a night of WOMEN Art at the MISSION CULTURAL CENTER FOR LATINO ARTS as part of the SOLO MUJERES SHOW in collaboration with WOMEN´S SPIRITUALITY program at New College of California
WEDNESDAY MARCH 28, 6:30pm
2868 Mission Street, San Francisco CA 94110
admission $ 5
rsvp: 415.821.1155
(((click to enlarge the photos)))
LUNA NEGRA program for the night
6:45 Intro by Maria Medina Serafin, master of ceremony, musician and poet
6:50 Music by Claudia Cuentas & Laura Inserra, Flute, Didgeridoo and percussion
7:00 Poetry by Aida Salazar
7:10 “The Dragons Gift”, Puppets by Tania Padilla
7:20 Poetry by Naomi Quiñonez
7:30 "3 Brazilian Choros", Sonia Caltvedt, flute, Rob Riddell, guitar
7:40 Video "Cicatriz" by Sabina Nieto and Mariana Lopez
7:45 Video "Muñequita" by Consuelo Mendez
7:50 Poetry by Judy Grahn
8:00 Music by Anne Carol
8:10 and 2 guest artists-poets from New College
8:25 "Tus manos" Flamenco-video-poem by La Tania
8:35 Poetry by Nina Serrano, accompanied by Camilo Landau
8:45 Songs by Meklit Hadero
8:55 End by Maria Medina Serafin, musician and poet
Live art action by Indira Urrutia (at the same time in the Lobby)
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ABOUT LUNA NEGRA ARTISTS
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MEKLIT A. HADERO (Ethiopia/US), vocalist, musician, arts organizer
Meklit was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and has since lived in twelve cities on three continents. Additionally, she has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Africa, and Central America, giving her an international perspective that proves invaluable in our multicultural neighborhood, city and world.
She has been singing all of her life but began formal vocal training in October of 2004. In May of 2005, she was awarded the Young Musicians Scholarship from Blue Bear School of Music, which enabled her to tremendously deepen her musicianship and technical skills. She plays guitar, writes her own original compositions and performs regularly. She is also a longtime organizer of the Mission Arts and Performance Project. She is the co-director of the Red Poppy Art House.
"The sunday song"
By Meklit Hadero
give me sundays
give me mondays too
give me all week
all month
all year
i need time
i'm in no rush
i'm patient like a woman from ancient days
patient like a woman from ancient days
i need time
woke up to the sound of the alarm
it's buzz,
made my bones buzz,
made my bones buzz.
if only i had, just a little more time
i walked down to the corner
saw the bus just pull away.
a little girl smiled from the back window
and she waved.
if only i had, just a little more time.
my friends tell me-
girl, you walk slow,
saunter like a person with no place
to go
but that's not true
i just like to take my time
give me sundays
give me mondays too
give me all week
all month
all year
i need time
i'm in no rush
i'm patient like a woman from ancient days
patient like a woman from ancient days
i need time
* * * * * * * *
JUDY GRAHN, (US), poet and activist
Judy Grahn is a long time activist, poet, and cultural theorist. She co-directs programs at New College of California, in the arts and Women’s Spirituality. Her forthcoming poetry collection is called: love belongs to those who do the feeling. She invites you to explore her new origin story online at metaformia.org.
Considering herself part of a generation that "began wresting poetry from the exclusive clutches of the sons and daughters of the American upperclass and returning it to the basic groups from which it seeped and sprung," Judy Grahn--lesbian feminist poet, gay cultural theorist, archaeologist, critic, autobiographer, historian, archivist, publisher, biographer, activist, editor, anthropologist, and teacher who picketed the White House in 1963 with the Mattachine Society--has been one of the most effective leaders of the gay rights movement both pre- and post-Stonewall.
In cogently and eloquently displaying ways in which sexuality is related to other economies in our culture like gender, race, and class, she is perhaps the most successful of our contemporary writers.
Thus her Blood, Bread, and Roses: How Menstruation Created the World (1993) is dedicated "To poets." Though it argues that the female body is the origin for all knowledge, even for scientific measure, this is not an exclusionary book written exclusively for women, for inclusivity is at the heart of Judy Grahn's vision.
