Culture
Drums pounded as members of Danza Xitlalli, an Aztec dance group, circled the lawn of the Oakland Museum of California on Sunday, turning counterclockwise, then clockwise, to open the museum’s annual Día de los Muertos celebration. As the crowd swayed with the dancers, heads tilting as they turned, feet tapping the ground, others put the final touches to their altars, placing candles, marigolds and bundles of sage with the photos of their loved ones and their favorite things. Día de…
Two masked kendokas faced off with long bamboo sticks, their feet planted firmly. Each strike was accompanied by a yell that reverberated across Lil Bobby Hutton Park, continuing Oakland’s more than 50-year legacy of martial arts. This live demonstration took place at the “Life is Living” Festival” in West Oakland Saturday. The free annual event was founded by Oakland-rooted creatives in 2008. This year’s “Party for Self-Defense,” theme came from the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, which was the original name…
Two days before Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the Peralta Hacienda Historical Park in Fruitvale will hold a grand opening celebration of “Indigenous Voices” a park-wide exhibition that has transformed the site into an immersive experience of Ohlone history and its enduring artistic voices. The exhibition will bring together the work of more than 10 artists, including Ohlone culture bearers, to commemorate the revival of Ohlone history in the East Bay. The core is a 12-foot sculpture that represents SII, the Chochenyo…
Films by Oakland-based filmmakers or set in the city will be screened at the New Parkway Theater Sunday as part of Oakland Style Week, an annual festival organized by Visit Oakland. The showcase — “Oakland Made” — also will raise funds to support community events and screenings through Cinemama, a Bay Area film nonprofit. “Bringing more events, more workshops also puts us in the space where we can pay more creatives to lead more workshops,” said Niema Jordan, an Oakland-based documentary…
Oakland’s Fruitvale Transit Village Plaza has a new addition. Commissioned by Fruitvale’s Unity Council, a 34-foot-tall handmade La Catrina sculpture was erected this month, ahead of Día de Los Muertos celebrations in November. The satirical skeleton dates to early 20th century Mexico and is known as an “equalizer” of death that strips away social status and wealth. Standing before it, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee echoed the festival’s theme, which stresses the difficult years Latino immigrants have endured under the Trump…
“Circle of Light” director Amir Aziz was born in Iran the week the Iran-Iraq War began 1980 and immigrated to Canada with his family when he was 3 years old. He remembers the land of his ancestors portrayed through images of conflict and political turmoil. Even as a child, he understood that human connection wasn’t built through wartime policies, negotiated treaties or diplomatic embassies but in the way cultures have always found common ground, through art. Informed by that experience…
This story was co-published with The Oaklandside. Before it was a puppet show, “Hummingbird Saves Fire” was a memory. For Deja Gould, historical preservation officer and language keeper for the Lisjan Nation, it was a ritual of her childhood — falling asleep to her mother’s voice explaining how fire came into this world. She recalled her mother using different voices to distinguish each character, and how the detail was so vivid, it felt like she was really there. Now Gould…
On the first Friday of the month, Telegraph Avenue fills with the sounds of music, conversation and laughter as crowds move between rows of food stands, clothing vendors and live performances. The smell of grilled meat and fried foods wafts through the air, while children take turns dancing in the middle of the street, drawing cheers from a circle of onlookers. Nearby, vendors greet customers by name, while people stopped to browse colorful displays of Oakland-themed apparel, and handmade art…
Victoria Shartzer arrived for the annual White Elephant sale at 8:30 a.m. Saturday — but this wasn’t her first rodeo. For the last 15 years, Shartzer has lined up early outside the warehouse on Glascock Street. For the first time, she was at the front of it. “You come for the things you never knew you needed,” Shartzer said. “It’s the thrill of the search.” “Everything I’m wearing is second hand, except my underwear and my bra,” she continued, pointing…