Welcome to “The Sights + Sounds Show with Jeneé Darden," where every week we tap into the Bay Area arts scene and bring you rich conversations with artists. On today’s show: dancers reflect on San Francisco’s queer music and nightlife culture from the ‘70s and ‘80s. Then, what do you do when you turn 80? We hear from one San Francisco writer and visual artist who is displaying her own work that spans half of her life. And, an art exhibition honoring the "Star Trek" character Lt.Nyota Uhura invites us to rethink how memory and time move in non-linear ways when it comes to Black people’s past, present and future.
Today’s theme is memory.
Maria Silk and Théophylle Dcx
San Francisco’s queer club and music history is centered in the dance production “On the Floor”. Through interpretive dance, friends Maria Silk and Théophylle Dcx reflect back on the 1970s and ‘80s where disco and Hi-NRG music had the gay clubs rocking with folks sweating on the dance floors. This is also the early days of the AIDS epidemic. The music, the nightlife, the virus, the memories — what is the story or stories that brings these elements together and back on the dance floor? Maria Silk and Théophylle Dcx are co-stars of “On the Floor.”
"On the Floor" runs this Friday, November 7 and Saturday, November 8 at the Joe Goode Annex in San Francisco.
Shizue Seigel
For decades, artist Shizue Seigel has made an impact in the Bay Area literary community. She co-founded Write Now! SF Bay in 2015, which has supported and showcased over 500 writers of color. She has authored and edited nearly a dozen books. A new exhibition shows not only is her pen game strong, but she’s skilled with a paintbrush too.
“Burden of Imagination” is Shizue’s art retrospective that features 40 years of creativity. Like much of her writing, it tells her experience of living in San Francisco’s Fillmore and Japantown, the incarceration of her Japanese-American family during World War II, her passion for social justice and love for her community. It’s a deeply personal exhibition.
“Burden of Imagination” is currently on display at Medicine for Nightmares, Bookstore & Gallery, in San Francisco until November 15.
Ashara Ekundayo
The Star Trek character Lt. Nyota Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols, has inspired generations of scientists and artists. She's also the inspiration behing a new arts exhibition. But don't expect to see much of her image. "Excavating Uranus, A Psalm for Nyota Uhura" explores the idea that Black memory is not linear because the past, present and future all co-exist. The multimedia exhibit is on display at the San Francisco Arts Commission Main Gallery; which is inside the War Memorial Veterans Building. Ashara Ekundayo is the exhibition's curator.
"Excavating Uranus, A Psalm for Nyota Uhura" is currently on display at the San Francisco Arts Commission Main Gallery, which is inside the War Memorial Veterans Building, until January 30, 2027. Admission is free.
