Kip Fulbeck Presentation
What are you? The Changing Face of America.
Sponsored by the Mesa College Humanities Institute and the Asian Pacific Islander Heritage committee.
- Thursday, May 15th, 2008
- 1pm-2:30pm
- G-101
Once a derogatory label derived from the Hawaiian word for "half," Hapa has since been embraced as a term of pride by many whose mixed racial heritage includes Asian or Pacific Island descent. Kip Fulbeck began The Hapa Project as a forum for Hapas to answer the question "What are you?" in their own words and be pictured in simple head-on portraits. Traveling throughout the country, he photographed over 1200 people from all walks of life – from babies to adults, construction workers to rock stars, gang bangers to pro surfers, schoolteachers to porn stars, engineers to comic book artists. The project now manifests as a book, traveling photographic exhibition, and online community.
Kip Fulbeck is an award-winning artist, slam poet and filmmaker. A challenging and inspirational teacher, Kip is a professor of Art at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he has been named an Outstanding Faculty Member four times. He is the author of Permanence: Tattoo Portraits; Part Asian, 100% Hapa; and Paper Bullets: A Fictional Autobiography, as well as the director of a dozen short films including Banana Split and Lilo & Me. Kip has been featured on CNN, MTV, and PBS, and has performed and exhibited in over 20 countries. He speaks nationwide on identity, multiraciality and pop culture — mixing together spoken word, stand-up comedy, political activism and personal stories to standing ovations.