Online Events

Ongoing

Stay connected with livestreaming and recorded events, from conversations with artists to dance performances and more.

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  • Destiny Muhammad

  • Our Stories, Our Sounds

  • Teri Green, member of the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland

  • Upcoming
    Films
  • Past
    Films
  • Past
    Events

Past Events

  • Thursday, December 2, 12 PM

    Carmine Cella: New Sounds

    Carmine Cella shares his compositions and musical instrument intonations that produce novel sounds, music, and spatial experiences.

    Available to the general public as livestream only. UC Berkeley students may attend in person with valid Cal One ID.

  • Thursday, November 18, 12 PM

    Alex Saum-Pascual: New Poetics

    The poet and new media artist Alex Saum-Pascual shares her experiences using common tools in unconventional ways toward a new poetic practice.

    Available to the general public as livestream only. UC Berkeley students may attend in person with valid Cal One ID.

  • Monday, November 15, 6:30 PM

    Second Nature: Embodying Our Technological Systems

    Bay Area dance companies Kinetech Arts and Smith/Wymore Disappearing Acts discuss their experience working at the intersection of dance and technology.

  • Monday, November 8, 6:30 PM

    CANCELED—Monumental: Part Two, with Lava Thomas and Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle

    Join two socially minded visual artists as they continue their examination of public art commissions, artwork removal, and the impact of such activities on local communities.

    This event has been canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. We apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused.

  • Thursday, November 4, 12 PM

    Elisa Giardina-Papa: New Labor

    Join artist Elisa Giardina-Papa as she discusses the creative path she developed to move her ideas from an impossible present to a possible future.

    Available as livestream only.

  • Monday, November 1, 6:30 PM

    Designing for the Indigenous Theater

    Costume and fashion designer Asa Benally explores the process of designing an Indigenized space within the American theater. 

  • Thursday, October 28, 12 PM

    Marti Hearst: New Inventions

    Marti Hearst discusses the creative side of computer science, sharing examples from her research lab. 

    Available to the general public as livestream only. UC Berkeley students may attend in person with valid Cal One ID.

  • Monday, October 25, 6:30 PM

    A New Vocabulary: Labor, Narrative, and Radical Possibility in the Work of Black Feminist Artists

    Courtney Desiree Morris, Jacqueline Francis, and Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle explore the labor of Black feminist artists in creating beyond the constraints of heteronormative white supremacy.

  • Thursday, October 21, 12 PM

    Aya de Leon: New Stories

    Through sharing her experiences creating literary works, author Aya de Leon discusses why new times demand new narratives and new heroes. 

    Available to the general public as livestream only. UC Berkeley students may attend in person with valid Cal One ID.

  • Monday, October 18, 6:30 PM

    Looking Back at Night Watch: A Floating Media Arts Installation That Activated and Animated the San Francisco Bay with Shimon Attie

    The multimedia artist Shimon Attie discusses his work addressing important sociopolitical issues of our time, including Night Watch, on view on BAMPFA's Outdoor Screen.

  • Thursday, October 14, 12 PM

    Vikram Chandra: New Writing Tools

    The author and programmer Vikram Chandra discusses how new writing tools such as artificial intelligence can inform creative work. 

    Available to the general public as livestream only. UC Berkeley students may attend in person with valid Cal One ID.

  • Monday, October 11, 6:30 PM

    Nonbinary Waters / Aguas no binarias: Approaching the Work of Sebastián Calfuqueo

    Sebastián Calfuqueo and Natalia Brizuela explore the differences between the Indigenous world and Western culture through their works.

    This event will be in Spanish with English interpretation available through the Zoom interpretation feature. 

  • Saturday, October 9, 12:30 PM

    Virtual Gallery + Studio: Lines & Volumes: Paper Map Bowls

    Inspired by the volumes and lines in Kay Sekimachi’s art, use maps of the Bay Area to make connections between two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms with artist Melissa Sarris.

