Art Discussion

Thursday, March 27, 2008; 7 - 9pm
Public Discussion: Where Are We Going: the future of activism
Location: Kearny Street Workshop's space180, 180 Capp Street, 3rd Floor, @ 17th Street, San Francisco

Cost: Free and open to the public.

Information: 415.503.0520; info [at] kearnystreet.org; http://www.kearnystreet.org/activistimagination

Join the conversation online: http://kearnystreet.wordpress.com/category/activist-imagination/

In its 35th anniversary year, Kearny Street Workshop, the oldest multidisciplinary Asian Pacific American arts organization in the country, has collaborated with visual artists Bob Hsiang, Donna Keiko Ozawa, and Christine Wong Yap to produce Activist Imagination, an exhibition about activism, art, and community. Responding to KSW’s rich history of activism and art, Activist Imagination offers a multigenerational and multi-media look at the past, present, and future of Asian Pacific American activism. Photographer Bob Hsiang will unveil recent portraits of activists, including longtime civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama, South Bay organizer Raj Jayadev, and Oakland performance poet Shailja Patel. Donna Keiko Ozawa will show new interactive sculptures, including viewer-activated pieces inspired by the struggle to save the International Hotel, where Kearny Street Workshop was founded in 1972. Christine Wong Yap contributes site-specific installations and a screenprinted multiple to continue her work around optimism and pessimism.

The Activist Imagination exhibition goes hand-in-hand with an Activist Imagination discussion series running from November 2007 - May 2008, and a catalog of the exhibition will be released at the closing event on May 24th. Activist Imagination is made possible in part by a grant from the Creative Work Fund through support from the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the James Irvine Foundation. Activist Imagination is also supported in part by a grant from the San Francisco Foundation.

----Kearny Street Workshop is a community-based arts nonprofit based in San Francisco. Founded in 1972, KSW's mission is to produce and present art that enriches and empowers Asian Pacific American communities. Our vision is to achieve a more just society by connecting APA artists to community members to give voice to our cultural, historical, and contemporary issues. Now in our 35th year, KSW offers workshops, visual exhibitions, readings, artist salons and panel discussions, an annual arts festival, and more. For more information, please visit http://www.kearnystreet.org