CHEERS TO MUSES
ABOUT THE ANTHOLOGY
Cheers To Muses is a pioneering anthology featuring visual art, fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction by Asian American women, who challenge contemporary and historical assumptions about what it means to create Asian American art. Cheers to Muses consists of 128 pages richly illustrated with 46 color plates. It features 64 artists and 77 visual and literary works by artists ranging in age from 14 to 85.
Cheers to Muses is a significant resource for insight into in-depth studies of contemporary Asian American women artists and their historic, artistic lineage.
COPYRIGHT | 2007 by Asian American Women Artists Association
ISBN | 0-9787359-0-0
RETAIL PRICE | $9.95
What makes this anthology unique are the moving dedications, written by the contributors, to non-familial Asian American women whose lives or works have influenced and inspired their own. These heartfelt affirmations are a testament to the powerful influence these muses have had on the artists and writers. They serve as an important reminder that these contemporary artists and writers are a part of a continuum of the Asian American woman’s struggle for independence and creative freedom.
Contributors’ ancestries can be traced to more than 35 countries, including Burma, China, Germany, India, Iran, Japan, Korean, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the United States. Muses include artists Ruth Asawa and Yoko Ono; architect Maya Lin; writer Maxine Hong-Kingston; political activist Yuri Kochiyama; film director Mira Nair; actresses Anna May Wong and Nancy Kwan; and golfer Michelle Wie; as well as a mother, a flower-arranger, and a waitress/cook. Three contributors – installation artist Dawn Nakanishi; editor and writer Roshni Rustomji; and artist and AAWAA co-founder, Flo Oy Wong – are themselves cited as muses by others.
These dedications also serve as important historical documentation of this struggle and the heroic muses who have been at its forefront. The anthology supports AAWAA’s mission to produce thought-provoking projects that challenge, inspire, and interpret the work of Asian American women artists.
Cheers to Muses was nominated for an Association of Asian American Studies Book Award in 2008.