Love Rode 1500 Miles
by Judy Grahn
Love rode 1500 miles on a grey
hound bus & climbed in my window
one night to surprise
both of us.
the pleasure of that sleepy
shock has lasted a decade
now or more because she is
always still doing it and I am
always still pleased. I do indeed like
aggressive women
who come half a continent
just for me; I am not saying that patience
is virtuous, Love
like anybody else, comes to those who
wait actively
and leave their windows open.
* * * * * * * *
LA TANIA (Spain-France-US), Flamenco dancer
La Tania grew up in "Andalucia" southern Spain in the heart of the flamenco culture where she began to learn this art form. By the age of 17 she was performing professionally. She made Madrid her base and performed in many "Tablaos" such as Corral de la Moreria", "Zambra" and toured internationally with many companies including Mario Maya, Paco Pena etc. She began her own company in 1991 and performed in the US for the first time in 1993. Since then she has won many awards such as the Guggenheim Fellowship, the California Arts Council Fellowship, the National Endowments for the Arts Fellowship, the James Irvine Fellowship in Dance and the Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Artistic Excellence in the category of Individual Performance. Currently she is based in San Francisco where she teaches regularly and continues to perform locally and Internationally.
"Tania, una joven bailaora de hermosa estampa, que en las siguiriyas y las cantiñas demostró hallarse preparada para hacer baile de contenido hondo."
("Tania, a young dancer of beautiful appearance, demonstrated in the siguiriyas and cantiñas that she is prepared to perform dance of deep content."
Angel Alvarez Caballero, Madrid, Spain, EL PAIS
"La Tania's combination of restraint and release are capable of unleashing the extraordinary..."
David Gere, Los Angeles, California,
LOS ANGELES TIMES
more information: http://www.latania-flamenco.com/latania/
El Hogar Dentro
by La Tania
Estoy buscando mi hogar en el desierto de mi infancia
veo una hoja suspendida en el aire
esperando
una mano en el aire
esperando
La hoja cae sobre la mano
las luciernagas despiertan
veo un desierto, un arbol viejo, una luna transparente
y el sol que la besa suavemente.
* * * * * * * *
ANNE CAROL (US), singer, composer
Anne Carol who calls her music "elemental enchantment with a rock edge" comes from the lineage of Patti Smith, weaving song and spoken word to earthen rhythms. The vision of her music is one of reawakening the intrinsic link humans share with Nature and with one another through her evocative tapestries. From activist outcries to seductive melodies, her music invokes courage and is a well of renewal.
"... melodious spoken word with flawlessly sung vocals...enticing layers of sound..." Tea Party Magazine-Oakland
From “Where Two Rivers Meet”
by Anne Carol
Oh my Honey don’t you wonder where I’ve been?
I’ve seen the ocean rise and fall I have seen the end of sin.
I have looked the eagle in the eye,
I have not been burned away.
I’ve walked this battlefield for many night and day.
As the bombs surged through my bones,
The river it turns red.
There was no right or wrong only blood that was shed.
As the bombs surged through my bones,
the river it turns red.
There was no right or wrong only blood that was shed.
Only blood…only blood…only blood…
links:
http://www.annecarol.com
http://www.myspace.com/annecarolmusica
http://www.sonicbids.com/annecarol
* * * * * * * *
AIDA SALAZAR, poet
Phoenix
by Aida Salazar
I've fallen and emerged with swells of
a red ocean's crescendo
I am no longer the same sad siren
now my daughter's wonder whips grief back into
the curve of a wave that
had taken my faith in the tumble
le petite morte
I rise from the froth like the phoenix
ribbons of new wisdom flap from my wings
she seals my open heartache when I land on the
shore of my own mothering and
I am able to love
* * * * * * * *
NAOMI QUIñONEZ, poet
Quiñonez is a recognized American poet whose two collections, Hummingbird Dream/Sueño de Colibri and The Smoking Mirror have received critical acclaim. Her forthcoming collection is entitled Exiled Moon. She co edited a groundbreaking literary anthology Invocation L.A: Urban Multicultural Poetry which won the American Book Award and she also co edited a highly regarded critical anthology Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Studies in t 21st Century. Quiñonez has also edited journals and magazines such as Caminos Magazine and Chiseme Arte Revista. Her next critical book Hijas de la Malinche is a history of Mexican origin women in the United States and the development of Chicana literature. Quiñonez’ creative and critical work are referenced in numerous articles, essays, journals and thesis throughout the world.