    For ages 6–12 with accompanying adult(s)

  • Saturday, October 9, 2:30 PM

    Virtual Roundtable Reading: When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller

    Would you make a deal with a magical tiger? This uplifting story brings Korean folklore to life as a girl goes on a quest to unlock the power of stories and save her grandmother.

    Recommended for ages 8 and up

  • Thursday, October 7, 12 PM

    Stephanie Syjuco: New Aesthetics

    Join artist Stephanie Syjuco for an overview of her work and her processes for developing creative strategies for questioning the world and exploring new alternatives.

    Available to the general public as livestream only. UC Berkeley students may attend in person with valid Cal One ID.

  • Thursday, September 30, 12 PM

    Pablo Gonzalez: Solidarity Art and Memory

    Pablo Gonzalez explores what it means to produce public art in an era of permanent protest through his collaborative project documenting murals in downtown Oakland.

    Available to the general public as livestream only. UC Berkeley students may attend in person with valid Cal One ID.

  • Thursday, September 23, 12 PM

    Abigail De Kosnik: New Archives

    Join Abigail De Kosnik as she discusses how new media can create the archives that form a foundation for collective action and social innovation.

    Available to the general public as livestream only. UC Berkeley students may attend in person with valid Cal One ID.

  • Monday, September 20, 6:30 PM

    Virtual Conversation: Judith Butler and Mel Y. Chen on Gender Politics and Pandemic Time

    UC Berkeley professors Judith Butler and Mel Y. Chen discuss shifting challenges for women and racialized queer, trans, and disabled communities; queer and crip time; differing valuations of productivity; and the transformations of regimes and cultures of care in the pandemic.

  • Thursday, September 16, 12 PM

    Lisa Wymore: New Movements

    Join Lisa Wymore to discover movement as a fundamental condition of human existence. 

    Available to the general public as livestream only. UC Berkeley students may attend in person with valid Cal One ID.

  • Monday, September 13, 6:30 PM

    Lisa Reihana: How Can a Māori Girl Recolonize the Screen Using Mighty Pixels?

    Reihana Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Tūteauru and Ngati Hine creates through a pioneering practice combining photography, video, and installation.

  • Saturday, September 11, 12:30 PM

    Virtual Gallery + Studio: '20/'21 Time Capsule: You Rock!

    Finding a time capsule is like discovering a message from the past. What kind of message would you like to leave for others to find? 

    For ages 6–12 with accompanying adult(s)

  • Saturday, September 11, 2:30 PM

    Virtual Roundtable Reading: Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian

    Omar, known for his mischievous sense of humor, encounters anti-Muslim bigotry when his family moves to a new town and school. Read aloud with other kids to see how Omar’s huge imagination helps him respond to these challenges with his spirit and humor intact.

    Recommended for ages 8 and up

  • Thursday, September 9, 12 PM

    Ronald Rael: New Ways of Building

    Professor of Architecture Ron Rael discusses how new tools can change our creativity and the design methods that change how we live and who we are.

    Available to the general public as livestream only. UC Berkeley students may attend in person with valid Cal One ID.

  • Thursday, September 2, 12 PM

    Grace O’Connell: New Materials

    Join the first installment in the Arts + Design Thursdays fall event series on creativity across disciplines with a talk about what it means to invent a new material.

    Available to the general public as livestream only. UC Berkeley students may attend in person with valid Cal One ID.

  • Sunday, August 22, 11 AM PDT

    A Watercolor Painting Date with Leslie Baum

    Translate an interior scene or outside view into a watercolor at this online “painting date”

    with Chicago-based artist Leslie Baum, a shared art-making experience for ages 10 and up.

  • Sunday, August 22, 7PM PDT

    Livestream: Three-Point Perspective

    Period instrumentalists of the Contra Costa Trio reflect on the exhibition The Enduring Mark: Six Centuries of Drawing from the Gray Collection in a concert recorded at BAMPFA.

