Los Angeles, with its communities from around the world, is a melting pot of flavors, views, and practices. During a Summer of Safer at Home, the Fowler is pleased to bring World Arts and Cultures to you. All programs are free. RSVP to receive the link to join.

World Movement: We’ve joined forces with UCLA’s Visual and Performing Arts Education Program (VAPAE) to engage their talented Teaching Artists to share their knowledge of movement and dance practices from around the world.

Saturday, August 8, 11am–12pm PDT | RSVP
Classic Bollywood Dance! with Danish Bhandara

“Bollywood” refers to the Hindi-speaking film industry in India that produces movies with vibrant music-dance sequences. Classic Bollywood Dance features movements derived from Classical as well as Folk Indian dance styles: lively and dramatic, with sharp and flowing movements, articulation of specific hand and wrist gestures, and graceful spins. The face, too, is used to convey emotions and tell a story. Classic Bollywood Dance can express a range of feelings, but in this class, you will be learning a joyful, fun-filled piece! No experience necessary.

Danish Bhandara has been training in Classical Indian, Bollywood, and Middle Eastern dance forms for more than 12 years; and graduated from UCLA in 2017 with a B.A. degree and Honors in World Arts and Cultures/Dance. While at UCLA, she was part of the Visual and Performing Arts Education Program; taught at and choreographed for various schools, including LAUSD, as well as studios, shelters, and colleges. She has performed at Disney California Adventures and Disney Animal Kingdom with Blue13 Dance Company, and has worked with many other well-accredited choreographers and artists in Hollywood.

Program Recording: “Classic Bollywood Dance! with Danish Bhandara,” August 8, 2020.

DISRUPT the Fowler: DISRUPT is a UCLA student design organization that aims to establish inclusive spaces and create opportunities for students of all backgrounds to engage in creative collaborations. The Fowler is honored to partner with DISRUPT and offer programs that break down barriers in the art world, and promote innovative ideation through inclusivity, diversity, equity, and accessibility

Friday, August 14, 4–5pm PDT | RSVP
Justin BUA

To put it simply, Justin BUA is a DISRUPTOR. BUA’s groundbreaking work seamlessly blends street culture with the fine arts, documenting the collective memories of HipHop culture. BUA reaches beyond the traditional canvas, applying his discipline to music videos, TV, film, animation, gaming, apparel, education, and more. BUA’s countless achievements are indicative of his ceaseless commitment to bridge his identity and culture to the fine arts world. BUA will share advice and anecdotes from his experiences of navigating the art industry as an artist of color. He will then offer a drawing technique workshop to help sharpen the skills of budding artists. Q&A to follow.

Justin BUA is an award-winning artist, author, speaker, and entrepreneur. Groundbreaking in his field, he is internationally known for his best-selling collection of fine art posters—The DJ being one of the most popular prints of all time.

Born in 1968 in NYC’s untamed Upper West Side, and raised between Manhattan and East Flatbush, Brooklyn, BUA was fascinated by the raw, visceral street life of the city. He attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Performing Arts, and complemented his formal education with street experience, creating graffiti and performing worldwide with breakdancing crews. BUA went on to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where he earned his B.F.A. degree. He taught figure drawing at the University of Southern California for 10 years.

In June 2013, BUA became the first artist to launch an online school with ArtistWorks, enabling beginning and advanced students around the world to study his curriculum and interact one-on-one with him through video exchange.

BUA exhibits throughout the United States and internationally—including in recent shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Pop International Gallery, New York. His energetic and vocal worldwide fan base ranges from former presidents, actors, musicians, professional athletes, and dancers, to street kids and art connoisseurs.

Program Recording: “DISRUPT the Fowler: Justin BUA,” August 14, 2020.

A Global Destination for Art: Artists from all over the world flock to work in Los Angeles, drawn by the energy of ingenuity and the space for experimental expression. Join us on Zoom as we visit the work spaces of international artists creating in our City of Angels.

