Pilipinx Virtual Histories is a collaboration between Kearny Street Workshop and Balay Kreative that explores the cultural impact of the Filipinx and Asian American arts activism community in San Francisco.
This two-part event celebrates the launch of the AR/VR project, Pilipinx Virtual Histories, and an exhibition, kalayaan (till every grass blade is afire from every other) which opens at ARC Gallery (1246 Folsom Street) on June 19.
Pilipinx Virtual Histories as part of the USAAF Festival
Supported by API Cultural Center
June 17, 2021 - 7-9PM
Join us for the launch of the Pilipinx Virtual Histories AR film vignette series with lead artists Kristian Kabuay, ClarizeYale Revadavia, and Jason Bayani, a curator’s walkthrough of kalayaan (till every grass blade is afire from every other), and a panel discussion with SF-based Artist Activists Kristian Kabuay, ClarizeYale Revadavia, Rupert Estanislao, and Joel Tan.
About the Project: Pilipinx Virtual Histories
Led by collaborating artists Kristian Kabuay, ClarizeYale Revadavia, and under the Artistic Direction of Jason Bayani (KSW), this Augmented Reality project presents four vignettes that follow the stories of SF Pilipinx Artist-Activists Claire Amable, Rupert Estanislao, Jessica Hagedorn, and Joel Tan. Each vignette re-animates the hidden histories of how each Artist-Activist grew their consciousness around community in specific neighborhoods of San Francisco, especially SoMa and Chinatown/Manilatown.
About the exhibition: kalayaan (till every grass blade is afire from every other)
As part of a larger oral history project called Pilipinx Virtual Histories, kalayaan (till every grass blade is afire from every other) responds to a recurring theme in interviews with San Francisco Pilipinx artists of different generations: the cultural freedom that is possible in spaces beyond the bounds of mainstream society. The exhibition explores what it has meant for Pilipinx artists to work in these spaces of freedom, also known as the underground. Drawing connections between different spaces, times, & genres, kalayaan will exhibit archives of zines, photos, & ephemera documenting their histories; kiosks for independent bookstores & record labels currently circulating underground material culture; & artwork reflecting on & continuing the legacies seeded in these autonomous zones. To bring these disparate elements together, the gallery will be transformed into a multifunctional space associated with the underground known as an infoshop (often called a “cross between a radical bookstore & a movement archive”). As an active community space, the infoshop will invite people to participate as archivists, researchers, & producers of material culture.
Opens at ARC Gallery 1246 Folsom Street on June 19, 12-3pm
Gallery hours: Wednesday & Thursday 1-6PM, Saturdays 12-3PM.
Curated by Colin Choy Kimzey
Participating artists: Anth Bongco, Charlene Tan, Claire Amable, England Hidalgo, Erina Alejo, Kaitlyn Evangelista, Means of Exchange SoMa
Participating organizations: Aklasan Records, Arkipelago Books, Brown Recluse Zine Distro, Prelinger Library
Programming Calendar
Saturday, June 26 Opening Reception 12-3PM
Featuring poetry by Anth Bongco & MC Amable & live weaving by Charlene Tan. Join us afterward for Aklasan Sa Kapwa, a Pinoy punk/hardcore benefit at Kapwa Gardens (3-6PM @ 967 Mission St).
Saturday, July 17 Working the Archive 12-3PM
The community is invited to contribute Pilipinx & Asian American zines to the Kearny Street Workshop archive, conduct research, & create content from images in the archive. Featuring live weaving by Charlene Tan.
Saturday, July 31 Research & Remembering: Weaving with Charlene Tan 12-3PM
Community members are invited to bring plastic bags to incorporate into a large weaving structure in this Pilipinx textiles workshop with Charlene Tan.
Saturday, August 7 Closing Reception 12-3PM
Panel discussion with participating artists & organizations.
About balay kreative and kearny street workshop
Balay Kreative and Kearny Street Workshop are collaborating to take an innovative approach to documenting and placemaking the rich histories of how Pilipinx Artist-Activists have impacted San Francisco. Fore more information about our organizations, please visit: balaykreative.com and kearnystreet.org
KEARNY STREET WORKSHOP is the longest standing multidisciplinary Asian Pacific American arts organization. Founded in 1972, during the height of the Asian American cultural movement, Kearny Street Workshop (KSW) is the oldest Asian Pacific American multidisciplinary arts organization in the country.
Through collaborations with other arts organizations and cultural communities, both locally and nationally, KSW provides a forum for Asian American artists of different media to reach a wide, diverse audience. The American Jazz Festival, started by KSW in 1981 flourishes to the present day. The struggles of the neighborhood defined the art produced by KSW members: low-income housing, strikes by garment and electrical union workers, and eviction of the elderly tenants of the International Hotel.
KSW offers classes and workshops, salons, and student presentations, as well as professionally curated and produced exhibitions, performances, readings, and screenings. KSW makes artists out of community members and community members out of artists. For the past 48 years, KSW has nurtured the creative spirit, offered an important platform for new voices to be heard, and connected artists with community.
These projects have been funded and supported by: the California Arts Council, the San Francisco Arts Commission, the Mayor’s Office of Housing & Community Development, and API Cultural Center.