Ana-Maurine LaraEugene, OR—On Saturday August 22 and Sunday August 23, 2015, , winner of the Oregon Arts Commission Joan Shipley Award, will perform LANDLINES, a public event exploring the ideas home and homeland in Eugene. The Sephardic Jewish notion of kasa inspires two public processions that reflect on what home means for the multiple communities—Black, Native, Asian American, Jewish, Latino—that constitute Eugene. Costume designed by Shannon Dunbar. Photography by Dana Asbury.
The first LANDLINES event will take place on Saturday August 22nd, beginning at Skinner Butte at 10am. Ana-Maurine will conduct a solo performance walk of 7.5 miles, walking in a loop through Skinner Butte, Whiteaker, North Eugene, and Alton Baker Park. As part of this solo performance walk, Ana-Maurine will erect temporary “historical markers,” using stones, poetry and ritualized performance that draw from Jewish poetic and cultural forms. These “historical markers” will reference the histories of Native, African American, Jewish, Chinese and Latino communities in Eugene.
On Sunday August 23, 2015, beginning at 10am, the general public is invited to join the LANDLINES Public Procession through downtown Eugene. Participants will meet at the parking lot on West 8th Ave. & Charnelton to process in a spiral all the way to the downtown Park Blocks. The Klezmonauts, a local avant-garde Klezmer musical group, will play live music for the procession. Participants are asked to bring an object that symbolizes home for them. Together we celebrate the multi-ethnic and interfaith communities that have shaped Eugene’s Jewish communities in our city.
For more information: (Artist), zorashorse(at)gmail.com and Alai Reyes-Santos, alai(at)uoregon.edu
Artist’s Bio: is a national award-winning fiction author and poet. She was awarded the PEN/Northwest, the Barbara Deming Award and the National Latino/Chicano Literary Contest Third Prize. Her novel, Erzulie’s Skirt was a Lambda Literary Finalist. In addition, she has participated in prestigious writing residencies, studying with world-renowned poets and fiction writers. She draws from her experiences as a Dominican-American writer of Native, African, and Jewish ancestry to produce literary works and performances that blur the boundaries of artistic genres and cultural traditions.
Ana-Maurine has published extensively in a variety of genres. Her novels include Erzulie’s Skirt (RedBone Press 2006), When the Sun Once Again Sang to the People (KRK Ediciones, 2011), Watermarks and Tree Rings (Tanama Press, 2011) and her short fiction has appeared in Sable LitMag, Callaloo and other literary journals. Her multigenre piece Cantos will be released on September 18th at Cave Canem’s headquarters in New York City.
Ana-Maurine’s essays are widely anthologized and she has published articles in peer reviewed journals, including Phoebe Journal of Arts and Culture and GLQ. She is a graduate of Harvard (BA 1997) and Yale (PhD 2014). She joins the faculty of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oregon this academic year.