Saturday, August 15, 12–1pm PDT | RSVP

Galia Linn’s Cognitive Resonance with Shana Nys Dambrot

Sculptor and site-specific installation artist Galia Linn is influenced by her early childhood in Israel, a land full of ancient and contemporary relics of past and present civilizations. Linn’s work engages both her physical body and the emotional and historical resonance of her life through manipulation of materials. What appears fragile is, in the end, rock strong; the cracks turn into windows that reveal the internal makeup of the vessels, metaphors for resilience and beauty, and serve as a testament of surrender. Linn will offer a behind-the-scenes look at works in progress at her Blue Roof Studios, while conducting a conversation with art critic, curator, and author Shana Nys Dambrot. Q&A will follow.

Galia Linn has shown nationally and internationally. Her work is held in private collections in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, New York, Paris, Brussels, and Tel Aviv. Selected solo and group exhibitions include: Note To Self at Five Car Garage Gallery, Santa Monica, CA; Evidence Of Care at Track 16 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; La Reina De Los Angeles, Descanso Gardens, CA; Inside at The Athenaeum, La Jolla, CA; Art Beyond Conflict, a year-long installation in Bellingham, WA; Experience 19: Touch, El Segundo Museum of Art, El Segundo, CA; Uncommon Terrain, Shulamit Nazarian Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Clay, Lefebvre et Fils, Paris, France; and Vessels at LA><Art/. Linn is a member of the Binder of Women art collective and founder of Blue Roof Studios, a multidisciplinary art hub located in South Los Angeles, which offers artists a work environment fostering creativity, community, and dialogue.

Shana Nys Dambrot is an art critic, curator, and author based in Downtown LA. She is the Arts Editor for the L.A. Weekly, and a contributor to Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, Flaunt Magazine, Art and Cake, and Artillery. Having studied Art History at Vassar College, she now writes books and catalog essays, curates and juries exhibitions, is a dedicated Instagram photographer, author of the experimental novella Zen Psychosis (2020, Griffith Moon), and speaker at galleries, schools, and cultural institutions nationwide. A member of ArtTable and the LA Press Club, she sits on the Boards of Art Share-LA, the Venice Institute of Contemporary Art, the Advisory Council of Building Bridges Art Exchange, and the Brain Trust of Some Serious Business.

Program Recording: “Galia Linn’s Cognitive Resonance with Shana Nys Dambrot,” August 15, 2020.

Global Cuisine Cooking Lessons: Variety is the spice of life. Learn how LA’s favorite international restaurants cook up their most famous, easy-to-make dishes in live cooking classes led by their chefs on Zoom. When food is your love language, some secrets are too good not to share.

Friday, August 21, 4–5pm PDT | RSVP

Jitlada Thai Restaurant

If you’re an LA local, you probably already know about Jitlada. The late, great food critic Jonathan Gold featured this Southern Thai restaurant in his documentary City of Gold, while Bon Appétit declared it is: “definitely the best Thai food in L.A., and likely the whole country.” Join the Fowler Museum, Chef Jazz, and Chef Sugar for a home-style cooking class and learn to prepare Jitlada’s famous Chili Basil Stir-Fry with Tofu and Fried Rice. Ingredients list will be sent upon RSVP. Come with supplies prepared and ready to cook!

Chef Jazz is famous as the Celebrity Chef at Jitlada Thai Restaurant. A native of a small town in Thailand, she emigrated to the U.S. and took over Jitlada in 2006 with her late brother, Tui Sungkamee, transforming the restaurant with a spicy southern Thai cuisine menu. She now runs the business with her niece, Chef Sugar Sungkamee, Chef Tui’s daughter.

Chef Sugar Sungkamee grew up in the restaurant business under the tutelage of her late father, Chef Tui, who taught her all the recipes as well as how to run his establishment. Chef Sugar earned her Master’s Degree in Business Administration and now co-owns Jitlada Thai Restaurant with her aunt, Chef Jazz.

