San Francisco International Arts Festival | |
---|---|
Genre | Arts festival |
Date(s) | May–June |
Location(s) | San Francisco, California, United States |
Founded | 2003 |
Founders | Andrew Wood |
Website | sfiaf |
The San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF) is a multicultural performance and visual arts festival held annually during the first two weeks of May in multiple venues in the Mission District of San Francisco, California. SFIAF presents the work of ground-breaking performing artists from the Bay Area and around the world; many of the international artists do not have US representation and have rarely (or never previously) performed in this country. From 2003 to 2024 SFIAF and more than 100 presenting partners have coordinated, presented and/or produced performances by over 700 artists and arts ensembles from the Bay Area and 60 other countries, as well as conducting numerous educational and outreach activities.
The first SFIAF was held between September 4 to 21, 2003 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. A total of 15 ensembles performed at the festival, eight of which were from the San Francisco Bay Area and seven were from abroad. Of these, Akram Khan Dance Company (London), Salia nï Seydou (Burkina Faso), and Quasar Companhia de Danca (Brazil) all made their northern California debuts. [1] The second SFIAF was held between May 18 to June 5, 2005, and presented a total of 23 productions, four by international artists, six as international collaborations of local artists working with artists from other countries, and 13 by local artists. [2] Beginning with the 2005 season, SFIAF has been held in late May and early June. In its early years, before the festival made Fort Mason its principal venue in 2009, SFIAF presented shows at a number of different venues throughout San Francisco, including the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Theater Artaud, Mission High School, and Fort Mason. [3] Beginning with the 2015 season that was held from May 21 to June 7 and that showcased performances by 70 local and international ensembles, all performances have been staged at Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture. [4] The 2020 Festival was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
During the pandemic, SFIAF worked to develop safe and socially distanced outdoor performances. After more than six months of pandemic lock-down and supported by grants from the San Francisco Arts Commission and the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, SFIAF presented the first legally permitted public performances in San Francisco on October 24-25, 2020. The event safely featured 16 live concerts and performances for a total live audience of over 700 people and was live-streamed to several thousand more.
SFIAF continued to work with dozens of Bay Area artists to research and stage outdoor performances in and around Fort Mason. However, as pandemic restrictions stretched into years, it became clear that the Fort Mason Center had suffered severe financial losses and would no longer be able to partner with SFIAF.
In July 2022, the Festival's board of directors voted to return the Festival program to the Mission District. A first run (minus international artists) took place in 2023 and the full Festival returned in May 2024.
The 2018 season of SFIAF took place at Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture between May 24 and June 3 and showcased some 40 local and international artists and ensembles. [5] Commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, the festival's theme was Down by the Riverside. The headline concert 'Down by the Riverside: Requiem for a King,' a composition by Anthony Brown with spoken word by Angela Davis saw its world-premier on May 26 in Fort Mason's Cowell Theater. [6] The 2019 season of SFIAF took place from May 23 to June 2 at Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture, showcasing some 50 local and international artists and ensembles. [7] Themed The Path to Democracy, the festival presented a number of productions that directly or indirectly engaged with political activism, such as Théatre de la Feuille's (Hong Kong) new adaptation of 'The Orphan of Zhao' or Spitfire Company's (Czech Republic) 'Antiwords', inspired by the late Václav Havel's play 'Audience'. [8] Two of the companies that had originally been scheduled to appear at this year's festival, the Compagnie Virginie Brunelle, a modern dance group based in Montreal, Canada, and Collective Ma’louba, a Syrian theater company based in Germany, were denied visas to the US and their shows had to be cancelled. [9]
SFIAF is primarily a presenting organization but has also produced projects over the years. These productions include:
2005-7 “A Long Way Home: Concertizing the Golden Triangle” composed and arranged by Linda Tillery & The Cultural Heritage Choir with Black Voices (UK). 2008-10 “Crazy Cloud” by Shinichi Iova-Koga and inkBoat in collaboration with Ko Murobushi (Japan). 2009-12 “PLACAS: The Most Dangerous Tattoo” written by Paul S. Flores, directed by Michael John Garces, starring Ric Salinas. 2013-15 “Classic Black” written by/starring Devorah Major with Brian Freeman, directed by Ellen Sebastian Chang. 2016-18 “IYA: The Esselen Remember” (staged readings) written by Luis Juarez of Baktun 12 in collaboration with the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation, directed by Kinan Valdez. 2020-22 “Daughters of the Delta” composed by Michelle Jacques and Cava Menzies with arrangements by Bryan Dyer. 2021-22 "Religion Kitendi: Dress Code" directed and choreographed by Chanel “Byb” Bibene with original music by Manolo Davila for Kiandanda Dance Theater.
The San Francisco Girls Chorus, established in 1978 by Elizabeth Appling, is a regional center for music education and performance for girls and young women, ages 4–18, based in San Francisco. Each year, more than 300 singers from 45 Bay Area cities participate in SFGC's programs. The organization consists of a professional-level performance, recording, and touring ensemble and a six-level Chorus School training program.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is a multi-disciplinary contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that celebrates local, national, and international artists and the Bay Area's diverse communities. YBCA programs year-round in two landmark buildings—the Galleries and Forum by Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki and the adjacent Theater by American architect James Stewart Polshek and Todd Schliemann. Betti-Sue Hertz served as Curator from 2008 through 2015.
