Monday, June 27, 2011

Tassa Drums At Flushing Meadows










Last Saturday I attended the opening reception of my friend Cork Lee's exhibition, Asian Pacifically New York at the Queens Museum of Art at Flushing Meadows Corona Park.  Corky is a photo-journalist who specializes in documenting the experiences of Asian and Pacific Islander American communities of New York. His work is a great source of inspiration for me.
After the reception, I was on my way to the parking lot when I heard loud drum beats coming from the park. To my pleasant surprise a small Indian group was doing a celebration in the park with their drums. Above are some images I captured of the event with my little Olympus XA2. I dedicate these images to Corky.

Edit: After some Googling I found that the above event is the Annual Kitchrie Festival, a Hosay pageant. Hosay is an Indian street theater tradition originating in north Indian states, i.e., Uttar Pradesh and Jaipur, and brought to Trinidad in 1845 by East Indian indentured laborers whose descendents continue to practiced it in a cultural space that is uniquely Indo-Caribbean.

Film: Fujicolor 200

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Philippine Day on Madison Ave.




















Filipinos celebrate their independence day on June 12 but in New York City they had to celebrate it with parade and street fair one week earlier due to the city's parade permit schedule.