“Swords and Silk” | MUSEUM FATIGUE

Roots of Chinese Culture Research Center

August 3, 2014 by Museum Fatigue

While walking in Chicago Chinatown I passed by a nondescript doorway in an old brick building. Next to three old doorbells was a small piece of white paper taped up with heavy layers of weathered scotch tape. On it were written the words: “The Roots of Chinese Culture Research Center” It was a great mystery and seemed like the location for some kind of Lovecraftian adventure story. I wish that I had had time to stop in and get a […]

Categories: "Swords and Silk", China, Mythologies • Tags: Chinese Culture, mysteries

Shen Yun Buys The Front Page—Promises Authentic, Beautiful, Old “Culture”

February 2, 2014 by Museum Fatigue

As if junk mail spam-bombing college faculty and advertisements stuck up on community bulletin boards everywhere weren’t enough—this morning I awoke to find that the front page of our local community newspaper, The Saint Paul Pioneer Press had an advertisement for Falun Gong’s Shen Yun dance troupe. These guys have some seriously deep pockets and lots of energy to get out their message. OK, technically the advertisement wasn’t *on* the front page, it was the front page—enveloping the whole Sunday […]

Categories: "Swords and Silk", Bodies, China, Mythologies • Tags: advertisement, culture, Falun Gong, Orientalism, Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Shen Yun

Shen Yun Performing Arts as Falun Gong’s “Wild East Show”

December 13, 2013 by Museum Fatigue

This past week I went to my mailbox in the social sciences divisional office and was surprised to find every faculty mailbox had been stuffed to overflowing with a 2014 calendar of the Shen Yun dance troupe. It would be treating the “calendars” with too much respect to call them junk mail—much more respect than was shown to our faculty by the person who dumped them there—despite our administrative assistant’s warning that most would end up in the trash. We […]

Categories: "Swords and Silk", China, Mythologies, Random Reflections, Representation • Tags: Buffalo Bill, Chinese Culture, dance, Falun Gong, Orientalism, Shen Yun