storytelling

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The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide
Oct
3
7:00 PM19:00
art, music, storytelling

The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide

  • NEIU Auditorium (arrive at 3679 W Brynmawr Ave or Parking Lot D to enter) (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

RSVP HERE: rebirthofapsara2025.eventbrite.com

Support this production and help preserve the legacy of Khmer arts. Your donation ensures these stories continue to be shared.

DONATE HERE

The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide premiered on April 19, 2025 at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center and was mounted again June 6 and 7 at the Middlesex Community College Academic Arts Center. This full-length multi-media dance/theatre production is created to observe the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide and to honor its survivors, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit, and to celebrate how Khmer arts has been and continues to be transmitted from generation to generation. It is an adaptation of The Rebirth of Apsara, a Hewlett 50 Arts Commission that premiered at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center in Rohnert Park, CA on February 1, 2024. Through a story created by Rob and Charya Burt, the production investigates the relationship between art and war exploring how Cambodian arts and in particular Apsaras, fabled female celestial beings, have embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post genocide resurrection. Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat all tied together by a soundscape performed live by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh. The text is written by Cambodian-American theatre artist Kalean Ung with additional text by Charya Burt developed to make this adaptation of the original more personal. Joining lead performer Charya Burt is dancer/soloist Chakravartin Sokhomsan, dancer Hannah Chea, and community dancers from the Cambodian Classical Dance Tep Nimmit Dance Troupe.

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The Story of Cambodia | Dance, Music and Food
May
31
11:00 AM11:00
fundraising, narratives, storytelling, art, music

The Story of Cambodia | Dance, Music and Food

The National Cambodian Heritage Museum & Killing Fields Memorial

May 31, 2020

11 am - 12 pm

YouTube Live (recorded)

This is the 1st of 3 virtual fundraising events designed to support The National Cambodian Heritage Museum & Killing Fields Memorial.

You're invited to the kick-off event to the series. Join us in a virtual tour of The National Cambodian Heritage Museum & Killing Fields Memorial; meet-and-greet with staff and board members; a short video of The Freedom Walk; and an artist talk with Narath Tan who specializes in Cambodian mask-making.

 

Donations of $10 or more will receive gifts.

Stream the virtual fundraiser on Facebook Live through the Museum's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/cambodianmuseum/

Please register on Eventbrite to receive reminder email prior to virtual event.

June TBD

Stay tuned for updates.

July TBD

Stay tuned for updates.

This fundraiser will help us sustain the museum operations and programs.

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Women I Admire Essay Contest
Feb
1
to Mar 1
narratives, storytelling

Women I Admire Essay Contest

In honor of International Women's Day, the National Cambodian Heritage Museum and the Cambodian Women's Network presents:

Woman I Admire Essay Contest

Write a 2-page essay on a woman you admire.

  • Describe why this woman has inspired you.

  • How has she impacted your life?

 

Open to all Chicagoland area high school students. Winners will be announced at the Cambodian Museum's event on Saturday, March 10 in honor of International Women's Day.

  • 1st Prize: $250

  • 2nd Prize: $75

  • 3rd Prize: $50

Submit essay to Anneth Houy at anneth@cambodianmuseum.org.

 

Deadline to submit: March 1, 2018

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Ada Cheng: "Not Quite: Asian American by Law, Asian Woman by Desire"
Sep
15
7:00 PM19:00
fundraising, art, storytelling, narratives

Ada Cheng: "Not Quite: Asian American by Law, Asian Woman by Desire"

  • The National Cambodian Heritage Museum & Killing Fields Memorial (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

 

Ada Cheng is a professor-turned storyteller, author, and performing artist. She has been featured at storytelling shows in Chicago, Atlanta, Cedar Rapids, New York, Asheville, and Kansas City. She has performed her solo show, NOT QUITE: ASIAN AMERICAN BY LAW, ASIAN WOMAN BY DESIRE, at National Storytelling Conference, Capital Fringe Festival, Minnesota Fringe Festival, Boulder International Fringe Festival, and Houston Fringe Festival so far in 2017. Her motto: "Make your life the best story you tell. "

From Ada Cheng: "I designed this solo performance, Not Quite: Asian American by Law, Asian Woman by Desire, with political urgency. This show is a direct response to our current political climate and the TrumpPresidency. In this solo, I use "not quite" to connect several main themes, including but not limited to the meanings of home(land), the institutionalization of the alien status, the fractured nature of Asian American identity, and the politics of intersectionality. I intend this show to be an artistic intervention and a challenge to current politic affairs and intellectual debates. This is one of the ways I resist and protest as an artist-storyteller-scholar."

Admission is $10 where the proceeds will go towards the National Cambodian Heritage Museum. The museum has provided tradional Cambodian music / arts / dance classes to youths and all of our community members in Chicago / Chicagoland area. In addition, the museum is the only one internationally outside of Cambodia that focuses on the Cambodian Kiling Fields genocide 1975-79 where over 2 million Cambodian civilians were killed, and the healing efforts for our Cambodian genocide survivors. During the Cambodian genocide, many of its artists, writers, scholars were executed as they were seen as threats to the Khmer Rouge regime. In honor of their contribution, the museum honors their space to allow fellow artists to express their creativity, individuality, and advocacy.

To buy your tickets in advance, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/not-quite-asian-american-by-law-asian-woman-by-desire-tickets-37050849087

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