MATCHA: Healing Arts June 5, 2008

The Asian Art Museum's popular evening mixer series is back for its third season!

The perfect way to get your monthly arts fix, you can watch performances, stroll the galleries, embark on special tours, create art, mingle over cocktails from the cash bar, and enjoy music performed live or spun by a DJ...ALL FOR $5!

MATCHA will kick off THIS THURSDAY with multi-sensorial offerings of Asian healing arts. Detoxify with shiatsu, acupuncture, Thai foot massage, Korean hand therapy, cupping, and other relaxing mini-treatments, sip tea, channel your "vital energy" in a qi gong session, have your pulse checked, drop in on a gallery tour, and unwind with live Chinese music. Be there for the first MATCHA of the year. Co-organized with the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College, Berkeley.

Click here to watch our special MATCHA 2008 trailer!

Check out the rest of the MATCHA season schedule:

First Thursdays, June-November 2008 5-9 pm, Only $5

Jul 3 SOUND OF THE SAGES | Enjoy the stirring melodies of China’s oldest instrument, the guqin, played by award-winning musician Wang Fei. Try brush painting, view Ming Dynasty treasures, embark on a tour of musical instruments, and knock back a drink with friends.

Aug 7 DRUNKEN FIST | You’ve seen Jet Li do it in movies, now watch champions Philip Wong, Zhang Hong Mei, and members of Pacific Wushu in a dynamic jaw-dropping demonstration of wushu (martial art). Jump on gallery tours of samurai and daggers, learn about shaolin martial arts, and kick it with DJ Phatrick.

Sep 4 TEA & SPICE | Savor floral, earthy Chinese teas inside Tea Alchemy’s Tea Temple, a mammoth tent that celebrates the trade history of the legendary Silk Routes. Journey along the Silk Routes by sampling teas from India, Iran, and Tibet (provided by Samovar), make your own chai blend, and explore the galleries for spice-related objects.

Oct 2 JAPANESE TATTOO | Tattoo artist Takahiro Kitamura (”Horitaka,” apprentice to the revered master, Horiyoshi III) gives a talk on the ancient tradition of Japanese tattooing. See demonstrations of the hand-tapping inking technique, try Japanese teas, grab a cocktail, and soak up the DJ’s aural offerings.

Nov 6 AFGHANISTAN | Don’t miss a festive evening of Afghan art and culture. Witness a colorful performance by Ballet Afsaneh, nibble on tasty bites, create jewelry inspired by ancient Bactrian gold in the special exhibition, Afghanistan, and enjoy special tours.

Official Website: http://www.asianart.org/matcha.htm