Most famous for her experimental memoir/novel, Dictée, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha is a Korean American writer, filmmaker and performance artist. She was born in Pusan, Korea, during the Korean War, the third of five children to Cha Hyung Sang and Huo Hyung Soon. She relocated with her family to United States in 1962, first settling in Hawaii, then in 1964 moving to San Francisco, where Cha attended Catholic schools and learned French as well as classical literature. She attended the University of San Francisco beginning in 1968, then transferred to the University of California at Berkeley, where she received a B.A. in comparative literature in 1973, a B.A. in art in 1975, and an M.F.A. in art in 1977.
In the mid-1970s, Cha began performing and showing her works regularly; in a curriculum vita, she designated the year 1974 as the beginning of her career as "producer, director, performer, writer in video and film productions, installations, performances and published texts." She later relocated to Paris, France, where she studied film and met with a number of well-known French filmmakers.
Cha married the photographer Richard Barnes in May 1982; the two had met in a drawing class in 1975, during her time at UC Berkeley.
Her book Dictée (1982), which combines poetry, prose, and visual art in unique and radical ways, has been a source of inspiration and empowerment for many artists and writers, and continues to be cited, excerpted, and viewed as a seminal text in the tradition of Asian and Asian-American women's writing. The interdisciplinary nature of Dictee, which combines narrative, poetry, movie stills, family photos and an array of other genres and forms, and written in various languages, reflects her own varied education.
Her life was cut tragically short when, in November 5, 1982, just a few days after the publication of Dictée, she was raped and murdered by a security guard at the Puck Building in New York City. Dictée received little critical attention until the 1990s, when it was republished by the Third World Press, but it is now regarded as a classic work of autobiography and a powerful commentary upon American hybridity.
In the mid-1970s, Cha began performing and showing her works regularly; in a curriculum vita, she designated the year 1974 as the beginning of her career as "producer, director, performer, writer in video and film productions, installations, performances and published texts." She later relocated to Paris, France, where she studied film and met with a number of well-known French filmmakers.
Cha married the photographer Richard Barnes in May 1982; the two had met in a drawing class in 1975, during her time at UC Berkeley.
Her book Dictée (1982), which combines poetry, prose, and visual art in unique and radical ways, has been a source of inspiration and empowerment for many artists and writers, and continues to be cited, excerpted, and viewed as a seminal text in the tradition of Asian and Asian-American women's writing. The interdisciplinary nature of Dictee, which combines narrative, poetry, movie stills, family photos and an array of other genres and forms, and written in various languages, reflects her own varied education.
Her life was cut tragically short when, in November 5, 1982, just a few days after the publication of Dictée, she was raped and murdered by a security guard at the Puck Building in New York City. Dictée received little critical attention until the 1990s, when it was republished by the Third World Press, but it is now regarded as a classic work of autobiography and a powerful commentary upon American hybridity.
Most famous for her experimental memoir/novel, Dictée, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha is a Korean American writer, filmmaker and performance artist. She was born in Pusan, Korea, during the Korean War, the third of five children to Cha Hyung Sang and Huo Hyung Soon. She relocated with her family to United States in 1962, first settling in Hawaii, then in 1964 moving to San Francisco, where Cha attended Catholic schools and learned French as well as classical literature. She attended the University of San Francisco beginning in 1968, then transferred to the University of California at Berkeley, where she received a B.A. in comparative literature in 1973, a B.A. in art in 1975, and an M.F.A. in art in 1977.
In the mid-1970s, Cha began performing and showing her works regularly; in a curriculum vita, she designated the year 1974 as the beginning of her career as "producer, director, performer, writer in video and film productions, installations, performances and published texts." She later relocated to Paris, France, where she studied film and met with a number of well-known French filmmakers.
Cha married the photographer Richard Barnes in May 1982; the two had met in a drawing class in 1975, during her time at UC Berkeley.
Her book Dictée (1982), which combines poetry, prose, and visual art in unique and radical ways, has been a source of inspiration and empowerment for many artists and writers, and continues to be cited, excerpted, and viewed as a seminal text in the tradition of Asian and Asian-American women's writing. The interdisciplinary nature of Dictee, which combines narrative, poetry, movie stills, family photos and an array of other genres and forms, and written in various languages, reflects her own varied education.
Her life was cut tragically short when, in November 5, 1982, just a few days after the publication of Dictée, she was raped and murdered by a security guard at the Puck Building in New York City. Dictée received little critical attention until the 1990s, when it was republished by the Third World Press, but it is now regarded as a classic work of autobiography and a powerful commentary upon American hybridity.
In the mid-1970s, Cha began performing and showing her works regularly; in a curriculum vita, she designated the year 1974 as the beginning of her career as "producer, director, performer, writer in video and film productions, installations, performances and published texts." She later relocated to Paris, France, where she studied film and met with a number of well-known French filmmakers.
Cha married the photographer Richard Barnes in May 1982; the two had met in a drawing class in 1975, during her time at UC Berkeley.
Her book Dictée (1982), which combines poetry, prose, and visual art in unique and radical ways, has been a source of inspiration and empowerment for many artists and writers, and continues to be cited, excerpted, and viewed as a seminal text in the tradition of Asian and Asian-American women's writing. The interdisciplinary nature of Dictee, which combines narrative, poetry, movie stills, family photos and an array of other genres and forms, and written in various languages, reflects her own varied education.
Her life was cut tragically short when, in November 5, 1982, just a few days after the publication of Dictée, she was raped and murdered by a security guard at the Puck Building in New York City. Dictée received little critical attention until the 1990s, when it was republished by the Third World Press, but it is now regarded as a classic work of autobiography and a powerful commentary upon American hybridity.
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