Celebrate Asian Art Revolution, a weekend of events taking a fresh look at Asian art, film, and music, beginning Thursday night September 23 with “Asian Pop Rock” music, and a sneak peek at the unique video and photography in Fiona Tan: Rise and Fall at the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery of Art.

The final “Asia After Dark” event of the year, “Asian Pop Rock”, begins at 6:30 PM on Thursday with Asian grooves by DC-based DJs Yellow Fever, and special guests Zac Holtzman and Senon Williams from the Cambodian pop-rock band Dengue Fever. Whole lotta diseases goin’ on.

Holtzman and Williams will intro a film clip from their documentary, “Sleep Walking Through the Mekong”, about Dengue Fever’s tour of Cambodia, where they performed with local musicians, and found a vibrant country far different from the tragic “killing fields” images so often associated with it.

(A full screening of the film will be shown on Friday, September 24 at 7 PM, including a Q&A with Holtzman and Williams as well as the director, John Pirozzi.)

At Thursday night's Artful Avatars activity, have your photo taken in a retro photo booth, decorate the picture — or craft an original self-portrait — with art materials the gallery provides. Then, display your final creation in the Dark Room.

You can take part also in a short video interview by a Pink Line Project cameraman. Then, watch your on-screen performance projected in the Pink Line Pop Rock Lounge.

Also Thursday night, join a preview tour by Fiona Tan exhibition curator Carol Huh, who’ll explain how Tan's work explores memory and identity in a world increasingly shaped by global culture.

This is the first major US presentation of work by the Indonesian-born artist who lives in Amsterdam. Tan’s exhibit, which blends old photographs with 17th century Dutch painting and 19th century architecture, opens September 25 and continues through January 16, 2011.

You may also tour the gorgeous exhibit “Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia”.

Wear your brightest “Pop rockin’ colors”, the museum encourages. And be among the first to get a Peacock Room T-shirt created by well-known fashion designer Anna Sui, in partnership with Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler galleries.

A cash bar will offer specialty cocktails, wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages throughout the evening, as well as food from area restaurants. You must be 21 years old with a valid photo ID to attend.

Tickets are $18 in advance, and limited amount of tickets will be available at the door, $20. A ticket includes one drink.

Weekend events for "Asian Art Revolution":

• Saturday, September 25, 7 PM, Freer Gallery, Meyer Auditorium

   MC Yogi -- Yoga master and hip-hop artist MC Yogi layers beat-boxing with sacred chanting, creating a distinctive blend of Indian music and mythology and infectious rhythm. Free tickets required. 

• Sunday, September 26, 2 PM, Freer Gallery, Meyer Auditorium
   Davy Chou -- Filmmaker and Cambodian cinema specialist Davy Chou, grandson of Cambodian movie producer Van Chann, presents a history of Cambodian cinema from the 1960s and 1970s. Chou works tirelessly to track down films and filmmakers from this period, during which Khmer films and Khmer rock together created a lively, inventive pop culture that was tragically destroyed by the Pol Pot regime.