MoAD Events and Exhibitions

Event: December 18, 2010: Family Day - Holiday Celebrations in the Diaspora

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Join us for a day of gifting in the traditions of Kwanzaa and Jokanoo. Featuring African dancing and drumming, gift-making craft stations for children and educational presentations that demonstrate the seven principles of Kwanzaa are all part of MoAD's annual Kwanzaa celebration. Traditionally, JONKANOO is a world known festival that originated in the Caribbean Islands. It is a celebration of life that sprung from a people enslaved in body but not in mind or spirit. Learn to make masquerade masks from recycled materials.

1:00 pm - 4:00 pm: MoAD Education Center

Event: November 11, 2010: Think Tank - Collective Destiny

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Thursday Think Tank is a hot new series at MoAD. Artists, chefs, web designers, writers, sculptors, performance artists, and activists take the stage for six minutes and forty seconds, describing the substance behind their creative processes and establish new connections with potential collaborators. Join us for the 5th event in this series as MoAD invites creative practitioners to describe how their work reflects Collective Destiny. It's fun, social, a perfect way to make connections with fellow artists, activists, and entrepreneurs and share your work/ideas. $5-$10 sliding scale.

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: MoAD Salon

Event: September 8, 2010: African Spiritual Practices and Retentions in Latin Music

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Lecture Series taught by John Santos This six-part series will reveal several elements of African spiritual origin that form the basis of, and/or inform popular Latin music. These elements have to do with instrumentation, rhythm, melody, lyrics, mythology, oral history and language as they are used in dance music and Latin jazz. We will listen to and analyze a broad cross-section of random recorded examples from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Republica Dominicana/Haiti, the United States and Brasil that span the last century. The series will take place on Wednesday evenings August 4 - September 8, 2010 7:00 to 9:00PM

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: MoAD Salon

Event: September 1, 2010: African Spiritual Practices and Retentions in Latin Music

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Event: August 25, 2010: African Spiritual Practices and Retentions in Latin Music

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Event: August 18, 2010: African Spiritual Practices and Retentions in Latin Music

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Event: August 12, 2010: Think Tank - Honoring Ancestors

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Thursday Think Tank is a hot new series at MoAD. Artists, chefs, web designers, writers, sculptors, performance artists, and activists take the stage for six minutes and forty seconds, describing the substance behind their creative processes and establish new connections with potential collaborators. Join us for the 4th event in this series as MoAD invites creative practitioners to describe their work which Honors Ancestors. It's fun, social, a perfect way to make connections with fellow artists, activists, and entrepreneurs and share your work/ideas. $5-$10 sliding scale.

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: MoAD Salon

Event: August 11, 2010: African Spiritual Practices and Retentions in Latin Music

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Lecture Series taught by John Santos This six-part series will reveal several elements of African spiritual origin that form the basis of, and/or inform popular Latin music. These elements have to do with instrumentation, rhythm, melody, lyrics, mythology, oral history and language as they are used in dance music and Latin jazz. We will listen to and analyze a broad cross-section of random recorded examples from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Republica Dominicana/Haiti, the United States and Brasil that span the last century. The series will take place on Wednesday evenings. August 4 - September 8, 2010 7:00 to 9:00PM.

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: MoAD Salon

Event: August 4, 2010 - September 8, 2010: African Spiritual Practices and Retentions in Latin Music

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Lecture Series taught by John Santos Music is perhaps the richest indicator of African retention in the Americas. Musical practices throughout Latin America have preserved a wealth of African spiritual content. This six-part series will reveal several elements of African spiritual origin that form the basis of, and/or inform popular Latin music. These elements have to do with instrumentation, rhythm, melody, lyrics, mythology, oral history and language as they are used in dance music and Latin jazz. We will listen to and analyze a broad cross-section of random recorded examples from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Republica Dominicana/Haiti, the United States and Brasil that span the last century. The series will take place on Wednesday evenings. August 4-September 8, 2010 7:00 to 9:0 0PM.

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: MoAD Salon

Event: July 18, 2010: TARGET - Family Day

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Target Family Day is downtown San Francisco's biggest day-long family block party with FREE admission to four leading museums, special art activities for kids and free performances on three stages. Participating organizations include the Museum of the African Diaspora, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, Zeum: San Francisco's Children's Museum, and Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. Here at Museum of the African Diaspora activities that day include: ~Tours of our exhibition: African Continuum ~Art projects ~Dance Performances ~Music

11:00 am - 5:00 pm: Entire Museum

Event: June 9, 2010: Family Day - Samba

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Put on your dance shoes and join us for a great time at MoAD! Samaba dance lessons will the focus of the fun Family Day event. Everyone can dance to the rhythm!

