A Premiere Event to Celebrate the Documentary West Encounters East at the Lowe Art Museum

For the last two years, Argentinian-born, Miami-based art historian and collector, Stella M. Holmes, and US-born South Florida-based producer and writer Linda Corley have been working on a documentary film entitled West Encounters East, featuring the largest population of ethnic Japanese outside of Japan: the Japanese Brazilians.

Next Tuesday April 30th 2013, at 7PM, the Lowe Art Museum will be having a private event showcasing the trailer of the documentary to introduce the little-known population of Japanese-Brazilian artists featured in it -through their canvases, sculptures, ceramics and photography-  bringing to light the dynamic and multicultural Japanese presence in Brazil.

The film will premiere on WPBT2/South Florida on Monday May 6th at 9PM and Friday May 10th at 10PM.

Focusing on the fusion of culture, history and tradition in the works of these artists, West Encounters East has been unlike anything else, a documentary that has been also showcased in the form of visual art exhibition during international art fairs.

“West Encounters East compliments the arteamericas 2012 art exhibition as it features many of the same Japanese Brazilian artists however, the film goes beyond the canvas by painting a picture of each of the artist's inspirations, personalities and origins into a singular and dynamic expression,” said Linda Corley, six-time Suncoast Emmy Award-winning producer.

During the premiere event, Executive Producer Stella Holmes, a member of the Director’s Circle of the Lowe Art Museum will introduce Dr. Pedro Erber, and one of the featured artists in the film, Takashi Fukushima for a lively conversation entitled "Art Historical Crossroads."

Dr. Erber is Professor at Cornell University specializing in Brazilian literature, intellectual history and visual culture, and Fukushima, is the son of the late Tikashi Fukushima, a pioneer of the Japanese-Brazilian art movement.

West Encounters East was made possible with support from Maria Estela Santacruz. Sponsors for the private event are the Consulate General of Brazil in Miami, WPBT2, and The Brickellian.