Dance, music, and food are aspects of festivals that too often become the exclusive markers of a group’s “culture.” But who dances? What music is played? How is that dish made? And why do we gather? These are all questions that reveal the laters of significance encoded in Ginza and Viva Brasil, two contemporary festivals in the Chicago Japanese American and Brazilian communities. Come to discover and uncover how we understand ourselves and our communities through these celebrations with the Brazilian Cultural Center & Chicago Japanese American Historical Society.

Recorded Saturday, November 03, 2007 at Jane Addams Hull-House Museum.