Program Recording: “Global Cuisine Cooking Lessons: Jitlada Thai Restaurant” August 21, 2020.

Click here for the ingredients and preparation instructions to participate in Jitlada’s Cooking Lesson!

Lunch & Learn: The Fowler’s Lunch & Learn series offers easily digestible curatorial explorations of charismatic objects from around the world in our permanent collection. Join us to chew on some sustenance and feed your mind during your lunch break.

Monday, August 24, 12:00–12:30pm PDT | RSVP

The Ancestors of Ataúro

This pair of Ancestor figures—created by an unknown sculptor on Ataúro Island, Timor-Leste in the early to mid-20th century and known in the Tetum language as itara—was intended to honor family members who had passed away. Joanna Barrkman, Senior Curator of Southeast Asia and Pacific Arts at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, will explain the significance of these sculptures, aspects of their production, and their ritual uses. She will also present an original short video showing Atauroan master sculptor Antonio Soares creating a pair of itara.

Joanna Barrkman’s research interests relate to the island of Timor—both West Timor, Indonesia, and the independent nation of Timor-Leste. She has curated the exhibition Sculptures of Atauro Island at Charles Darwin University Art Gallery (2017) and authored the accompanying publication (republished tri-lingually in 2019). She also co-curated Textiles of Timor: Island in the Woven Sea at the Fowler Museum (2014) and co-edited the eponymous publication with Roy W. Hamilton. In addition, Barrkman curated Husi Bei Ala Timor Sira Nia Liman: From the Hands of Our Ancestors, a major exhibition about the arts of Timor-Leste presented by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, which featured the National Collection of Timor-Leste (2009). Recently, with support from UNESCO, Barrkman developed a website about the Baguia Collection, held at the Museum der Kulturen, Basel, Switzerland, based on her doctoral studies at the Australian National University, Canberra. Her current exhibition, Aboriginal Screen-Printed Textiles from Australia’s Top End, will be presented at the Fowler Museum at UCLA in 2021 and will be accompanied by an eponymous publication.

Program Recording: “Lunch & Learn: The Ancestors of Ataúro” August 24, 2020.

The Map and the Territory: 100 Years of Collecting at UCLA: The Fowler Museum is honored to host this exhibition, scheduled to open this Fall, subject to the pandemic. It features over 200 objects from 13 diverse campus collections, including the design mock-up for the title page of the First Edition of Ray Bradbury’s first novel, The Martian Chronicles (1950). On the occasion of Bradbury’s 100th birthday, we have partnered with Zócalo Public Square to celebrate his legacy at UCLA and beyond.

Thursday, August 27, 6:30–7:30pm PDT | RSVP

Are We Living in a World Ray Bradbury Tried to Prevent?
A Zócalo/Fowler Museum at UCLA Event with ZYZZYVA Magazine

Moderated by Oscar Villalon, Managing Editor, ZYZZYVA

Imagine a society where truth and knowledge have no value, people are glued to their screens, and world war feels imminent. Or think of a place enraptured by the seductive promises of a carnival-hawker con man. Sound familiar? The first, of course, is the dystopia of Fahrenheit 451, the story of a firefighter charged with burning books in order to destroy knowledge. The second is the fictional Green Town, Illinois, the setting of Something Wicked This Way Comes, the story of a sinister traveling carnival leader and the young boys who thwart his plot to enslave their home. They are two of the most famous novels by one of the most brilliant and beloved science fiction writers of all time: Ray Bradbury. The author, who saw the dangers inherent to the modern world, used a variety of genres, including fantasy, horror, and science fiction, to illuminate pressing issues like censorship and xenophobia.

Image Credit: Ray Bradbury at UCLA project to illustrate characters from his science fiction dramas, 1964. Frampton, Mary. Los Angeles Times. July 20, 1964. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archives (Collection 1429). Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Program Recording: “Are We Living in a World Ray Bradbury Tried to Prevent?” August 27, 2020.