Quiñonez, who has distinguished herself among a cadre of Chicano Poets informed by the social change movements of the 1970s such as Lorna Dee Cervantes and Gary Soto, is also part of a larger genre of U.S. ethnic writers and she has appeared in programs with Quincy Troupe, Leslie Marmon Silko, David Mura and Octavia Butler to name a few.
She also appears in multicultural anthologies such as From Totems to Hip Hop, edited by Ishmael Reed.
Salt
by Naomi Quiñonez
You have perched
on the middle ground of love
and your heavy wings
cannot fly the shuffling, footless step
across the lined face
of distinction
Bird
Burdened
still as salt
on the shifting mounds
of yesterday’s wounded
departures.
* * * * * * * *
SONIA CALTVEDT (US), musician
A blend of different traditional European and Afro-Brazilian music forms, the choro was born in Brazil in the first half of the 19th century. Many believe the origin of the name comes from the Portuguese verb “chorar” (to cry), stemming from choro's lilting melodic lines which sound like weeping.
Also another theory states that the term originated from xôlo, a word used by Afro-Brazilians for vocal or dance concerts. Sonia and Rob also play in a five-piece bossa nova band, Bossa Five-O
more info: www.bossa50.com
* * * * * * * *
TANIA PADILLA, puppetier
Puppet Medicine performs
“The Dragons Gift”
10 min shadow puppet show
A girl escapes her grim reality and travels through her world of
imagination. Upon her return to earth she learns how to bring her
dreams into the material realm.
* * * * * * * *
CLAUDIA CUENTAS (Peru), musician
LAURA INSERRA, percussionist
Claudia Cuentas Gutierrez: Digiridoo, Flauta, Ucarina
Laura Inserra: Percusion
"Mis Miedos me persiguen como tormentas.
Mi cuerpo es el contenedor de mi pasion vida.
Soy como una hoja guiada por el viento,
lista para entrar al fuego central"
* * * * * * * *
INDIRA URRUTIA (Chile), Art installation
Indira Urrutia graduated from Southern Connecticut State University in 1994. Since then she has been following her passion for photography with explorations into other formats such as mix media, installations and video. Indira’s work is exhibited extensively.
“Photography is my own therapy. Art allows me the freedom to explore my inner self juxtaposed to my outer self.”
* * * * * * * *
SABINA NIETO (US-Spain), video
VIDEO: Cicatriz, (2 min 30 sec) 2007
Co-directors, Co-producers: Sabina Nieto and Mariana Lopez
Film Text
Before the scar there was skin.
Before the skin there was muscle.
Before the muscle there was bone.
And bone was thawed from fossil.
Cities were built from stone and mudded over by earth,
like the body was felted over by skin.
An earthquake threatened the integrity of the surface and a fissure was endured.
The surface plane compressed, and tore from the energy of interior heat.
Surface structures fell toward the fault to fill it.
What remained was a seam.
Skin, the most elastic and forgiving organ once used to cover the Earth.
Tenting between geological peaks, the skin caught all the rain,
and was mostly buried by the water.
The protrusions that couldn’t be sunk became the sites of exploration.
Cortes had landed on a scar mistaking it for Cuba.
Before the Scar tamed the ocean, roped seismic waves, or sought the metaphysical,
the only vessel for transportation was the body.
When the body was tired, it rested against a surface.
This placed the Scar behind the body,
between repose and the bones.
This was before the time of backs.
* * * * * * * *
CONSUELO MENDEZ (Venezuela), visual artist, performer
Born in Venezuela,1952, based in Caracas, Venezuela
Residing in Texas and California between 1964 and 1976, she received a BFA (SF Art Institute, 1974) and MA (SFSU, 1976) degree in Printmaking. She belonged to the group Mujeres Muralistas of SF until 1976. Then goes back to Venezuela. Works at the Simón Rodríguez University from 1981-1991. Since 1991 she is a university level art professor at the Institute of Superior Studies of Fine Arts Armando Reverón in the area of Experimental Drawing and Body Art.