1:00 pm - 3:00 pm: MoAD Education Center

Event: May 13, 2010: Think Tank - Embracing (Global) Community

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Thursday Think Tank is a hot new series at MoAD. Artists, chefs, web designers, writers, sculptors, performance artists, and activists take the stage for six minutes and forty seconds, describing the substance behind their creative processes and establish new connections with potential collaborators. Join us in our 3nd event in this series as MoAD invites creative practitioners to describe their work Embracing (Global) Community. It's fun, social, a perfect way to make connections with fellow artists, activists, and entrepreneurs and share your work/ideas. $5-$10 sliding scale.

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: MoAD Salon

Event: May 1, 2010: Folksy Family Days

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Join us for an exciting day of viewing and doing: Start with a guided tour of the Museum of Craft and Folk Art's exhibition, Rhythm and Hues: Cloth and Culture of Mali, followed by a short walk to MoAD for some hands-on fun, West African style -- indigo dyeing and bogolonfini (mudcloth) making. Malian artist Barou Samaké will join us on May 1. Reserve your space by calling 415.227.4888 x10. February 6 and May 1, 1pm - 4pm

1:00 pm - 4:00 pm: MoAD Salon

Event: May 1, 2010: Migrations of the Sacred: Spiritual Practices Across the Diaspora

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Aesthetic of the Cool: The Art of Abatan In conjunction with the exhibition African Continuum: Sacred Rituals and Ceremonies please join us for the lecture Aesthetic of the Cool: The Art of Abatan Lecture presentation with Dr. Robert Farris Thompson of his personal experience, supported by historical background, on the priestess and godmother who initiated him, her art, altar, and the impact of her aesthetic of the “cool,” shared by many Yoruba, who went to Haiti, Suriname, and New Orleans, and so many other places. Dr. Robert Farris Thompson is considered one of the world’s prominent authorities on African and Afro-Atlantic cultures. He is best known for having changed what the public understands about the use and context of African art, showing that art is inseparable from its maker, its use, its function, and its perception. He has published texts on the structure and meaning of African dance, African Art in Motion, and a reader on the art history of the Black Americas, “Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy,” in which he locates the sources of contemporary Black Atlantic aesthetic practices in a diversity of cultures over the world. Thompson has published the first international study of altars of the Black Atlantic world, “Face of the Gods”.

2:00 pm - 4:00 pm: MoAD Salon

Event: April 24, 2010: FILM Sabar - Life is a Dance!

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Director: Chike C. Nwoffiah 2009 l United States l 105 minutes An African American hip-hop girl resists the ancestral call of the Senegalese dance Sabar. When she finally gives in, she discovers more than a dance - she finds herself. Set against the backdrop of the African dance movement in the United States, Sabar is a dramatic feature film about the triumph of the human spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Sabar examines how we constantly negotiate and choreograph our way through the bigger and sometimes arrhythmic dance called LIFE.

4:00 pm - 6:00 pm: MoAD Salon
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: VIP Screening - MoAD Salon

Event: April 23, 2010: FILM Sabar - Life is a Dance!

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Director: Chike C. Nwoffiah 2009 l United States l 105 minutes An African American hip-hop girl resists the ancestral call of the Senegalese dance Sabar. When she finally gives in, she discovers more than a dance - she finds herself. Set against the backdrop of the African dance movement in the United States, Sabar is a dramatic feature film about the triumph of the human spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Sabar examines how we constantly negotiate and choreograph our way through the bigger and sometimes arrhythmic dance called LIFE.

5:00 pm - 7:00 pm: MoAD Salon
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm: MoAD Salon

Event: April 17, 2010: Family Day - Haitian Beaded and Sequined Flags

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Sequin flag-making is an art form unique to Haiti. The colourful flags are made of satin, velvet or rayon, and adorned with sequins, beads or appliqué. Join us for a day of flag making. Create flags by applying beads and sequins inspired by Haitian artistry. Free for MoAD members; $10 materials fee for non-members. Reservations required education@moadsf.org

1:00 pm - 4:00 pm: MoAD Education Center

Event: April 17, 2010: Women in Resistance: A Look at the Songs that Fought for Truth and ...