    Programmed by William Skeen

  • Sunday, August 15, 11 AM PDT

    Art Lab Studio Session with Seth Bogart

    In the spirit of the BAMPFA Art Lab, let’s hang out and make some art together. Guest artist Seth Bogart joins us from his LA studio to share work and chat about recent inspirations.

  • Presented Saturday, July 31, 7PM PDT

    Livestream: Ensemble PHASE

    The Korean musical group Ensemble PHASE performs excerpts from composer Edward Schocker’s new work Self_Less, along with traditional Korean music

    Programmed by Thingamajigs

  • Presented Sunday, July 25, 9 AM PDT

    Livestream: Sound of Wave in Channel

    An eleven-hour marathon experience of word and sound with poet Stephen Ratcliffe and the Thingamajigs Performance Group, followed by a live Q&A.

    Programmed by Thingamajigs

  • Presented Thursday, July 15, 7 PM PDT

    Livestream: Ensemble Pandemic Practices

    Hear from members of local ensembles who developed ways to make music together during the pandemic.

    Programmed by Thingamajigs

  • Recorded Monday, July 12, 5 PM PDT

    Livestream: Destiny Muhammad on Rosie Lee Tompkins

    Local jazz harp legend Destiny Muhammad presents her new work Rosie Lee Tompkins: Guided by Something More Powerful, an improvised sonic suite livestreamed from the gallery of Tompkins’s artwork.

  • Presented Thursday, July 8, 7 PM PDT

    Livestream: Redline Redefined

    Artists Sudhu Tewari and Theresa Wong discuss real estate redlining and equity and share from their sonic portfolios

    Programmed by Thingamajigs

  • Presented Sunday, June 27, 7 PM PDT

    Livestream: Our Stories, Our Sounds

    Recent alumni of the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts program for young artists premiere their work-in-progress video opera, developed with the mentorship of writer Beth Lisick and composer Lisa Mezzacappa.

  • Recorded Saturday, June 26, 2021, 7 PM PST

    Livestream: The Electronic Lover

    We present the online premiere of two episodes of The Electronic Lover, a new “audio opera” by Bay Area composer Lisa Mezzacappa and New York writer Beth Lisick. The cast and creators join us for a conversation.

    Programmed by Sean Carson

  • Presented Friday, June 25, 6 PM PDT

    Black Life: Sam Vernon

    Artist Sam Vernon offers a talk on the occasion of a new print project made in collaboration with the BAMPFA Film Library. Register for this event and receive a print piece in the mail!

  • Presented Wednesday, June 23, 4:30 PM PDT

    2021 MFA Artists’ Talk

    Hear the 2021 graduates of UC Berkeley’s Master of Fine Arts program talk about their work on view at BAMPFA.

  • Recorded Thursday, June 17, 4 PM PDT

    Julia F. Andrews on Women Artists in Twentieth-Century China: A Prehistory of the Contemporary

    Art historian Julia F. Andrews presents a lecture reflecting on the rise of women as artists and as female subjects for art, in the context of the evolving status of women in twentieth-century China.

  • Recorded Thursday, June 10, 2021

    From the Estate of Eli Leon: Textile Improvisations

    Artists Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo, Olaitan Callender-Scott, Angela Hennessy, and Ramekon O’Arwisters share new work created with fabrics from the collection of the late Eli Leon, an Oakland-based collector, scholar, and champion of African American quiltmakers.

  • Recorded Thursday, June 3, 4:30 PM PDT

    2020 MFA Artists’ Talk

    Hear the 2020 graduates of UC Berkeley’s Master of Fine Arts program talk about their work on view at BAMPFA.

  • Recorded Tuesday, June 1, 6 PM PDT

    Black Life: Nina Collins, Eisa Davis, Geetha Ramanathan, Dawn L. Troupe, and John Wilkins in Conversation

    In conjunction with BAMPFA’s presentation of Kathleen Collins’s Losing Ground, watch a live conversation and Q&A about Collins’s work with Nina Collins, Eisa Davis, Geetha Ramanathan, Dawn L. Troupe, and John Wilkins.

