TANGLED ROOTS

The Schwartz School of the Arts at Augsburg University presents Tangled Roots: A Grief and Hope Ceremony. Devised and created in collaboration with visiting artist Emily Lau, this powerful narrative, performing and visual arts project features a 50-minute filmed performance by eight Schwartz School honors students across all disciplines. Blending themes of loss, remembrance, and hope, Tangled Roots offers a moving and reflective artistic response to the socio-political upheaval experienced by our community during the winter of 2026.

This project was devised specifically for the Twin Cities as a response and a gift to the community, this work features all orginal pieces by Augsburg Students, developed under the guidance of artist-in-residence Emily Lau.

Emily Lau is a composer, singer, performance artist, teacher, and maker of community whose work moves freely across music, theater, gastronomy, movement, visual arts, and literature — not because she can’t choose, but because the most interesting things happen at the edges where disciplines touch. Originally from Hong Kong, she has made her home in the strange and fascinating cultural landscape of the USA, and divides her time between Portland, Oregon and Foshan, China.