* * * * * * * *
MARIA MEDINA SERAFIN, musician, poet, activist
* * * * * * * *
NINA SERRANO, poet
Nina is a Bay Area poet, writer, and storyteller. She also conducts workshops in schools and community center. She recently completed an 18 segment telenovela "Grand Cafe" for a non-profit about immigrant women setting up thier own small businesses. The first segment goes into production next week in Oakland as a pilot project and she is very excited. In 2006, Serrano wrote the introduction to the ALAMEDA THEME POEMS ANTHOGY and her poem was published in WORDS UPON WATER, a poetry anthology about the New Orleans disaster published by Juke Box Press She hosts regular community and literature programs on KPFA-fm.
September Birthday 2006
(age 72)
the days spread a silken rug
beneath bare feet
the tune of the universe singing
an infinite song I first heard
before my birth
in harmony with all I breathe
through these September days
quiet joy hums along
Memory: The founding of the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts San Francisco, CA
by Nina Serrano
My history in the building vibrates
casting moving shadows across the ceiling
of earlier scenes
passing pieces of dialogs
faces forgotten or recalled without names
Remembered faces
that smiled saddened cooperated competed raged or encouraged
Memories right or wrong
Sketchy or in depth
Only the feel of them left to me
All bonded together by the belief
that art and culture are a human right
Once the building was an abandoned furniture store
built to help customers
fantasize the palaces their homes might become
This sofa That lamp
Imagine walking into the three-story expanse
up the sweeping staircase to the mezzanine
passing occasional cartons of left-over furniture
We had to envision a cultural center
Did we know how?
How do imagine what you have not seen?
What hasn’t been?
In late `70’s in the first years of the Centro
Men ran everything
Women were their secretaries
Then it happened a few years later in the eighties
what Betita Martinez called “The Longest Revolution”
The Centro held its first woman art show
Women curators and women artist displaying the female sensibility
and today its an annual event with a thriving woman-led administration
But back in the empty furniture store days
up the stairs we went
wondering is this the right place?
Yes! We came to a consensus
Art and culture could blossom here
The dancers and the drummers moved right in
as did our literary circle
Ladders stood everywhere to build walls and spaces
Artists painted the Mezzanine Gallery and filled it with art
For the first gallery opening I scrubbed the floors with Dora
from El Salvador who had three beautiful daughters
and created on canvas the memories from her heart
never mentioning the cancer
that would too soon take her life
Scarlett saw the deeply stained staircase carpet
and stayed up all night painting it step by step an elegant gray
The opening - what a great event it would be
But an inauguration wouldn’t be an inauguration
without a poet to bless the project
We wanted to invite Ernesto Cardenal the poet priest from Nicaragua
a strong spokesperson for social justice and spirituality
“Watchman, watchman, what of the night?”
But first things first
-Power-
There is a bottom line in human enterprise
even in art and culture
muddling the human heart
relations between lovers
between parents and children
Politics is its deadliest form
In the community election
which faction would control the Centro?
Shape its direction and services?
The poverty pimps with their grantsmanship
padded the meeting by paying the disinterested to vote
Cultural workers and their hours of volunteer organizing
watched in wary silence
as tossed beer cans hit the floor
It didn’t bode well for art and culture that night
Tensions high
Violence threatened the room
Then seven or eight men marched in military formation
not very large
They stood in silence and their moral force
spread across the crowded room
Who were they?
The Sandinistas
The exiles and immigrants headquartered in a storefront
a few blocks away
working to free Nicaragua from the dictator Somoza
I don’t remember a microphone
or who stood in the middle of the room
No chairs We didn’t own them yet
Suddenly the beer cans stopped falling to the floor
Did the paid voters leave or just forget to vote?
The motion to invite Ernesto Cardenal
to inaugurate the Centro
and for arts and culture to be the center’s focus
from that night on-triumphed
Then came
endless struggles to meet fire department regulations.
People who left to fight liberation wars in Central America
and those who stepped in to take their place
Love passion and commitment
The ceiling shadows whisper
the song caught in the heating system and the plumbing
gurgling and humming in the water pipes installed on the third floor
for use in silkscreen and photography
I married the man who installed that plumbing.
* * * * * * * *
Curator, poet and visual artist, Adrian Arias
Video dept and Literary events coordinator at MCCLA
Contact: adrian661@yahoo.com
