Exhibition
April 30, 2021 - May 23, 2021
Location
SOMArts Cultural Center, Main Gallery
934 Brannan St., San Francisco, CA 94103
SOMARTS GALLERY Hours
THURSDAY - Friday, 3:00–5:00 PM, 5:30–7:30 PM
Saturday - Sunday, 12:00–2:00 PM, 2:30–5:00 PM
The gallery is open to visitors by appointment. Register at the button below.
To request accommodation or for inquiries about accessibility, please email gallery@somarts.org at least 3 weekdays before your appointment.
Sowing Agency is inspired by the fight for environmental justice, activating our Asian Pacific Islander communities to engage in the issues of today’s climate crisis. With a number of artistic disciplines represented, the pieces featured in the show work to realign our relationships with the Earth through introspection and collective leadership. The exhibition’s broad coalition of community partners amplifies calls for increased action to challenge extractive industries, monocultures, corporate greed and colonization. Weaving local and global climate resistance into our cultural consciousness, Sowing Agency is a visual and poetic address to the grief and resiliency rooted in “seeding the future.”
Presented by the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center as part of the 24th annual United States of Asian America Festival: Forging Our Futures - SoMa & Chinatown.
Questions? Email exhibitions@aawaa.net
online events
All events will take place virtually with times at Pacific Standard Time (PST)
VIP Curator Preview
Thursday, April 29, 4PM (PST)
A sneak peak of the show the day before it opened with a tour guided by Lisa Pradhan and Diana Li and artist talks by Cindy Shih, Claire Lau, Angela Han and Wen-hao Tien.
Opening/USAAF Kick-off
Friday, April 30, 6PM (PST)
Featuring poetry readings, performances and talks by Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, Pallavi Sharma, Narinda Heng and Erina Alejo, followed by an after-party and social hour on Gather.Town.
Environmental Resiliency and AAPI Leadership in Action
Saturday, May 15, 4PM (PST)
Artist panel co-presented by the Asian Art Museum featuring Pam Tau Lee, Angela Angel, Priya Handa and Asian Pacific Environmental Network organizer, Cheuk-Ning Li. Moderated by curator, Lisa Pradhan and sumi dutta of 18 Million Rising.
Closing Reception
Sunday, May 23, 2PM (PST)
A screening of short films and a Q&A discussion with artists and activists, Tricia Rainwater-Tutwiler (Sowing Agency artist), Sal and Nancy Tran (SunKissed Productions), brontë velez (Lead to Life) and Vanessa Raditz (Queer Ecojustice Project). Q&A moderated by curator, Lisa Pradhan and Turner Willman of 18 Million Rising.
Exhibiting ARTISTS
(Click through to read their bios and visit their website)
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ONLINE POP UP SHOP
Shop for limited edition Sowing Agency merch and unique items by the artists in the show
acknowledging OHLONE land
Sowing Agency sits on unceded Ramaytush Ohlone land. As a non-Indigenous, Asian American women led organization, we acknowledge our ancestors as immigrants on this stolen land and the great debt we owe from benefiting off the genocide waged against the Ohlone people. We want to name and honor the lives and agency of native peoples who continue to steward the histories and futures of these places. In curating this exhibition, we also acknowledge colonization as one of the primary and ongoing threats to our environment.
A purchase or donation toward Sowing Agency will help AAWAA contribute to an annual Institutional Shuumi Land Tax to support the critical work of Sogorea Te Land Trust to rematriate Indigenous land to Indigenous people. The Shuumi Land Tax is a voluntary annual contribution that non-Indigenous people, businesses and organizations can make. We encourage you to learn more, spread the word and engage with this significant work.
Curator
Lisa Pradhan (Forward Echo and </3)
Exhibition Manager
Diana Li (Agrarianaa: Art Inspired by APA Agricultural Roots and Appendix)
Exhibition Design Intern
Rachel Poonsiriwong
Programs and Publicity
Melanie Elvena
Public Relations
Christina Campbell
Jurors
Shina Robinson (Local Policy Associate at Asian Pacific Environmental Network)
Maureen Nandini Mitra (Managing Editor of Earth Island Journal)
Rebekah Olstad (Community Herbalist, Red Autumn Apothecary)
Special Thanks To
Barnali Ghosh, Ben Lee, Colortone, Inc., Dan Lau, Diana Chen, Indra Mungal, Jessica Flores, Marie Choi, Matt Koester, McKinley Art Solutions, Pallavi Sharma, PapaLoDown Agency, Robin David, Shadia Fayne Wood, Sumi Dutta, Tam Ngo, Turner Willman, Vida Kuang, Staff & Volunteers of AAWAA, APICC, Asian Art Museum, SOMArts Cultural Center.
PRESENTATION PARTNERS
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
FUNDED IN PART BY
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