  • Presented Thursday, May 27, 1 PM PDT

    Indira Allegra, Josh Faught, and Jenelle Porter on Kay Sekimachi: Lineage, Legacy, and Weaving

    Artists Indira Allegra and Josh Faught talk with Jenelle Porter, guest curator of Kay Sekimachi: Geometries, about how Sekimachi has impacted their approaches to working with fiber and about the history of teaching and learning weaving in the Bay Area.

     
  • Recorded Wednesday, May 26, 7 PM PDT

    Livestream: Contemporary Ballet by Women Choreographers, Part 2

    Choreographer Kathryn Roszak presents a second program of recent ballet works by local women choreographers, featuring Smuin Ballet, Berkeley Ballet Theater, Diablo Ballet, and Danse Lumière.

    Programmed by Kathryn Roszak

  • Presented Sunday, May 16, 2 PM PST

    Say It Like You Mean It: Textile Collage as Storytelling

    Join artist and educator Sara Knight to explore storytelling through textile collage in this workshop for all ages and skill levels.

    Programmed by Alayna Tinney

  • Recorded Tuesday, May 11, 6 PM PDT

    Griff and Keelan Williams, Nigel Poor, and Julie Rodrigues Widholm in Conversation

    In conjunction with BAMPFA’s presentation of Tell Them We Were Here, watch a live conversation with the film’s directors, Griff and Keelan Williams; artist Nigel Poor; and BAMPFA Director Julie Rodrigues Widholm.

  • Presented Saturday, May 8, 11 AM PST

    Workshop: Evacuation Routes

    In the evolving context of “public space” in response to COVID-19, artist Zeph Fishlyn takes you on a live journey through the landscapes of your neighborhood, exploring notions of habit and perception. Begin at your own front door and join a Zoom call via cellphone.

     

  • Recorded Sunday, May 2, 11 AM PST

    Art Lab Studio Session with Nat Russell

    In the spirit of the BAMPFA Art Lab, let’s hang out and make some art together. Guest artist Nat Russell joins us from his studio to share work and chat about recent inspirations.

  • Presented Wednesday, April 28

    Black Life: Adrian Octavius Walker

    Black Life co-curator Ryanaustin Dennis interviews mixed-media artist Adrian Octavius Walker at Pt. 2 Gallery in Downtown Oakland a day before the opening of the Represented Group Exhibitionwhere Walker will be exhibiting new print work.

  • Presented Sunday, April 25, 7 PM PDT

    Livestream: Contemporary Ballet by Women Choreographers, Part 1

    Choreographer Kathryn Roszak presents recent ballet works by local women choreographers, featuring Smuin Ballet, Berkeley Ballet Theater, Diablo Ballet, and Danse Lumière.

  • collage of headshots of Aaron McIntosh, Marie Watt, and Ebony Patterson
    Recorded Wednesday, April 21, 4 PM PDT

    Quilts, Blankets, and Tapestry: Contemporary Art and Textiles with Aaron McIntosh, Marie Watt, and Ebony G. Patterson

    Discover the innovative practices of three artists who have turned to textiles—incorporating or referring to them in their work—in this discussion moderated by BAMPFA Director Julie Rodrigues Widholm, presented in conjunction with Rosie Lee Tompkins: A Retrospective.

  • Recorded Saturday, March 27, 11 AM PDT

    African American Quilt Guild of Oakland: Why I Quilt

    Three celebrated members of the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland—Frances Porter, Teri Green, and LaQuita Tummings—host a studio visit, sharing their quilt journeys and displaying some of their fabulous creations.

