VANDANA SHIVA
South Asia seems to have the spiritual guidance market cornered: the Dalai Lama, Amma the hugging saint, and the turbaned mountaintop guru all shepherd wayward, ethereal souls. Dr. Vandana Shiva, however, reaches into far more substantial ground: the Earth. Shiva was shaping the environmental awareness debate long before Green was the new black. As an author, physicist, environmental activist, and academic she has advised grassroots and governments, championed the alter-globalization and women’s development movements, and accepted the Right Livelihood Award (second only to the Nobel Prize). While her compatriots work for salvation of the soul, Shiva commits herself to the preservation of the planet—now South Asia has the market cornered.
Dr. Vandana Shiva “Soil Not Oil—Securing Our Food in Times of Climate Change”
7:30 p.m., $15
First Congregation Church (Berk)
2345 Channing Way
415-561-7650
www.ifg.org
ART & SOUL OAKLAND
Oakland is one of the 50 most populous and ethnically diverse cities in the United States. No surprise then that the Eighth Annual Art and Soul Fest hosts a boundary-breaking buffet of music, dance and art—no matter your taste, this festival will satisfy. The festival boasts six stages, each devoted to a particular music or dance style—rock, jazz, latin, blues, world dance, hip-hop dance, R&B, gospel, classical—Amazon has less selection.
World-class jazz vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson competes for concertgoers attention at Saturday’s 4:30 slot; thankfully, the dance performance he trumps (for me at least)—a tribute to popular music videos with Bay Area hip-hop dance companies featuring as-seen-on-TV dancers from “So You Think You Can Dance” and “America’s Best Dance Crew”—runs all weekend. Headliners Indigo Girls, The Matches, and Stephanie Mills will no doubt draw a crowd, but so too will the smaller acts like Oakland’s own rhythm and rhyme royalty Hieroglyphics (Sunday, 1:35).
As for art: The market presents pieces to purchase from a variety of artisans. If you find your wallet unexpectedly empty, create your own art: grab a brush and join your neighborhood Monet on the community mural project.
While Hip-Hop dance and music mingle cross-culturally on stages throughout the pavilion, the style’s graphic incarnation, Graffiti, tags Japanese calligraphy on Minette Mangahas and Cody Kennedy’s umbrella wall hangings. With Wutang citing Japanese influences (particularly old kung fu flicks) and Hip-Hop outselling J-pop in Japan, the two styles are increasingly indebted to one another—a harmony apparent in this stunning streetwise collaboration.
Art and Soul Festival
Noon – 6 p.m., $10 ($5 13–18 & Senior 65+; 12 and under Free)
City Center (Oak)
Entrances at:
14th Street & Broadway
11th Street & Jefferson
16th Street & San Pablo Avenue
Promenade beside City Center West Garage
www.artandsouloakland.com
