Little Tokyo Summer Arts Series Aug. 17-30

Little Tokyo Service Center’s +Lab presents “Presencing Pasts/Imagining Futures: Little Tokyo Summer Arts Series” from Aug. 17 to 30.

The series will be preceded by an open house with the +Lab artists in residence on Saturday, Aug. 10, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 341 FSN, 341 E. First St. in Little Tokyo. Stop by during Nisei Week festivities to get out of the sun and check out what the artists have been up to.

Note: Guests will be asked to remove shoes upon entering. Shoe coverings available for those who cannot due to medical reasons.

The five artists have been immersed in Little Tokyo since June. As residency’s end approaches, come for a series of creative summer events exploring the theme “ending cycles of displacement.” All of the following events are free, for all ages, and open to the public.

Saturday, Aug. 17, from 12 to 6 p.m. at 341 FSN: “Cog-nate Collective” with social practice artists Amy Sanchez Arteaga and Misael Diaz.

Launch of a hyper-local radio installation on the First Street North block of Little Tokyo. Listen to stories of displacement, resistance, shared struggles and acts of radical hope during upcoming public hearing sessions, or by tuning your radio dials to a frequency that will be announced in the days leading up to the launch.

Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 24-25, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, 244 S. San Pedro St.: “Festival of Shadows” with dancers/choreographers Marina Fukushima and Isak Immanuel.

An immersive, intergenerational performance reflecting on present and absent bodies, community, and the precarious borders of Little Tokyo within Downtown Los Angeles — a collaborative ensemble offering a layered landscape of dance, video, installation, and shadow in the Aratani Theatre and JACCC Plaza.

Wednesday to Friday, Aug. 28-30, from 7:30 to 10 p.m. at Japanese American National Museum, 100 N. Central Ave: “Past Present: Conversations with the Future” with artist/writer/activist traci kato-kiriyama.

From sunset to 10 p.m. each night, JANM Plaza will be filled with large projections and soundscapes incorporating letters from the past and present — written about family separations, solidarity, community, and home.

+LAB is a bold initiative that allows Little Tokyo Service Center to join forces with artists and cultural institutions to find imaginative ways to empower the Little Tokyo community.

A project of LTSC, in partnership with JANM, Visual Communications, JACCC, and Sustainable Little Tokyo.

For more information, visit: https://www.ltsc.org/2019-artist-residency/