Saturday October 29 2011, 6:00-7:30pm: Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) presents

Navaratri, Dance Festival of India

hosted by Sheetal and Ketan Kinkhabhwala at their lodge in West Dover, VT.

• Bring something to share for the vegetarian potluck.
• Try the garbha dance using the dandhiya ras sticks
• Try on a sari
• Apply a tilak or bindi to your forehead
• A story about the origins and significance of the festival
• Other fun activities for all ages
• light a lamp for prosperity, wherever you are
• A time to celebrate life and strengthen family and other social relationships
• Location: Sheetal and Ketan’s Austrian Haus Lodge at 6 Abroad Road, West Dover, VT.
• Directions: Routes 9 and 100 are open all the way from Brattleboro I-91 Exit 2 west to the Wilmington traffic light (18.3 miles) and then north on Rt. 100, 5 miles to the 2nd driveway on the left after crossing the Wilmington – West Dover Town Line (marked by a ‘Welcome to West Dover Sign’) Hurray for Vermont recovering from the storm!
• For further information on this event, contact Ketan and Sheetal at (802) 464-3911.
• For more information on other events and on ACCVT in general, including how to get involved, contact ACCVT Executive Director Adam Silver at (802) 257-7898 ext. 1 or through the contact page of this website.

Sunday March 27, 2011, 1:00pm-3:00 pm, at the Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) headquarters: 814 Western Ave., 1 mile west of I-91 Exit 2, on VT Route 9, on the left, West Brattleboro. A free event for all ages, donations to ACCVT are appreciated.

NoRuz / NawRuz: New Day, New Light, New Year in Persian and Central Asian Cultures:

Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) presents an annual introduction to this ancient and current multicultural festival. Nowruz is celebrated in many parts of Asia and by Asians worldwide coinciding with the Spring Equinox with activities for all ages around the focus of the spread (sofreh) of auspicious items. No Ruz (Persian for ‘New Year’ or ‘New Day’) has been observed for thousands of years by the ancient cultures of Persia (present-day Iran), and has been celebrated as ‘Nauryz’ and ‘Navroz’ for thousands of years up to today by many peoples, countries and faiths including (not limited to) Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, the Baha’i, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, the Kurds, Kyrgyzstan, the Sufis, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the Uighurs in N.W. China, Uzbekistan, and the Zoroastrians (Parsi). Activities for this Brattleboro event include: readings from Persian and Baha’i poetry, learning Persian greetings and phrases to wish others well, henna craft, sprouted grasses and visiting with relatives and neighbors. There is also the customs of setting the special table or spread (sofreh) with seven plates or bowls containing items all beginning with the Persian sound ‘s’ and ‘sh’ all symbolizing peace, prosperity, growth and other auspicious meanings. NawRuz (No Ruz/Nauryz/Navroz/Nowruz) celebrates the arrival of Spring and is a thanksgiving celebration. Below is an example of the ACCVT sofreh: Persian potluck lunch:



Sundays February 20 – March 20, 2011, 5pm – 6pm, and continuing into April! For details, contact ACCVT’s collaborating partner and host, Luminz Studio.

Ritu Shree presents Bollywood Dance workshops in Brattleboro

Bollywood Dance Workshops

with Ritu Shree
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) and Luminz Studio Dance and Performing Arts Center present Bollywood Dance Workshops with Ritu Shree, Sundays 5-6pm at Luminz Studio, 74 Cotton Mill Hill, 3rd Floor, Brattleboro. Contact Luminz Studio to confirm your participation, (802) 254-9200. Classes are suggested donation per person of $10 at the door. First workshop was a big success; thanks to Darlene Jenson for hosting the space. Workshops the following month were continuing successes; thank you to Ritu for her time and sharing, to Aurora of Luminz Studio for hosting, and to Yasuko and Tony for the arrangements.

Instructor: Ritu Shree is a Dance movement therapy and counseling student at Antioch University New England in Keene, NH. She has spent a major portion of her life dancing. She has learned and performed Classical Indian dance forms like Bharatnatyam and Kathak, later specializing in Jazz, Bollywood and Modern dance. Ritu has been learning and performing for the last 15 years, has taught many dance classes, and trained college dance teams (India) in Jazz, Bollywood and modern dance.


Thursday, February 17, 2011, 6pm:

a view from the Irrawaddy delta area of Myanmar

Land of Rice: Farming cultures in Assam State in India and in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta.

Slide Talk by Steev Lynn. Event location: 814 Western Avenue, West Brattleboro, VT.
Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) presents “Land of Rice: Farming cultures in Assam and Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta” with Steev Lynn, one of ACCVT’s first trustees. Steev is giving an illustrated slide talk on a recent visit to Northeastern India and the Burmese delta region of the Irrawaddy. The event is free and open to the public.

Sunday, January 30, 2011, 1-4pm:

Vietnamese dragon on parade, Lunar New Year Festival of Korea, Vietnam and China, Brattleboro 2011, at the River Garden

Lunar New Year Festival of Vietnam, Korea and China

Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) presents the Lunar New Year Festival of Vietnam, Korea and China, Sunday afternoon Jan. 30th at the River Garden, 157 Main St., downtown Brattleboro.

