This San Francisco Show Explores Palestinian Futures
The event features artists exploring Palestine’s history and future. (Southern Exposure)
On Wednesday, December 20, sound healers, writers, and many more will hold space in a Mission District gallery to dream of what Palestine might be like in 20 years, 100 years, the future. “Voices of Palestinian Futures” is an integrated program featuring six Palestinian artists exploring what lies in store for their community down the road. The ticketed event is curated in part by Fadi Salah, a collaborator of venue Southern Exposure who will also moderate the panel. Salah says that for as progressive as many San Franciscans consider themselves, few seem to take the Palestinian cause as seriously as they’d hope. “A lot of San Franciscans purport to be progressive,” Salah says, “but if you want to revive the counter-culture spirit, then you’d want to support Palestine.”
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The event features activists and artists living in the Bay Area and those living abroad. Manaar Azreik is a two-spirit sound healer who will open the event. Lara Aburamadan, who runs Valencia Street’s Refugee Eye, was born in Gaza City; Aburamadan will showcase her photos, paintings, and documentarian art throughout the night. All the artists will speak on their aspirations and hopes in a group conversation with Salah. Sebastian Raphael, a Palestinian artist from Jerusalem, will close out the night with an open art activity. The event is co-hosted by Arab.Amp, an organization founded and directed by artist Leyya Mona Tawil.
Though many Bay Area residents may feel they have no reason to pay attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, escalated to a fever pitch since October 7 and the onset of the Israel-Hamas War, Salah says it’s not merely an issue in a foreign land. They say the issue is ultimately an Indigenous land back conflict, not unlike the same playing out every day for Ohlone, Miwok, and other communities in the Bay Area. The same counter-culture and progressive folks contributing to the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust might find events such as these chances to connect to global Indigenous activism. “Land acknowledgments are bound up in the Palestinian effort,” Salah says. “If you’re a person of conscience and support land-back locally, then you’d want to support similar efforts globally.”
Voices of Palestinian Futures is on Wednesday, December 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. and tickets are available through Eventbrite for $25.
Artist Manaar Azreik. (Southern Exposure)
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