Opening reception for anida yoeu ali: the buddhist bug

@ Anida Yoeu Ali, Live Performance Still of The Buddhist Bug, Seattle Asian Art Museum, 2024. Photo by Art Kuniyuki. Image courtesy of the artist. Join us as we celebrate the opening reception and performance of Anida Yoeu Ali: The Buddhist Bug! Marking the first major solo exhibition of the series in the U.S., The Buddhist Bug is an internationally-acclaimed and expansive performance project that brings together myth, humor, spiritual inquiry, and the lived experience of displacement. At its center is a monumental saffron-colored creature, nearly 328 feet in length, with a human face tightly framed in cloth at one end and a pair of feet at the other. During the afternoon, artist Anida Yoeu Ali will offer two live performances as the Bug, a creature who —using humor and absurdity—seeks to initiate conversations about topics regarding otherness, foreignness, and religious identity. The constructed garment is rooted in Ali’s own diasporic identity and responds to her spiritual turmoil between Islam and Buddhism. Its bright orange color is the same one worn by Buddhist monks, and represents Cambodia’s profound Buddhist culture, while the cloth that tightly encircles the Bug’s stoic face represents both the hijab worn by some Muslim women, and the ethnic minority of Cham Muslims to which Ali and her family belong. The event will open with a blessing ceremony led by Buddhist monks, a traditional Cambodian dance performance, and Ali’s anticipated performance as The Buddhist Bug. Event Schedule 2:00pm: Program starts 2:30pm: Blessing Ceremony by Wat Khemara Buddhikarama Temple (Wat Willow) and Modern Apsara Dance Company 3:00pm – 4:45pm The Buddhist Bug live performance Guests are encouraged to wear orange in solidarity with the artwork and themes of The Buddhist Bug. Viewers are also welcome to actively witness, interact, and engage with the Bug within their own comfort level. Free and open to the public. RSVPs encouraged. Register Add to calendar Google Calendar iCalendar Outlook 365 Outlook Live Artist Info Anida Yoeu Ali. Photo by Alborz Kamalizad. Image courtesy of the Seattle Art Museum. ANIDA YOEu ALI Anida Yoeu Ali (b. 1974, Battambang, Cambodia) is an interdisciplinary artist working across performance, installation, video, new media, public encounters, and social practice. Born in Cambodia and raised in Chicago, Ali is a first-generation American of Malay, Cham, Khmer, and Thai ancestry. Her work examines faith, migration, race, gender, and political history through larger-than-life personas that challenge inherited narratives and restrictive representations. Ali received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a recipient of the 2020 Art Matters Fellowship and the 2015 Sovereign Asian Art Prize in Hong Kong, and is the co-founder of Studio Revolt, an independent artist-run media lab. She currently lives and works in Tacoma, Washington. acknowledgements Anida Yoeu Ali: The Buddhist Bug is organized by the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College. The exhibition is curated by Sonia Mak, executive director, Asian Arts Initiative, with support from Steven Wong, director, Vincent Price Art Museum. The exhibition is made possible with lead support from The Mike Kelley Foundation. Additional support for the exhibition is provided by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture as part of Creative Recovery LA, an initiative funded by the American Rescue Plan. Additional support also provided by Pasadena Art Alliance. All exhibitions are underwritten by the Vincent Price Art Museum Foundation and East Los Angeles College.