LA Uprising: 25 Years Later (1992-2017), A Traditional Arts Roundtable

On June 20th, a Traditional Arts Roundtable with ACTA and the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA), LA Uprising: 25 Years Later (1992-2017) gathered members of the Koreatown and South L.A. communities to examine cross-cultural strategies utilizing traditional art forms to heal, connect, and build bridges across cultures and generations toward wellness and liberation.

The roundtable included Sue Hee Ko, Director of Mrs. Ko’s Traditional Korean Dance Studio and Najite Agindotan and family, who shared insight on the transformative effects of their collaborations that engaged the Korean-American pansori drum and dance community and the West African drum and dance of South L.A.’s African-American community.

Marisa Martinez, a musician and ACTA Arts in Corrections Manager, spoke about her engagement in similar cross-cultural collaborations such as the FandangObon event, which brings together the fandango (a participatory dance and music of Veracruz) with Japanese obon (a Buddhist tradition of music and circle dances in remembrance of ancestors). 

This event is part of ACTA’s 2016-17 Traditional Arts Roundtable Series in Los Angeles County. The Series is designed to strengthen intercultural arts networks and to offer opportunities for traditional and tradition-based artists and arts advocates to learn from one another through intimate discussion, technical assistance, skill-building, networking, and sharing community-based arts and culture. The Traditional Arts Roundtable Series in Los Angeles County will offer programs throughout the year at various arts venues. ACTA’s Traditional Arts Roundtable Series is generously supported by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

All photos by Farah Sosa for ACTA, 2017. See the full photo album on our Facebook.

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