• Tentative schedule of events: 11am-1pm: Set-up + install display of student Word-Art (inspired by Chinese characters and exhibited only during the Festival). 1 pm: Let’s eat! It’s a potluck. Bring whatever you can manage, Asian or non-Asian. While we’re eating… a presentation on Asian medicine by Watercourse Way. 1:25pm: a 4-song sing-along – join in or listen; wanted: Korean and Vietnamese New Year songs, too. 1:30pm: Martial arts demos: kung fu and t’ai chi. 2:30pm: Group Chinese exercise. 2:40pm: Korean Team Rope Pull. 3pm: Enter the Giant Vietnamese Dragon, in pursuit of the Heavenly Pearl. Parade circles inside the River Garden, then outside along Main St., crossing over at High and Elliot Streets, then back inside for a finishing flourish. 3:30pm: Group New Year Calligraphy using ink and brush.
• All welcome, all ages.
• A free event with donations to ACCVT welcome to help defray event and program expenses including space rental.
• ACCVT’s activities and programs are supported in part by Vermont Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Vermont Community Foundation.
• Thanks to our media sponsors: the Reformer, the Observer, the Commons, and Artscope Magazine.
• For further information, contact ACCVT Board President Damon Honeycutt via his Facebook page or ACCVT Executive Director Adam Silver at (802) 579-9088.

Thank you to the many who worked hard to make this year’s Lunar New Year Festival a big success: Damon Honeycutt, Norma Willingham, Yasuko Ichinomiya Parmenter, Tony Parmenter, Cai Xi, Marie Procter, Madeline Fan, Haiyan Hu, Gao Ping, Jiang Nan, Sam Erlanger, Joshua Spaulding, Michelle Mahin, Molly Gawler, Sijo James Robinson, Sifu Lew Henderson, Sije Karin Tyree and Charles Weston of Running Fist Kung Fu, Leah Silver, Emma Rueter, Grace Willingham, Seth Harter and the Asian Studies Department of Marlboro College, Danielle Lauria and Building a Better Brattleboro, Chinese Learning Group of Brattleboro.

Friday, December 3, 2010, 5-7pm:

Community Martial Arts and Calligraphy: Kungfu and Spear Brush with Damon Honeycutt; Tai chi and Mop-as-Brush with Cai Xi Silver

Art in Motion, Art in Process: Performance / Demonstration of Martial Arts and Interactive Community Calligraphy

with Damon Honeycutt and Cai Xi, who provide an introduction to Kungfu and T’ai Chi and an opportunity for all ages to try Cai’s mop painting and Damon’s spear painting. Check out the article by Clara Rose Thornton on the event. Location: The River Garden, 157 Main Street, downtown Brattleboro, VT, during the monthly Gallery Walk (first Fridays). Hosted by: Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT).

December 18, 2010 – January 29, 2011.

Contemporary folk art from Tottori, Japan, an exhibition touring Vermont; the view in Brattleboro presented by ACCVT

Contemporary Japanese Folk Art: Mingei from Tottori

An international exhibit touring Vermont sponsored by the Tottori Prefectural Government, co-sponsored by the Japan American Society of Vermont, presented in Brattleboro by Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT). Location: 814 Western Avenue, West Brattleboro. Other venues included: Middlebury College and University of Vermont.

Continuing, Ongoing, Daily, By Appointment:

Asian Cultural Center of Vermont presents:

Kiri-e: Fabric Collage Pictures by Young Women Survivors of the Hiroshima Aftermath

An opportunity to see this extraordinary exhibition on loan from Phyllis Rodin, at the C.X. Silver Gallery, 814 Western Avenue in West Brattleboro, open daily, 10 am to 8 pm, by appointment. (802) 257-7898 or (802) 579-9088. This exhibition continues, ongoing, year round, on long term loan from Phyllis Rodin. These artworks were made from tiny strips of cloth (kiri, in Japanese, means to cut) by Japanese students of a Hiroshima high school during the months and years following the devastation of 1945. What Ataki-san taught was kiri-e, a formal kind of fabric collage which uses tiny scraps of colored cloth held down to board or paper with hand-mixed rice glue. Kiri-ez is more often seen as paper on paper. At that time, Ataki-san patiently taught the girls how separate fabric pieces in colors and patterns that would form the palette and then how to create the pictures., Over the next months, the girls created dozens of these paintings, mostly of traditional Japanese life and of remembered scenes around Hiroshima. Other images of the kiri-e can be viewed by clicking here. You can view videos of Phyllis introducing the kiri-e painting collection at www.youtube.com and by clicking here. Opportunities to view the kiri-e include: daily at the C.X. Silver Gallery, by appointment, 802-579-9088 and, on display during the following annual events:

• Annual Brattleboro events: First Friday of August, downtown Brattleboro, 5-6pm, Moment of Peace, Remembrance of Hiroshima, at Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main St., Brattleboro, VT.
• Japan Fest at Brattleboro Museum celebrating Tanabata/Obon Double Festival (August).
• The Vermont Samurai Kaiju Festival at the Latchis Theatre, the third weekend of October.
• Shogatsu New Years Festival (Jan. 1)

Phyllis Rodin, who has loaned ACCVT the collection of Hiroshima kiri-e collage works

The lender of this exquisite collection of Hiroshima kiri-e fabric collage pictures is 96-year-old Phyllis Rodin. For further information, contact Adam Silver, (802) 257-7898, ext. 1. You can view videos of Phyllis introducing the kiri-e fabric collage artworks collection at www.youtube.com. In 1967-1968, Phyllis Rodin helped many at the Hiroshima Hospital including some of the 150,000 hibakusha (“explosion-affected people” – survivors) who had been readmitted to the hospital two decades after 1945 who were dealing with incapacitating post-traumatic stress. After many months working bedside, and in honor and gratitude for her work in the city, Ataki-san and the people of Hiroshima presented Phyllis with a number of these now-rare kiri-e fabric collage pictures. With this collection of kiri-e, Phyllis has toured many cities and countries raising awareness of the dangers of nuclear devastation and war and the alternative of Peace through Beauty. An inspiring speaker, she has a momentum about her cause for Creating Peace that shines with her fire of determination to keep reaching out to others.