December 1, 2019
Curated by Dina Zarif‘Fuego Creador’ (Fire creator), is a multidisciplinary altar installation of Indigenous Futurism.
This magic-totemic altar intends to connect our modern lives to our ancestral lineage through education, ritual, and song.Its primary aesthetic and narrative are rooted in Otomí and Nahuatl cosmovision and the tradition of the Day of the Dead altars in Huaquechula, Puebla, and Tenango, Hidalgo.This is a sacred altar found hidden in nature and represents an interdimensional portal to reconnect with the ancestors. In the tradition of the four directions, is understood that through practicing sacred ritual we open a portal in space and time that connects us with those who have engaged in this ritual before us for thousands of years, imbuing us with their love, and wisdom, and above all, the hope that they had for the future world. Our ancestors cared for us.
Window Altar Installation
Saturday, February 3rd, 2024
Arturo Méndez-Reyes (he/they), is a cultural producer, curator, visual artist, musician, and community organizer, advancing cultural equity in SF. Founder of community empowering projects including Arts.Co.Lab, La Diáspora Festival, and Urban Prophets Illustrated and a producer for the Mission Arts and Performance Project (MAPP) since 2016.
He has curated shows for the Exploratorium, Harvard and Cornell University, and the United Nations, recipient of the CALI Catalyst Grant from CCI, the Cultural Equity Initiatives Grant by the SFAC, and fellowships with the Intercultural Leadership Institute ‘22, and the Emerging Arts Professionals SF/BA ‘19.
His work strives to create generative narratives to empower people through arts and culture for collective joy and liberation, and to advocate for institutional policies and practices that center the voices of people from the most vulnerable communities.
“Culture is an essential tool to pursue dignity for all people”.
Dina Zarif is an Iranian immigrant, performer, designer, and vocalist who combines Western classical singing with Middle Eastern styles inspired from her Persian roots. Some of her credits include SF International Arts Festival, Palace of Fine Art, San Jose Stage, Golden Thread Productions at Brava Theater, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, and the staged reading of Layla & Majnun at BAMPFA as part of the symposium with Mark Morris Dance Group and the Silk Road Ensemble. She tours both nationally and internationally as a costume designer and actress in the shadow light production Feathers of Fire. Dina is also a part-time architect and received her MA in Landscape Architecture from the University of Tehran, College of Fine Arts.
