Several programs, projects, and contributions organized or supported by Baltimore Sister Cities and our sister city committees (Changwon, South Korea; Gbarnga, Liberia; Kawasaki, Japan; Luxor & Alexandria, Egypt; Odesa, Ukraine; Piraeus, Greece; Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Xiamen, China) and our affiliates. Please also see our list of upcoming events.
B4 Youth Theatre Liberia – 200 Years of Returns (2022)
Promoted by Baltimore-Gbarnga Sister City Committee
B4 Youth Theatre, Inc. Liberia presented the Bicentennial performance of 200 Years of Returns in Liberia in December 2022.
This is a collaboration with Department of Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Virginia (US), dancers sponsored by the Inheritance Baltimore project, and graduate researcher assistants under the direction of the Program in Racism, Immigration, and Citizenship at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University. Since this collaboration began in 2019, the team has consulted with notable Liberian scholars, artists, and policymakers such as Dr. Carl Burrowes, Dr. Clarice Ford Kulah, and Hon. Rosana G.D.H. Schaack on the development of a production that includes many perspectives for a thoughtful reflection on the challenges and triumphs which brought us together in the past and with hope for how we might persevere together in the future.
Immigrant Heritage Month Recognition (2022)
Contributions by Baltimore-Xiamen Sister City Committee (BXSCC)
The BXSCC and its efforts in support of Baltimore’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic were featured by the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MIMA) during their social media celebration of immigrants’ contribution to the City of Baltimore. See the post via Instagram.
Blooming Rainbow Project (2021-2022)
Organized by Baltimore-Changwon Sister City Committee (BCSCC)
During 2021-2022, artists conducted “Blooming Rainbow” — a collaborative class with children, 5-15 years old, in Baltimore and South Korea to create abstract painting jointly together. In this program, children paint scribbles — they can express their feelings, impulsion or their favorite figures. The scribbles are then exchanged with the artists in Baltimore and Korea, who overlap color onto the scribbles. The children learn about the sister cities of Baltimore, Maryland USA and Changwon, South Korea, and learn about abstract art concepts and artists.
The program is coordinated by artists Ara Ko, Jack Koppert, and Huaqi Liu (graduate students in MICA’s LeRoy E. Hoffberger Painting MFA Program in Baltimore) and Chaeyeon Hong, Yongeun Kwon and Jaeeun Kim from Ewha University in Seoul, South Korea (who travel to Changwon to teach their group of students).
Learn more about the project here.