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Come participate in an inspiring two session (April 10 & 17) workshop with the Bay Area's own Valerie Troutt. The workshop will include an overview and lyric analysis of some of African America's most influential female singers and songwriters active in the post-emancipation and the civil rights period. Participants will learn the role women and their songs had in the fight for equal rights and will come away having learned several resistance songs. NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE REQUIRED Workshop series $35 members / $45 non-members. Valerie Troutt, a remarkable singer-songwriter, fuses gospel, soul, world, folk and electronica in her unique approach to jazz and original compositions. Her ability as a jazz vocalist and soul composer has inspired the hearts of many listeners. Valerie's accomplishments include performing for the Jazz at Lincoln Center 1999-2000 Season Kick-off Party, successfully accompanying the Marcus Strickland Quartet. Valerie Troutt is one of few young modern singers creating stylistic change in the Vocal Jazz Tradition.

11:00 am - 2:00 pm:

Event: April 10, 2010: Women in Resistance: A Look at the Songs that Fought for Truth and ...

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Event: April 3, 2010: Migrations of the Sacred: Spiritual Practices Across the Diaspora

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African Belief Systems from Africa to the Americas In conjunction with the exhibition African Continuum: Sacred Ceremonies and Rituals please join us for the lecture African Belief Systems from Africa to the Americas by Dr. Marta Moreno Vega. The reality that the legacy of ancient practices continues to influence the lives of African descendants is evident in the continued spread of these nature based traditions to broad communities through out the globe. Through ritual as well as the creative forms that are integral to the African global experience of "being" the sacred traditions of West and Central Africa are alive and thriving in the Americas. Dr. Marta Moreno Vega is an Adjunct Associate Professor teaching Afro-Caribbean Religions and Afro Latinos in New York City at Hunter College/CUNY. She is co-editor of "Voices from the Battlefront: Achieving Cultural Equity" and author of "The Altar of My Soul: The Living Traditions of Santeria" as well as the book "When the Spirits Dance Mambo." Dr. Vega was awarded a grant from the Ford Foundation, which partially supported the filming of the documentary "When the Spirits Dance Mambo" shot in Cuba, focuses on the impact of Santeria on the Civil Society of the island.

2:00 pm - 4:00 pm: MoAD Salon

Event: April 3, 2010: Applique Flags Workshop - Session III

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Once little known outside of Haiti, Vodou flags (drapo Vodou), dazzling in color and imagery, have become popular commodities in the international art market. Shimmering with sequins and reflected light, they capture the attention of Vodou practitioners and art lovers alike. Participants in this 3 part workshop will learn to make their own Applique Flags using techniques from Haitian drapo Vodou. NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED Workshop series $75 members/$95 non-members. All Materials provided.

11:00 am - 2:00 pm:

Event: April 2, 2010: Film: When Spirits Dance the Mambo

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Cuando los EspÃritus Bailan Mambo/When Spirits Dance the Diaspora Directors: Robert (Bobby) Shepard and Marta Moreno Vega 2009 | 90 min. l U.S.A. Screening Followed by Q&A. A celebration of the traditions of ancestor worship, When the Spirits Dance Mambo, documents the roots of the sacred African religion, La Regla de Ocha (known as Santeria) as practiced in Matanzas, Santiago de Cuba and Havana. The film traces its roots from 15th century Africa to the New World. Developing practices in the formation of Cuban civil society, Yoruba belief systems survived and traveled from Africa to Cuba and New York through sacred rituals, songs, music and dance. Armed with the energy of their ancestral rituals and customs, enslaved Africans carried La Regla de Ocha as protective shields believing in the power of a spiritual force for endurance, identity and empowerment. Tracing the role of sacred African thought and practices in the formation of Cuban society, culture and music, the documentary is a tribute to the spiritual energy that traveled from West Africa to Cuba and New York.

6:00 pm - 9:00 pm: MoAD Salon

Event: March 30, 2010: Applique Flags Workshop - Session II

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Event: March 27, 2010: Gallery Talk - Bryan Wiley

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Photo historian Bryan Wiley traveled the Atlantic Black diaspora documenting altars and ritual practices of African descendants. Wiley reveals the blurred lines between sacred and secular worlds and illuminates continuities in beliefs and customs in Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, South Carolina and New Orleans. Join him in the gallery as he talks about his journey.

