Eiko Otake & Wen Hui: What Is War

In addition to the performances, Eiko Otake and Wen Hui will be taking part in a variety of community residency activities that are free and open to the public.

Movement Workshop
Sunday, March 30, 1–4 pm Free
Fox Dance Studio, Macalester College Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center
130 S Macalester Street, St. Paul, MN 55105
Led by Eiko Otake and Wen Hui
Movement Workshops taught by Eiko Otake and Wen Hui are designed for all people who love to move or who want to love to move with feelings. You don’t have to be a dancer to enjoy the experience. The workshops are emphatically noncompetitive and appropriate to all levels of training and ability. Please come with a water bottle and wear layers of clothing. You will be asked to take your shoes off and lay down on the floor.

Film Screening: No Rule Is Our Rule by Eiko Otake and Wen Hui
Monday, March 31, 4:45–6:30 pm Free
Art Commons 102, Macalester College Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center
130 S Macalester Street, St. Paul, MN 55105
This 73-minute film tells the life history, artistic interactions, and friendship between Asian female artists Eiko Otake and Wen Hui, who grew up in postwar Japan (1945-) and during China’s Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), respectively. Their distinct cultural memories intersect in the shared trauma of the Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in early 2020 in China. Reserve your spot here.

Panel Discussion on Dance Dramaturgy
Thursday, April 3, 7 pm Free
Garden Terrace Room, Walker Art Center
Please join us for a conversation with panelists Cláudia Tatinge Nascimento, Liz Engelman, Iris McCloughan, and Talvin Wilks around the practice of dramaturgy as it applies to dance. Traditionally associated with theatrical practices, the role of the dramaturg is fluid and context-dependent. In this conversation, practicing dramaturgs will discuss their individual approaches to working with choreographers, the differences between dramaturging dance and theater, and what dramaturgy can offer dancemakers. Arrive early to view free films by Eiko Otake and Wen Hui in Walker’s Mediatheque or to explore the galleries as part of Walker’s Free Thursday Night programming. Reserve your spot here.

Experience a selection of moving image works by the two interdisciplinary artists and performers, screening in the Walker’s Bentson Mediatheque. Free and open to all during gallery hours; no admission required.

Playlist (available for self-select viewing)
April 3–17
No Rule Is Our Rule (2023) by Eiko Otake and Wen Hui (73 min.)
Dance with Farm Workers (2001) by Wen Hui (15 min.)
Dance with Third Grandmother (2015) by Wen Hui (15 min.)
Stone Quarry (2024) by Eiko Otake (22 min.)

Continuous Screenings
Friday–Saturday, April 11–12, 10 am–5 pm
Thursday, April 17, 6–9 pm
No Rule Is Our Rule (2023) by Eiko Otake and Wen Hui (73 min.)

Audio description (AD) is planned for the Friday performance. Please click here to purchase AD seats.

This performance contains nudity and themes of war.

For more information about accessibility, visit our Access page.

For questions on accessibility, content and sensory notes, or to request additional accommodations, call 612-253-3556 or email access@walkerart.org.