a sculptural installation and performance inspired by her family's history in Taiwan. Szu-Han lives and works in Albuquerque, New Mexico and is currently Associate Professor in Art and Ecology in the Department of Art at the University of New Mexico.
show less
DIALECTS considers Szu-Han's personal history and delves into her interest in language. The project germinates from stories of her family's history in Taiwan: her great-grandfather's murder, her family's migration story to the U.S., and their history of owning a tamarind farm in Tainan. This performance emerges from a reflection on the tamarind fruit and its translation in Taiwanese which means salty, sour, and sweet. Szu-Han finds inspiration in the ways in which language conveys not only meaning, but a method to transmit quality of tones, sounds, and emotions. She asks how both a musical chord and a memory can sound salty, sour, and sweet. Language and sounds bridge time and distance: "I was separated from my mother at a pretty young age for a matter of months when she came to the US. She left a cassette recording of her voice and her singing for me. It's probably what held me together in some ways. The feeling of being displaced or constantly looking for a home is one that is really familiar to me." For DIALECTS, Szu-Han invites collaborating vocalists to weave together diasporic narratives with abstracted dance beats and harmonies to consider transformations and dynamism in migratory movements.
Szu-Han Ho's work in performance, sound, installation, and text addresses the practice of exchange through diverse collaborations and constellations. Recent projects include Migrant Songs, a choral performance art piece incorporating stories and songs of human and nonhuman migration; BORDER TO BAGHDAD, an exchange between artists from the US-Mexico border and Baghdad, Iraq; and Shelter in Place, a sculptural installation and performance inspired by her family's history in Taiwan. Szu-Han lives and works in Albuquerque, New Mexico and is currently Associate Professor in Art and Ecology in the Department of Art at the University of New Mexico.
DIALECTS draws from sounds, songs, and stories about migration and displacement, both human and nonhuman. Szu-Han Ho's work explores the relationship between bodies and the places that preserve history and memories. Presented by Soundwave curator Patricia Cariño Valdez.
DIALECTS considers Szu-Han's personal history and delves into her interest in language. The project germinates from stories of her family's history in Taiwan: her great-grandfather's murder, her family's migration story to the U.S., and their history of owning a tamarind farm in Tainan. This performance emerges from a reflection on the tamarind fruit and its translation in Taiwanese which means salty, sour, and sweet. Szu-Han finds inspiration in the ways in which language conveys not only meaning, but a method to transmit quality of tones, sounds, and emotions. She asks how both a musical chord and a memory can sound salty, sour, and sweet. Language and sounds bridge time and distance: "I was separated from my mother at a pretty young age for a matter of months when she came to the US. She left a cassette recording of her voice and her singing for me. It's probably what held me together in some ways. The feeling of being displaced or constantly looking for a home is one that is really familiar to me." For DIALECTS, Szu-Han invites collaborating vocalists to weave together diasporic narratives with abstracted dance beats and harmonies to consider transformations and dynamism in migratory movements.
Szu-Han Ho's work in performance, sound, installation, and text addresses the practice of exchange through diverse collaborations and constellations. Recent projects include Migrant Songs, a choral performance art piece incorporating stories and songs of human and nonhuman migration; BORDER TO BAGHDAD, an exchange between artists from the US-Mexico border and Baghdad, Iraq; and Shelter in Place, a sculptural installation and performance inspired by her family's history in Taiwan. Szu-Han lives and works in Albuquerque, New Mexico and is currently Associate Professor in Art and Ecology in the Department of Art at the University of New Mexico.
read more
DIALECTS considers Szu-Han's personal history and delves into her interest in language. The project germinates from stories of her family's history in Taiwan: her great-grandfather's murder, her family's migration story to the U.S., and their history of owning a tamarind farm in Tainan. This performance emerges from a reflection on the tamarind fruit and its translation in Taiwanese which means salty, sour, and sweet. Szu-Han finds inspiration in the ways in which language conveys not only meaning, but a method to transmit quality of tones, sounds, and emotions. She asks how both a musical chord and a memory can sound salty, sour, and sweet. Language and sounds bridge time and distance: "I was separated from my mother at a pretty young age for a matter of months when she came to the US. She left a cassette recording of her voice and her singing for me. It's probably what held me together in some ways. The feeling of being displaced or constantly looking for a home is one that is really familiar to me." For DIALECTS, Szu-Han invites collaborating vocalists to weave together diasporic narratives with abstracted dance beats and harmonies to consider transformations and dynamism in migratory movements.
Szu-Han Ho's work in performance, sound, installation, and text addresses the practice of exchange through diverse collaborations and constellations. Recent projects include Migrant Songs, a choral performance art piece incorporating stories and songs of human and nonhuman migration; BORDER TO BAGHDAD, an exchange between artists from the US-Mexico border and Baghdad, Iraq; and Shelter in Place, a sculptural installation and performance inspired by her family's history in Taiwan. Szu-Han lives and works in Albuquerque, New Mexico and is currently Associate Professor in Art and Ecology in the Department of Art at the University of New Mexico.
show less
Date/Times:
Contemporary Jewish Museum
9 Upcoming Events
736 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94103
The Best Events
Every Week in Your Inbox
From Our Sponsors
UPCOMING EVENTS
Great suggestion! We'll be in touch.
Event reviewed successfully.