Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene through the eyes and ears of local artists. Our guest is Tasha Ceyan: multi-disciplinary artist, scholar and member of Blank Map, a temporary collective of Black artist-performer-musicians. Blank Map’s work can be seen at Dance Mission this weekend, as part of the National Queer Arts Festival.
Ceyan told KALW’s Jen Chien about three cool arts events happening around the Bay.
Appendix, an exhibit of work by ten Asian American women and queer artists, is at the Pacific Heritage Museum now through July 9th. The exhibit, exploring trauma and empowerment, is co-curated by Erina C. Alejo & Diana Li for Asian American Women Artists Association through their Emerging Curators Program.
CEYAN: Diana Li is someone who I admire and respect. I think she’s brilliant and the work that she and Erina Alejo have compiled is really strong.
RADAR Productions presents their annual Radar Superstar event on Wednesday, 6/8 at Koret Auditorium inside the San Francisco Main Library. RADAR’s founding as a literary arts organization is celebrated with performance by Guillermo Gomez-Pena, XandraIbarra, Aya de Leon and Chinaka Hodge. This is followed by a benefit for Radar Productions, The Witching Hour, at the Luggage Store featuring tarot readings, and singing by Maya Songbird.
CEYAN: Guillermo Gomez-Pena alone is a draw for me. He is just a force who freaks certain narratives and challenges how we view our bodies.
RotimiAgbabiaka’s solo show Type/Caste is at the African American Art & Culture Complex on Friday, 6/10, & Saturday, 6/11. Agbabiaka uses “monologue, song, dance and drag” to illustrate the difficulties a queer, black actor faces trying to break into the mainstream American performance world. It’s produced by Queer Cultural Center as part of the National Queer Arts Festival.
CEYAN: Agbabiaka’s work resonates with some of the themes and terrain that Blank Map finds itself having to negotiate. It offers a different set of mediums that speak in conversation with ours.
