During my super cool manga-loving phase, I lived in Sendai with a Japanese host family for a summer. I would spend hours with headphones plugged into my discman biking around the rice fields, thinking about nothing and everything, and wondering if my host parents (and maybe actual parents?) would have a heart attack if I biked to Tokyo on a whim.
Migrate from Japan to South Africa, from Beijing to Provence, and through the Caribbean and beyond, all from the comfort of the Bay this week.
Craft from Kyoto | How to Make Good Tea
Category: Culinary
Date: Saturday, June 8th @ 11am (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Heath Ceramics
Price Range: $80
Why I Care: As part of my Japanese high school experience, I attended formal tea ceremonies. Certain nuances, like turning your tea bowl, are still ingrained, but a little 20 year-refresher couldn’t hurt. Heath Ceramics will be hosting the event as part of their month-long celebration of Kyoto artisans, with workshops and wares galore. I’d encourage you to check out the other events, but tickets are flying off the shelves faster than vintage Heath at an estate sale, so giddy up.
And if you’re looking for a more spirit-forward sip, check out Oakland Yard Wine Shop’s pop-up party.
Opening Reception: Suchitra Mattai
Category: Art (Party)
Date: Wednesday, June 5th @ 7pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: ICA SF
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: The ICA is coming up on 2 years of contemporary art programming in the Bay. From chef pop-ups to the 901 Club, the institution continues to find creative ways to engage the community at an accessible price point. she walked in reverse and found their songs will weave Suchitra Mattai’s own biography with that of ancestral memory and familial migration, traveling from India to Guyana to Canada and our very own city of San Francisco.
The tactile nature of the work makes me really want to touch it, but this is me telling you to remind me that’s a big no-no.
CubaCaribe Annual Dance & Music Festival
Category: Dance
Date: Sunday, June 9th @ 4pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Dance Mission Theater
Price Range: $28
Why I Care: From what I’ve seen of the Bay Area Bachata scene, I can only assume the CubaCaribe festival is going to be lit. CubaCaribe has over 2 decades of experience nurturing Caribbean and diasporic people and arts in the Bay Area and is the only festival of its kind in the US. The festival will bring community together through music, discussion, and, my not-so-secret favorite child, dance.
Training for the stage in 2025? Grab a friend and bust a move in their Afro-Cuban Modern Dance class.
Contemporary Translated Works: Beijing Sprawl
Category: Literary
Date: Wednesday, June 5th @ 12pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Mechanics' Institute + Zoom
Price Range: Free (promo code: “CAT”)
Why I Care: The phrase “lost in translation” is more than Bill Murray’s iconic Suntory Time commercial; meaning, nuance, and art all slip through the cracks when going from mother tongue to second-language tongue-tied. The Center for the Art of Translation’s mission is to be that often-overlooked guardian of those written words. Their translators will lead a discussion of Xu Zechen’s latest novel, Beijing Sprawl, that follows those that fall short of attaining the Chinese Dream.
And if you can’t resist a little overachievement, prep with the optional prereq.
South African Jazz: A Musical Journey through Traditions and Time
Category: Music
Date: Friday, June 7th @ 6:30pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Museum of the African Diaspora
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: The delicacy of democracy is the 2024 soup du jour. South Africa is celebrating 30 years of democratic elections, and MoAD is honoring that legacy through the evolution of jazz. Four South African musicians will be discussing the dynamism of their ever-changing country and the impact it has had on their artistry. The event will ping pong between panel and performance, providing a playful balance of the colloquial and the musical.
City & Arts Lecture: Kara Walker
Category: Arts (Lecture)
Date: Thursday, June 6th @ 7:30pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Sydney Goldstein Theater
Price Range: $39
Why I Care: I waited in line for 2 hours to see Kara Walker’s A Subtlety or The Marvelous Sugar Baby in 2014. My friend Jocelyn and I moved at the speed of molasses towards the exhibition at Domino Sugar Factory, the ghost of Brooklyn’s sleek Domino Park. As with all of Walker’s works, the exhibition tackled the intertwined legacy of gender, slavery, and stereotyped imagery, and I expect her lecture to punch through similarly heavy-hitting topics head on.
It’s only too bad these pancakes weren’t around the corner back in the day.
Book Talk: “le SUD: Recipes from Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur”
Category: Literary (Talk)
Date: Wednesday, June 5th @ 6:30pm (Add to Google Calendar)
Location: Omnivore Books on Food
Price Range: Free
Why I Care: We may have been a bit extra with our arrival time to the last Ominvore Book talk (like no-chairs-were-out-yet extra), but it was totally worth it. Omnivore Books is a mecca of all things cooked and booked, so of course the modern day Julia Child, Rebekah Peppler, will be rolling through. She is unapologetic in her affirmation of southern French perfection, so brush off that Moulin Rouge French, grab a beret, and embrace your inner je ne sais quoi.
Oh and maybe bring a sneaky glass of rosé? But you didn’t hear it from me.
Next Drop: Thursday, June 14th