The Isadora Duncan Dance Awards or Izzies honor San Francisco Bay Area dance artists for outstanding achievements in a range of categories including: choreography, sustained achievement, individual performance, company performance, costume design, and set design. The awards are presented annually and named in honor of Isadora Duncan. The awards began in 1986 and were revitalized in 2004 via a partnership with Bay Area National Dance Week after a slump due, in part, to a perceived lack of credibility.
ODC, formerly the Oberlin Dance Collective, is a contemporary dance and arts organization founded in 1971, in Oberlin, Ohio, by current artistic director Brenda Way. ODC relocated to San Francisco in 1976 and in 1979 became the first modern dance company in America to build its own facility, from which it still operates. ODC comprises ODC/Dance, its contemporary dance company, ODC Theater, and ODC School, which provides classes and training for youth, teen, and adult dancers.
AXIS Dance Company is a professional physically integrated contemporary dance company and dance education organization founded in 1987 and based in Oakland, California. It is one of the first contemporary dance companies in the world to consciously develop choreography that integrates dancers with and without physical disabilities. Their work has received nine Isadora Duncan Dance Awards and nine additional nominations for both their artistry and production values.
Margaret Jenkins is a postmodern choreographer based in San Francisco, California. She was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1980 and in 2003, San Francisco mayor, Willie Brown, declared April 24 to be Margaret Jenkins Day.
The Museum of Performance + Design, formerly the San Francisco Performing Arts Library & Museum, is located in the Bayview District of San Francisco, California at 2200 Jerrold Avenue, Ste. T. The Museum collects and makes accessible materials about the performing arts, with a special emphasis on documenting and preserving the San Francisco Bay Area’s rich and diverse performing arts heritage from the Gold Rush to the present. The museum produces public and educational programs, provides library services to researchers, and conservation and archival services to performing arts institutions. The Museum's collection includes personal papers of prominent artists, original costumes and design renderings, audio-visual recordings of live performances, original artwork, other artifacts, and ephemera. The Museum also serves as the official archives for many local performing arts organizations including the San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Opera, Stern Grove Festival, and the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival.
Erika Chong Shuch is an American theatrical performer, director, choreographer, and educator based in San Francisco, California. Her work has appeared on stages in the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, DC, and Seoul, South Korea.
Soundwave Biennial Festival is a sound, art, and music festival that happens every two years for two months in San Francisco.
Mail Order Brides/M.O.B. is a Filipina American artist trio active since 1995 and known for their use of humor and camp to explore issues of culture and gender. Founded in San Francisco by artists Eliza Barrios, Reanne Estrada, and Jenifer K. Wofford, the group's full name, Mail Order Brides/M.O.B., conflates a once-common stereotype of Filipina women as "mail order brides" with an acronym suggestive of an organized crime organization. The group has often been referred to in shorthand as "M.O.B.".
Degenerate Art Ensemble is a Seattle-based multi-art performance company whose work is inspired by punk, comics, cinema, nightmares and fairy tales driven by live music and visceral movement theater and dance. The group was founded and is co-directed by dancer/performer/director Haruko Nishimura and composer/conductor/performer Joshua Kohl. Degenerate Art Ensemble is both a multi-discipline performance company and a band, having performed major dance and live music works, orchestral concerts, rock shows and site-specific street spectacles.
We Players is a site-integrated theater company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company was founded in 2000 by Ava Roy, its Artistic Director, while she was a student at Stanford University.
Naomie Kremer is an Israeli born American artist living and working in Berkeley, CA, and Paris, France. Kremer works in paint, video, photography, digital projection, and stage design.
Marcus Shelby is an American bass player, composer and educator best known for his major works for jazz orchestra, Port Chicago, Harriet Tubman, Soul of the Movement: Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Beyond the Blues: A Prison Oratorio. He has led the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra since 2001 and has recorded with artists as diverse as Ledisi and Tom Waits.
Kularts is a San Francisco, California, based non-profit organization founded in 1985. It presents contemporary and tribal Filipino arts. Its mission is to expand the understanding of American Filipino culture, by sponsoring productions and presentations in the United States. Through its programs of performances, visual arts, community dialogues, and festivals, the organization hopes to advance the spirit and integrity of ancestral Filipino art and cultures.
Leslie Dreyer is a Bay Area-based artist, educator and organizer. She designs creative action, art, and media strategies for social justice initiatives, largely focused on global real estate speculation, hyper-gentrification, displacement, and the tech industry's impact on housing and inequality. The collaborative work often fuses public installation, guerrilla theatre, tactical media and smart mobs.
The SF International HipHop DanceFest is an annual hiphop dance and music event in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1999 by Micaya.
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival is an admission-free performing arts festival held in San Francisco, California. During the summer months, May to October, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival produces concerts and performances including music, dance, theater, circus and children's programs. All programs take place in the outdoor spaces of Yerba Buena Gardens in the South of Market, San Francisco district.
The Showgirl Magic Museum is a history and culture museum in the Chinatown neighborhood of San Francisco, California in the United States. The museum showcases on the 20th-century nightclub scene in Chinatown.
Raheleh "Minoosh" Zomorodinia is an Iranian-born American interdisciplinary visual artist, curator, and educator. She works in many mediums, including in photography, video, installation, and performance. Her work is informed by the tension between Iran and the United States, as well as explorations of the self, of home, nature, and the environment. She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.