On Display at ARC Gallery & Studios 1246 Folsom Street June 19 - Aug 7, 2021
Gallery hours: Wednesday & Thursday 1-6PM, Saturdays 12-3PM.
Curated by Colin Choy Kimzey
Participating artists: Anth Bongco, Charlene Tan, England Hidalgo, Erina Alejo, Kaitlyn Evangelista, MC Amable, Means of Exchange SoMa
Participating organizations: Aklasan Records, Arkipelago Books, Brown Recluse Zine Distro, Prelinger Library, 34 Trinity Arts & News
with advisory support from Jerome Reyes & Lian Ladia.
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.
Schedule of Events
Artist Bios
Anth Bongco is a Pinoy-American photographer based in Berkeley. In the past few years, Anthony has documented the joy of SOMA Pilipinas & the Pilipinx punk scene. For this exhibition, he is proud to bring some photos from previous Aklasan Fest Punk shows.
Charlene Tan is an interdisciplinary artist whose work is thematically focused on the immigrant diaspora & its repercussions, post-assimilation identity, & anthropological investigations of nationalism & cultural heritage.
England Hidalgo was born in Quezon City & migrated to San Francisco in his teens. He is part of the Bay Area artist collective, Kwatro-Kantos. He played for San Francisco hardcore punk bands Eskapo & Delubyo, & was a regular contributor of flyer & record artworks for the Bay Area punk community.
Erina Alejo is an artist, researcher, & educator who constructs archives on labor, displacement, family, & communal history. Their lens-based ethnographic works incorporate performativity, social practice, & public space to center care, community action, & cultural preservation through their experience as a third-generation renter in San Francisco.
Kaitlyn Evangelista is a San Francisco born & raised artist. Self-taught in acrylic painting, she has expanded her skills to silkscreen printing & nail artistry. Kaitlyn uses her experiences as a First-generation Filipina American to demonstrate the process of self-love, self-acceptance, & pride as a brown person of color from the Bay Area all the way to the motherland; Philippines.
Born & raised in the Tenderloin with strong roots in the SoMa Pilipinas, MC Amable is a transportation justice advocate by day & poet, performer, & painter by night. Her art brings together her background in urban planning, lived experiences as a queer, first-generation Filipina, & challenges growing up in downtown San Francisco.
Means of Exchange, led by Weston Teruya & Kimberley Acebo Arteche, facilitated & created a series of community artworks integrated into SoMa storefront businesses highlighting the history, knowledge, & trades of community members.
Participating Organizations
Aklasan Records is an SF/Bay Area DIY distro & label that features Philippine & Filipino American punk, Oi! & hardcore releases.
Arkipelago Books is a pillar of the SOMA community specializing in Filipino Literature, Culture, Social Sciences, Art, Poetry, History, & more.
Brown Recluse is a collectively run zine distro for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color).
The Prelinger Library is an independent research library located in South-of-Market. It is open to anyone for research, reading, inspiration, & reuse.
34 Trinity Arts & News is a radical newsstand, art space & used bookstore in downtown San Francisco.