dawn_chorusiii: the fruit they don’t have here Opening Celebration

41 Ross Alley,San Francisco CA 94108

03 December, 2021

Description

Join us for the opening celebration of dawn_chorusiii: the fruit that they don’t have here, a new experimental video work by Sofía Córdova. Presented by CCC and artist Sofía Córdova, dawn_chorusiii: the fruit they don’t have here is an experimental video work that foregrounds the stories of six Bay Area women who journeyed to the United States as refugees, fleeing due to political and religious persecution, extreme poverty, and gender violence. Eschewing traditional documentary methods, the work intermingles fact and fictional devices to reveal the nuances and complexities of migration. Prioritizing each woman’s voice and creative agency, Córdova collaborated with them individually over the course of two years to craft a retelling of their journeys from China, Columbia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and more. Through scripted lines over co-created collages, backdrops, animation, interviews and voicemails, and more, dawn_chorusiii weaves together each woman's stories to both enhance and complicate their hard truths. “This work is about the birds, rivers, trees, fruit, forests, apartment blocks, and the people and streets of six lives and the forces that lead one to leave the treasured and familiar behind.” — Lead Artist Sofía CórdovaFor more information about the process and the artwork: https://www.cccsf.us/post/dawn_chorusiii This event will be held in a hybrid of indoor and outdoor areas with light refreshments available. Spanish and Cantonese interpretation will be available. In-person attendees MUST wear face masks and provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Go to https://myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov/ to acquire a digital vaccine record. About Sofía Córdova Sofía Córdova (b. 1985, Carolina, Puerto Rico; based in Oakland) makes work that considers sci-fi as alternative history, dance music's liberatory dimensions, climate change and migration, and most recently, revolution - historical and imagined - within the matrix of class, gender, race, late capitalism and its technologies. Recent works have included performance, video, music, sculpture, taxidermy, and installation. She is one half of the music duo, XUXA SANTAMARIA. In addition to discrete projects, performances, and albums, the duo collectively scores all of her video and performance work. Córdova’s work has been exhibited and performed nationally and internationally at SFMOMA, the ASU Museum, The Berkeley Art Museum, the Vincent Price Museum, the Wattis Institute, and was featured in 2018’s Bay Area Now at San Francisco’s YBCA. Her work is in the permanent collections of Pier 24 and The Kadist. She has recently participated in residencies at Eyebeam, New York; Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito; Mills College Museum, Oakland; and the ASU Museum in Phoenix. She has also composed and choreographed performances for the SF Arts Commission, Merce Cunningham Trust, and Soundwave Biennial. About Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco Chinese Culture Center (CCC) is a non-profit arts organization established in 1965. CCC elevates underserved communities and gives voice to equality through education and contemporary art. Rooted in San Francisco’s Chinatown, CCC is a loud and creative voice to uplift social and economical transformation. We provide a safe environment for artists who champion activism, resiliency, and healthy communities. In doing so, we shift dominant narratives, empower change, and reimagine our futures. About 41 Ross 41 Ross launched in 2014 as a collaboration between the Chinatown Community Development Center and the Chinese Culture Center. Functioning as an art gallery, interactive creative studio, and community resource space, 41 Ross brings together local residents, neighbors, and visitors to engage in art and culture-making activities. Through its cultural programming, 41 Ross aims to promote dialogue, appreciation, and creative engagement around the local culture practice by everyday people in Chinatown. Acknowledgments: This community-based project is supported by: Creative Work Fund, San Francisco Community Challenges Grant Program, California Arts Council, #StartSmall. Additional Support: The San Francisco Foundation, Fleishhacker Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, SF Grants for the Arts, San Francisco Arts Commission, Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities CARES Relief, California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant, SF Arts and Artist Relief, and CCC Contemporaries. Chinese Culture Center, under the aegis of the Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco, is a non-profit organization established in 1965. CCC elevates underserved communities, and gives voice to equality through education and contemporary art. Recently, CCC was selected as a finalist for the national Robert E. Gard award, which honors exceptional integration of arts in the community for “Chinatown Art in the Alleyways” project, and for the prestigious “Our Town” series to represent the City of San Francisco, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. CCC’s curatorial perspective integrates innovation, respect for tradition, a sense of the power of place, and a commitment to engagement with the local community through a process-driven lens. In the last decade, the organization has sought opportunities throughout the neighborhood for the presentation of art, from Portsmouth Square as the “living room of Chinatown,” to vacant storefronts, to Chinatown’s network of alleyways, through which the community’s lifeblood flows. Moreover, deep engagement with artists steeped in a social practice approach to art-making has been a core to its programming.