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Join us for an opening reception of two history exhibitions: Journey to Fountaingrove: From Feudal Japan to California Utopia and Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation. With items from our collection, Paradise Ridge Winery, and from private collectors, the exhibition, Journey to Fountaingrove: From Feudal Japan to California Utopia, spans the large geographical and cultural distance that Nagasawa had to navigate. It is the story of the connections that brought this unusual man from Japan to Santa Rosa, and the man himself who became known as the "Wine King of California." From the builders of some of America's earliest railroads and farms to Civil Rights pioneers to digital technology entrepreneurs, Indian Americans have long been an inextricable part of American life. Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation explores the Indian American experience and the community's vital political, professional, and cultural contributions to American life and history. The exhibition moves past pop-culture stereotypes of Indian Americans to explore the heritage, daily experience, and diverse contributions of Indian immigrants and their descendants in the United States. Weaving together stories of individual achievement and collective struggle, Beyond Bollywood uses photography, narrative, multimedia, and interactive stations to tell a uniquely American story, while conveying the texture, vibrancy, and vitality of Indian American communities. Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation was created by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.

PERFORMANCE AND TALK BY GURU SRI VISHNU TATTVA DAS: ODISSA, SACRED DANCE OF INDIA In ancient India the temple was the center of learning, culture, religion and art. According to archeological evidence, Odissi is one of the oldest surviving dance forms of India, dating back to the 1st and 2nd century BC; Mahari legend and oral tradition hold that its origins date back even further. In this program, part lecture and part performance, Guru Sri Vishnu Tattva Das will talk about the history, traditions, repertoire, music, and costume of this temple dance. Sri Vishnu Tattva Das is a dedicated artist who has devoted himself to perfecting the art of Odissi. Vishnu is recognized as one of India's prominent male Odissi dancers and choreographers, and has received acclaim for his performances throughout India, Italy, Canada, and the U.S. He has presented hundreds of solo performances, lecture-demonstrations, and master classes. He has also collaborated, choreographed and performed with many dance artists in India and the U.S.

Whether a Monsoon Wedding or a Bride & Prejudice, marriage has been and continues to be a central motif in Bollywood and beyond. This talk will explore the evolution of the role of marriage in popular Indian films - from planned weddings to Wedding Planners - and examine how such shifts reflect the growing influence of the Indian diaspora on Bollywood, and of Bollywood on the Indian diaspora. Looking at a series of recent films from Bollywood in relation to contemporary films from diasporic filmmakers, Ajay Gehlawat will discuss how Bollywood and its significant others rearrange one another's cultural politics, inflecting them with their own cinematic styles in an attempt to have each other's wedding cakes and eat them too. Ajay Gehlawat is Associate Professor of Theatre and Film at Sonoma State University. He has written extensively on Bollywood and its relationships with other global cinemas. Along with his first book, Reframing Bollywood, Gehlawat is editor of The Slumdog Phenomenon: A Critical Anthology. His most recent book, Twenty-First Century Bollywood, explores the various shifts that have taken place in this cinema in the new millennium in relation to the changing dynamics of Indian culture.