Sights and Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene through the eyes and ears of local artists. On this episode, host Jenee Darden speaks with Rhonda Pagnozzi, lead curator of Mothership: Voyage Into Afrofuturismat the Oakland Museum.
Summer of Soul
Questlove of The Roots directed this documentary that people have been raving about. For six weeks in the summer of 1969, The Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed. It featured performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, and more. But the footage was forgotten until now. It’s a film about history, music, culture. Stream it on Hulu, and see it at select Bay Area theaters.
Wangechi Mutu,I Am Speaking, Are you Listening
at The Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco
Wangechi Mutu creates powerful female characters, hybrid beings and fantasy landscapes. In her alternate universe, she challenges colonialism, racism and sexism. See her art at The Legion of Honor Museum on display until November 7th.
Alice Coltrane's Kirtan: Turiya Sings
The late pianist and harpist recorded this spiritual jazz album back in 1982 on a cassette. Some of the music is influenced by sounds from India and the Black church. She moved to California and began practicing Hindu after the death of her husband John Coltrane. This album has been re-released on vinyl.
Rhonda Pagnozzi is programs manager at the Oakland Museum. See "Mothership: Voyage Into Afrofuturism" now through February 2022.
