28 Days of Good Energía
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Robert Farid Karimi
MINNEAPOLIS — The People’s Cook in partnership with Intermedia Arts announces the start of 28 Days of Good Energía through Nov. 15, 2012, this multi-media, cross-cultural arts event was conceived and created by Robert Farid Karimi to encourage communities to use the power of their own cultural stories, rituals and recipes to curb the rising tide of Type 2 Diabetes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 1 in 10 American adults suffers from Type 2 Diabetes. If trends continue to rise as expected, 1 in 3 will have this disease by 2050. Communities of color, specifically African Americans, Latina/os, Asian Americans & Native Americans, carry the highest risk of developing it.
Robert Farid Karimi, Artistic Director of The People’s Cook and artist-in-residence at Intermedia Arts says, “We believe that as artists, we have a unique opportunity to challenge the way medical information is distributed to the public & raise awareness about this disease in an engaging, culturally relevant way.”
A Creative Capital premiere, 28 Days of Good Energía utilizes Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) to explore how culture – including food, recipes, rituals & stories – can be used as a source for healing. Artistic components within the project include Feed & Be Fed, an interactive art exhibit featuring 12 local and national artists and ¡Viva la Soul Power!, a live performance & culinary experience hosted by Mero Cocinero, who believes cooking and eating together is a revolutionary act.
The Feed & Be Fed exhibit features 14 artists of different cultures; Asian American artists include Phira Rehm (Khmer) & Laura Kina (Japanese/Hawaiian American).
¡Viva la Soul Power! features 5 performers of different cultures, including Saymoukda Vongsay (Lao), Eric “Pogi” Sumangil (Filipino) and Robert Karimi (Persian). Karimi is the creator & writer as well.
Additional outreach activities in Twin Cities’ neighborhoods include community potlucks, happenings, workshops and daily online content www.ThePeoplesCook.org.
QUICK REFERENCE
28 Days of Good Energía
October 19 – November 15, 2012
Visit www.ThePeoplesCook.org for full calendar of events
Feed & Be Fed (Alimenta & Alimentarán)–interactive art exhibit
October 22 – November 10
Mon-Fri 10am-6pm; Sat 12-5 pm
Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408
FREE & Open to the public
Opening reception, Thursday, October 25 from 6-9pm; music, live performance, special guests & free food
¡Viva la Soul Power!—live performance & culinary experience
November 1-4 and 7-10
6pm doors open; 7pm show
Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408
Tickets: $25; includes dinner
www.intermediaarts.org or 612.871.4444
Seating is limited; advance reservations recommended
Open Kitchen Community Potluck–‘Recipes from our Great-Grandparents’
Wednesday, October 24 from 7-9pm
With special guest filmmaker, Helen Demichiel, from lunchlovecommunity.org.
Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408
FREE–bring a dish to share that your great-grandparents would have eaten!
Happenings–public events with free food & performance
follow @ThePeoplesCook for up-to-date info on time/location
More Information: www.ThePeoplesCook.org
twitter: follow @ThePeoplesCook, #goodenergy
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/ThePeoplesCook
Media Contact:
Julie McGarvie Unger: [email protected]; 612-644-9650
28 Days of Good Energía is a project of Creative Capital. Additional funding is provided by MAP Fund, SuperValu Foundation, the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, and The America Project. ¡Viva la Soul Power! and Feed & Be Fed (Alimenta & Alimentarán) are part of Intermedia Arts’ Catalyst Series.
ABOUT ROBERT FARID KARIMI
Robert Farid Karimi is a playwright, poet and interdisciplinary artist. His interactive performances feed audiences a mixed bowl of humor, pop culture & personal history across the Americas – in theatres, grocery stores, backyards, and off-Broadway. He is the creator of the critically acclaimed works: Self (the Remix), Farid Mercury and the episodic theatrical cooking experience: The Cooking Show con Karimi & Comrades. He has been published and recorded internationally in Callaloo, Latino Literature Today, and Raza Spoken Here 2, and most recently featured in Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip Hop, edited by Jeff Chang. Recent projects include: Hmoob-land, a cross-cultural exploration of Hmong stereotypes in Minneapolis/St. Paul; Playing With Our Food, a youth response to Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma at Out North in Anchorage, AK; Shaving Time, a multimedia experience in Chicago on the masks Middle Eastern men wore after 9/11; and McMuertos, an exhibition satirizing the commercialization of Day of the Dead in San Francisco. He has received awards for his work from the National Endowment for the Arts, Illinois Humanities Council, Zellerbach Family Fund, Minnesota State Arts Board and the National Performance Network. Most recently, Karimi honored as a 2009 Creative Capital & 2010 MAP Fund recipient to create 28 Days of Good Energía. He is currently artist in residence at Intermedia Arts.
ABOUT THE PEOPLES COOK
The Peoples Cook invites audiences to feed & be fed. We encourage participants to take an active role in an exchange of food, stories & recipes, reconnecting culture and art.
Based in Minneapolis/St. Paul, The Peoples Cook tours the nation, bringing the funny to foodie in cities such as Chicago, Phoenix, Philadelphia and San Francisco, among others. We incorporate local artists and community members into our residencies to sustain dynamic community engagement. We work in diverse communities, and create cross-cultural, interdisciplinary, participatory arts activities. OUR MISSION: The Peoples Cook unites cross-cultural cooking & interdisciplinary art to promote well-being.
ABOUT INTERMEDIA ARTSAs Minnesota’s premier multidisciplinary, multicultural arts center, Intermedia Arts builds understanding among people by catalyzing and inspiring artists and audiences to make changes in their lives and communities. We are a nationally recognized leader in empowering artists and community leaders to use arts-based approaches to solve community issues. From graffiti art to digital technology to performance art to spoken word, we work from the community up to unearth and enliven new and emerging artists and art forms while challenging and exploring the role of art in our lives. By stimulating civic dialogue and giving voice to the issues and experiences of underrepresented communities locally, nationally and internationally, we contribute to a stronger, healthier society. OUR MISSION: Intermedia Arts is a catalyst that builds understanding among people through art.