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm: 3rd Floor Gallery

Event: March 27, 2010: Teacher Open House - African Continuum Curriculum

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ATTENTION ALL EDUCATORS! Join MoAD's Education Department for a FREE workshop. Educational resources available for all grade-level appropriate classroom teachers. Focus for K-12 grade teachers of art, social studies and language arts. Learn about the Curriculum resources MoAD has to offer for our latest exhibition, African Continuum: Sacred Rituals and Ceremonies, hear ideas from other Educators, and find out how to take your existing classroom curriculum further. Also, receive an exclusive exhibition walk-through with MoAD Education staff.

10:00 am - 12:00 pm: MoAD Education Center

Event: March 20, 2010: Family Day: Orisha Celebration

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Join us in our Family Day honoring the Orishas - spirits or deities reflecting one of the attributes of Olodumare (God) in the Yoruba religion - which have been spread from West Africa to South America, the Caribbean, and the United States. Enjoy a performance by Obakoso Drum & Dance Ensemble and learn about the history and importance of the powerful Bata drum. Make your way to the 3rd Floor Education Center to learn about and create your own art inspired by the colors of the Orishas. In the Heritage Center, MoAD staff will be reading stories about the Orishas from the Caribbean.

1:00 pm - 4:00 pm: MoAD Education Center

Event: March 20, 2010: Gyrating on the Hips of Gede with Dowoti Desir

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Lecture|Demonstration Focused on the Haitian Vodou nation of lwa Gede, Guardian of Struggle associated with the ancestors, death, children, and sexuality. Often depicted as lewd and mischievous, Dowoti Desir argues this spiritual gatekeeper is the key to innovation, evolution and survival for Afro Atlantic communities. There is an interactive element which accompanies this surprising presentation. A Manbo Asogwe in Haitian Vodou, Dowoti Desir is both a priest and a scholar who has officiated various rites at the request of the U.S. Federal Government General Services Administration for the New York African Burial Ground, and The Five Points Memorial; Museum of Natural History for the exhibition the Sacred Art of Haitian Vodou; and Cornell University Africana Studies Department. Ms. Désir lectures extensively on Haitian Vodou and the spiritual traditions of the Afro-Atlantic at a variety of institutions through out the United States

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: MoAD Salon

Exhibition: March 20, 2010 - August 28, 2010: African Continuum: Sacred Ceremonies and Rituals

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Bryan Wiley is a photojournalist who has traveled the Atlantic Black diaspora documenting altars and ritual practices by African descendants and in doing so, illuminates continuities in beliefs and customs of descendants of former slave populations. Wiley uses the concept of altar (a high place of veneration) as a vehicle for intersections in art and history. Altars, in many cultures represent sites of ritual communication that often open a pathway to divine consciousness with the supernatural world. They also act as a place of public social interaction and intervention that explores disruption and continuity of African peoples and their descendants. Wiley has assembled his photographs of altar objects from Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, South Carolina and New Orleans into large ornate frames creating collages that reveal the blurred lines between sacred and secular worlds. Wileyâ€™s assembled images focus on the power of the natural elements, earth, wind, fire, and water as manifest in the deities venerated in the altars. Large photographs of the physical locales and the surrounding landscapes contextualize his interpretive installations creating a quiet atmosphere of reverence. Wiley reveals that the process of visiting the countries, gaining access to the rituals and ceremonies has profoundly impacted his art practice, â€Since Iâ€™ve been on this journey, I have listened to my spiritual voice moreâ€ said Wiley. Lizzetta LeFalle-Collins, Ph.D. Collaborating Curator

Event: March 19, 2010: Opening Reception - African Continuum: Sacred Ceremonies and Rituals

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Join MoAD Members as we celebrate the opening of African Continuum, our new exhibition. The exhibition includes 39 color and black and white photographs by Bryan Wiley, a highly regarded Bay area photo historian who has traveled extensively throughout the Atlantic Black Diaspora documenting altars and ritual practices by African descendants in Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, South Carolina and New Orleans.

6:00 pm - 7:30 pm: MoAD Members
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm: General Public

Event: March 13, 2010 - April 13, 2010: Applique Flag Workshop - Session I

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Once little known outside of Haiti, Vodou flags (drapo Vodou), dazzling in color and imagery, have become popular commodities in the international art market. Shimmering with sequins and reflected light, they capture the attention of Vodou practitioners and art lovers alike. Participants in this three-part (March 13, 30, and April 13) workshop will learn to make their own Applique Flags using techniques from Haitian drapo Vodou. NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED Workshop series $75 members/$95 non-members. All Materials provided.

11:00 am - 2:00 pm: