Dalit Dreamlands - Opening Receptions & Zindagi Dance Party
OPENING RECEPTIONS: Saturday, April 6
VENUE: Oakland Asian Cultural Center @ 5:30-7:30PM
VENUE: ARTogether, Oakland @ 6:00-8:00pM
WHO: Free & Open to the Public with RSVP
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
AAWAA, ARTogether, Discostan, and Oakland Asian Cultural Center co-presents Dalit Dreamlands: Toward an Anti-Caste Future - a landmark multimedia Dalit art exhibition and dance party that will bring together over 30 multiply marginalized artists from Dalit*, Adivasi*, Bahujan*, Afro-Indian, Indo-Caribbean, and Muslim communities to showcase the depths of creativity and community. Dalit Dreamlands, curated by Manu Kaur (they/them) and supported through AAWAA’s Emerging Curator’s Program, will center queer and trans caste abolitionist futurisms through art across various mediums, including fashion design, music, performances, films, paintings and visuals.
EXHIBITING ARTISTS
Rinku Kumari, Jessie Sohpaul, Shivam Kamble, Nazrina Rodjan, Manpreet Singh, Malvika Raj, Seema Mattu, Mya Mehmi, Seema Hari, Shyama Kuver, Akhil Kang, Kaushik Tadvi, Rahee Punyashloka, Aravind Chedayan, Ajay Madhukar Dhoke, Shweta Ashokraj, Kamna Singh, Anika Nawar Ullah, Aindriya Barua, Ramnath Siddi, Siddi Tribe of Karnataka , Nrithya Pillai, Dalit Queer Project, Parth Pawar, Imaan Abbasi, Sri Vamsi Matta, R V, Purusothaman (Purushu Arie), Shradha Raj, Jay Sagathia, Dee Chawla, Mia Kaur, Riri Kumbhar, Rohini bhadarge, John Spencer, Kulpreet Rana, Simrah Farrukh
CURATOR
Manu Kaur
Illustration by Parth Pawar
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ZINDAGI DANCE PARTY: Saturday, April 6 @ 8PM-1AM
VENUE: 7th West, Oakland
TICKETS: $10-$20 Sliding Scale
ABOUT THE DANCE PARTY
After the art opening receptions, we invite you to join us for a special Zindagi Dance Party to celebrate more Dalit artists. Featuring DJ sets, performances, flash tattoo, mehndi, art, 360 camera portraits, and more! Food and drink available for purchase by 7th West. Ages 21+
Proceeds will benefit Dalit Dreamlands artists.
FEATURED DJS
DJ Anjali, DJ Arshia, DJ Mya Mehmi, DJ Seema Hari
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COVID-19 POLICY
We require that attendees wear masks inside the exhibiting gallery spaces and when indoors at the dance party (unless eating or drinking). If you are feeling unwell, we also ask that you please stay home for the safety of our immunocompromised community members.
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ABOUT AAWAA
Asian American Women Artists Association serves Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women-identified and nonbinary artists. Its mission is to advance the visibility and recognition of AAPI women in the arts.
Based in San Francisco with membership in the Bay Area and across the US, AAWAA has consistently promoted both local and national efforts to achieve its mission, defining and redefining the contributions of Asian American women artists since its founding in 1989 by noted regional artists Betty Nobue Kano and Flo Oy Wong along with Mills College professor Moira Roth and artist Bernice Bing. Established as a nonprofit in 2007, AAWAA has produced exhibitions, publications, public programs and offers an informative website as an accessible resource and portal for educators academics, researchers, arts and social justice communities and the general public.
ABOUT ARTOGETHER
ARTogether’s mission is to provide art programs that foster compassionate communities where refugees and immigrants can flourish. We envision a world where there are no barriers—or borders—to art and creative expression, where everyone is welcomed and their stories have impact.
Art plays a special role in the refugee community. For refugees and immigrants moving to the United States, the journey has just begun. ARTogether offers programs that reach out to refugees and immigrants, providing welcoming, creative spaces for local refugees and immigrants to connect with their community. Our goal is to build communities and promote long-term prosperity for refugees and immigrants, even after assistance from initial government and NGO resettlement programs has ceased. For these programs, art is our social glue, its universality binding us all together. It invites conversation, laughter, storytelling and a sense of belonging. At the community level, it has a unique ability to bring people together, to draw together people from different backgrounds and forge connections through creativity and self-expression. Finally, art transcends the spoken word, allowing people to communicate and express themselves without the burden of language barriers.
ABOUT DISCOSTAN
Discostan is an independent record label and party decolonizing the dance floor since 2011. By and for the Sonic Ummah. Past, present, and future soundtracks from Beirut to Bombay.
ABOUT OACC
The Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC) was founded in 1984 by a coalition of volunteers who recognized the need for a strong artistic and cultural force in the Chinatown area. Since opening its own facility in 1996 in the heart of Oakland’s Chinatown district, the OACC has presented countless high-quality cultural programs including performances, workshops, festivals, school tours, classes, and exhibitions.
OACC builds vibrant communities through Asian and Pacific Islander arts and cultural programs that foster inter-generational and cross-cultural dialogue and understanding, collaboration, and social justice.
OACC envisions vibrant, healthy, and just communities where diverse Asian and Pacific Islander identities and heritage are affirmed and celebrated through cross-cultural exchange, intergenerational dialogue, and educational programming.