Sometimes you need to take a step back. After achieving notoriety and success as a digital media artist, Paul Chan abruptly left the art world in 2009 when he hit “peak screen.” That time off allowed the artist to reimagine his focus and direction. In the exhibition, “Breathers,” on view at the Walker Art Center before it travels across the country, you can see Chan’s work that he has created since returning to making art.
KFAI’s Sheila Regan spoke with Chan about his experience, and how it resonates today in the wake of a global pandemic. Paul Chan: Breathers is on display at the Walker Art Center through July 16, 2023.
Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
Historians have argued that the history of America can be told through the history of meat. The meat industry was often the first to innovate and make use of modern technologies: from the railroad and refrigerated cars to meat packing plants’ dis-assembly lines that inspired Henry Ford’s assembly line. This is especially true for Minnesota. The University of Minnesota was the first university to specialize in meat studies with the opening of the Andrew Boss Meat Lab. South Saint Paul’s stockyards and meat packing plants were once the largest in the world. In the past hundred and fifty years, Minnesota, meat, and the world changed.
In the season 7 premiere of the MinneCulture podcast, reporter Matthew Schneeman traces how Minnesota changed the meat industry and changed meat itself. He also examines the ways that immigrant labor has been used to power the meat industry since the 20th century. This story starts by looking at people’s different responses to a slaughtered chicken. Gross? Clean? Delicious? Horrifying? Listen on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
If you’ve ever attended a choral concert, chances are the selected music was written by well-known European composers. But in Minnesota, an ensemble is weaving in Latin American music that has flown under-the-radar for generations.
Border CrosSing doesn’t just want to make the public aware that music from Latin America is more dimensional than some might think. It also performs its shows in both Spanish and English so that audiences can walk away with a sense of language enrichment. Five years in, the group is building a bi-lingual choral movement. Reporter Mike Moen has this profile.
Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
Local story lovers, mark your calendars! Season 7 of the MinneCulture podcast premieres on January 5, 2023. Join us as we explore some of Minnesota’s most unique and influential characters. Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Season 7 of the MinneCulture podcast is edited and executive produced by Julie Censullo and hosted by John Gebretatose.
Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
Berlin Miscevich is not your stereotypical bait shop owner in Minnesota. Forget any preconceived notions of a curmudgeonly old Scandinavian standing behind the counter shelling out nightcrawlers and minnows. In fact, Miscevich is the exact opposite of the aloof Sven and Ole type. She’s 35, has all manner of tattoos, runs a business as a single mother in a rural Minnesota and is a veteran of the United States Army.
Running a bait shop in Minnesota was something she didn’t predict would happen while growing up on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but it’s one she has fully embraced. KFAI’s Joe Friedrichs learns more. Photos by Ann Ward.
Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
After listening to a news story about yet another case of violence against the Asian community, Katie Hae Leo wanted to organize a self defense class for AAPI women and nonbinary people. She texted a group of friends, including Jennifer Weir, who is the Executive Director of non-profit Taiko Arts Midwest. Taiko Arts Midwest took on the endeavor of creating and hosting a workshop, which is rooted in martial arts and empowerment.
KFAI’s Sheila Regan spoke with organizers and participants of the workshop to learn more about the impact of the training.
Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
Many archaeological sites lie undiscovered on the bottom of Minnesota lakes, according to Ann Merriman and Christopher Olson, co-founders of the nonprofit Maritime Heritage Minnesota. The husband-and-wife team from St. Paul scuba dives to identify wrecks in places like Lake Minnetonka, Crystal Lake and the Mississippi River.
With the help of volunteer divers, they’ve studied wrecks and artifacts that include dugout canoes, passenger steamboats, a chamber pot from a burned hotel, a homemade hydroplane and a surprising number of old cars. They monitor the USS Essex, a historic wooden Navy sailing ship that was decommissioned and sunk in Duluth. And they nominate wrecks to the National Register of Historic Places, including a barge in Wayzata Bay likely operated by James J. Hill. The couple has identified 151 Minnesota wrecks to-date, and they are still looking for more. KFAI’s Michelle Bruch spoke with Ann and Chris about exploring Minnesota history by scuba diving.
Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
Twice a week at the Bloomington Ice Garden, a group of ex-Gophers, NHL players, and Olympians play an informal but structured game of hockey. It’s a fun game with great players, but what makes them really impressive is average age of the players: 74 years old. They call themselves the Minnesota Old Timers.
Icy sidewalks are dangerous enough for seniors — try adding skates and nine more people all scampering for a puck. How do they do it? And more importantly: what keeps them going, decades past their physical peak? Journalist Matthew Schneeman finds that it’s a simple but difficult lesson to learn.
Support for MinneCulture on KFAI has been provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.
WE NEED YOU!
It's FUNKRAISER TIME!
The inaugural #Funkraiser is on KFAI! You can make an even bigger impact with your gift by donating to KFAI through GiveMN’s “Give to the Max Day” website. KFAI still receives the full amount of your pledge – plus your gift makes KFAI eligible for additional funds.
