Monday, March 8, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 7
Festival celebrates Asian cultures
Bv Dan Currv
by Dan Curry
decurry@kansan.com
Kansan staff worker
Origami swans dangled around the Kansas Union Ballroom and Chinese lanterns were suspended from long lines as a woman in an emerald Indian sari gracefully stepped through the 500-person crowd that thronged the aisles at Saturday's Taste of Asia celebration.
The event attracted Asian-American students from many countries, as well as some curious onlookers, who gathered to express and witness the multiple forms of Asian culture present at the University of Kansas.
"The purpose is to get KU as a community to appreciate the Asian community." Ko said.
In its second year, the event drew twice as many people as last year, said Glen Kao, Salina sophomore.
During the cultural display portion of the night, Mohammed Faraz Matin, Pakistan sophomore and social chairman of the Pakistan Cultural Club, stood in the corner of the ball room in the traditional dress of Pakistan — a wool vest called a Koti, a light tunic called a Shalvarkameez, and on each foot a hooked, silver and gold shoe called a khussa.
The event included Asian cuisine, cultural presentations, a traditional and modern fashion show, songs and a dance party featuring Asian-American dance music diva Jocelyn Enriquez.
He demonstrated the use of his grandfather's 65-year-old hookah — a smoking device — that is made of copper.
He said people laid down in a circle on pillows and placed the hookah in the center.
"It's like for centuries people have been using the same materials and format to smoke tobacco," Matin said.
The Pakistan contingent's presence at the celebrations was an expression of the purpose of the whole event, said Hubert Chen, external vice-president of the Asian-American Student Union, which organized the event.
"This whole event will meet up with our agenda which is to unite all the Asian-American groups into the Asian Action Alliance." Chen said.
Chen said that eight organizations of Asian-American students had pooled their talents to make this year's celebration a success.
Attendance was so high that they ran out of food early, Chen said. The people who did not get to eat and did not want to attend the other events received a refund of the
People in the balcony whistled and clapped during the fashion show, which presented models wearing Vietnamese white shirts, Indian saris, traditional wedding dresses and suits.
Mohammed Faraz Matin, Pakistan sophomore, demonstrates his grandfather's 65-year-old hookah at the Kansas Union ballroom. About 500 people attended Saturday's Taste of Asia celebration. Photo by Magnus Andersson/KANSAN
"I had to standardize what each group could do," Chen said. "But if you notice, each group walks in their own way."
William Tsutsui, assistant professor of history and adviser to the AASU, said the event was amazing.
ticket price.
"When I was an undergraduate, groups wouldn't even talk to each other," Tsui said.
- Edited by Jodi Smith
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