     
  • Recorded Thursday, March 25, 2021

    Livestream: SPELLLING

    Berkeley’s own SPELLLING weaves rich sonic textures into dramatic compositions that are equal parts dream-state ritual and earthy funk, showing off her expressive vocal styles.

  • Recorded Monday, March 8, 6:30 PM PDT

    Gender Justice: Perspectives on Transgender Health and Policy

    Join Clair Farley, director of the San Francisco Office of Transgender Initiatives, and Jenna Rapues, program director of Gender Health SF at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, to hear their perspectives in a conversation moderated by writer and clinical social worker Mere Abrams.

     
  • Recorded Saturday, February 20, 2 PM PDT

    Livestream: Among Quilters: Carolyn Mazloomi and Ora Clay on Rosie Lee Tompkins

    Two leading African American quilt artists explore Rosie Lee Tompkins’s work and its resonance with their own in a live conversation moderated by Elaine Yau, cocurator of BAMPFA’s Tompkins retrospective.

  • Presented Saturday, February 6, 11 PM PDT

    Workshop: Journeys in Natural Dyeing: Local Color + Design

    Learn about the remarkable palette potential of plant-based dye in this workshop with textile artists Kristine Vejar and Adrienne Rodriguez, authors of the new book Journeys in Natural Dyeing: Techniques for Creating Color at Home.

  • Presented Sunday, January 31, 10:30 PM PDT

    Virtual Art Lab Drop-In Session

    Do you miss the experience of making art in a collaborative, companionable space? In the spirit of BAMPFA’s Art Lab, join facilitator Alayna Boots Tinney for a free-form, all-ages drop-in art session, using any materials and techniques you choose.

  • Recorded Thursday, January 28, 7 PM PDT

    Livestream: To Hell and Back: Artists Explore the Post-2020 Landscape

    Acclaimed recording artist/musician PC Muñoz and a panel of peers take a deep dive into how artists can create and thrive in a post-2020 world.

    Programmed by Sean Carson

  • Presented Saturday, January 23, 4 PM PST

    Workshop: Back Patches with Feral Fabric

    Join this intergenerational workshop and find out how undomesticated cloth can be! We’ll look at fabric’s history as a radical tool for communication and make back patches and flags that reflect ourselves, our communities, and our values.

    Programmed by Alayna Tinney

  • Recorded Thursday, January 7, 7 PM PDT

    La Folia

    Post:Ballet presents the premiere of La Folia, a ballet duet, along with other works.

    Programmed by Sean Carson

  • Recorded Thursday, October 22, 12 PM PST

    Roberta Smith and Lawrence Rinder on Rosie Lee Tompkins

    Join New York Times art critic Roberta Smith and BAMPFA Director Emeritus Lawrence Rinder for a lively and searching conversation about the art of Rosie Lee Tompkins.

  • Presented Thursday, December 3, 7 PM PST

    Destani Wolf

    Powerhouse vocalist and songwriter Destani Wolf mixes live performance and multimedia in this special event.

    Programmed by Sean Carson

  • Presented Sunday, November 1

    Vote Feminist Parade

    Artist Michele Pred presents a feminist digital art parade that combines recordings of two parades performed in New York and Oakland with live music, guest speakers, sing-alongs, and more.

  • Recorded Thursday, October 29, 6 PM PDT

    Artist Conversation: Making Orbits of Known and Unknown Objects: SFAI Histories / MATRIX 277

    A recorded conversation between several contributors to MATRIX 277, which explores and honors the rich legacy of the San Francisco Art Institute on the occasion of its 150th anniversary.

  • Presented Friday, October 23, 4 PM PDT

    Workshop: Drawing to Soothe the Mind and Relax the Senses

    Meet multidisciplinary artist Rob Moss Wilson on Zoom to explore drawing techniques for feeling free, getting loose, and having fun. All ages welcome!

  • Presented Saturday, July 25, 12 PM PDT

    Storm in Isolation

    A new dance work from inkBoat followed by a live interview and participatory exercise.

Past Films

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