Bay Area Archives - Page 24 of 44 - Alliance for California Traditional Arts

Master artist Juana Alicia Araiza founded the True Colors Mural Project in 2008. She directs this public mural program based in the East San Francisco Bay Area. TCMP preserves and revives the legacy of Mexican and Chican@ Mural Movements through the teaching of its philosophy and…

The batá is a sacred drum tradition originating among the Yoruba people of West Africa and brought to the New World during the slave trade era. Female in nature, the three two-headed drums played by three men activate a sacred language that communicates with the spirit world of the Orisha (or…

Congolese Ngoma, Drumming

The art of kumidaiko—ensemble drumming with the taiko, a traditional Japanese drum—was developed in post-World War II Japan in the 1950’s. Kumidaiko came to America in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, entering through the Japanese American communities of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Jose. Hiroyuki “Jimi” Nakagawa has…

Carnatic music is an ancient tradition of South Indian classical music that dates back for centuries. It is a complex system of music that requires both artistic and technical improvisation. The genre is comprised of raga, the melodic formulae, and tala, the rhythmic cycle. The violin is an integral part…

The Chicano mural movement began in the 1960s in Mexican-American barrios throughout the Southwest. Artists began using the walls of city buildings, housing projects, schools, and churches to depict Mexican-American culture. Chicano muralism has been linked to pre-Columbian peoples of the Americas, who recorded their rituals and history on the…

Afro-Latin percussion refers to percussive instruments, traditions, rhythms, dances, and musical forms that have given voice, identity, and much inspiration to urban communities across the Americas. In specific countries and regions, local percussive/musical traditions are learned in tandem with the Afro-Cuban, Afro-Caribbean traditions that have come to represent…

The Chumash historically inhabited the central and southern coastal regions of California, in portions of what is now San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. As many other Native peoples, the Chumash wore special regalia during song and dance ceremonies. Chumash regalia includes a broad range…

Founded in 1987, Asian Improv aRts’ mission is to produce, present, and document artistic works that represent the Asian American experience. In pursuing this mission, Asian Improv aRts seeks: 1) to make it possible for artists to create innovative works that are rooted in the diasporic experiences of Asian and…

Asociacion Mayab’s mission is to create the conditions that will allow for the optimal development of the Maya community living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Asociacion Mayab was founded in 2004 by a group of Maya immigrants concerned about the gradual loss of the language and values of their…