Praxis of Local Knowledge

SAN FRANCISCO, April 18, 2024 — The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) Main Gallery is thrilled to present Praxis of Local Knowledge, a group exhibition featuring four artists, Kimberley Acebo Arteche, Miguel Arzabe, Daniela Rivera, and Trina Michelle Robinson, curated by Carolina Aranibar-Fernandez, SFAC Director of Galleries and Public Programs.

Praxis of Local Knowledge opens on May 16, 2024 at the SFAC Main Gallery in the War Memorial Veterans Building and will be on view through August 17, 2024.

This exhibition features the work of four artists exploring diverse narratives of movement and memory. Through their artistic practice, each artist in the exhibition delves into their own migration experiences as well as those of their ancestors, seeking reconnection with ancestral traditions and stories through video, printmaking, photography, textiles, painting, and performance.

“Everyone holds within them the stories and legacy of their ancestors, which have helped shape and develop us to be who we are today,” said Ralph Remington, Director of Cultural Affairs. “The four artists featured in Praxis of Local Knowledge carry forward the threads of their unique and shared histories in their work, while also exploring how their present circumstances are shaped by the past and present movements of the community at large. The Arts Commission is thrilled to foster and share these intergenerational dialogues as part of this moving exhibition.”

Praxis of Local Knowledge draws inspiration from the work of Bolivian and Aymara sociologist Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui, and her decolonial approach through ch’ixi. A concept that advocates for a juxtaposition rather than a fusion of cultural narratives and that ch’ixi “expresses the parallel coexistence of multiple cultural difference that do not extinguish but instead antagonize and complement each other.”

Oakland-based artist Kimberley Acebo Arteche’s work explores the impact of colonialism on self-identity. Working in textiles, photography, and performance, Arteche reconnects herself to indigenous Filipino traditions that she and many other Filipino Americans have been separated from. In the textile works in the exhibition Arteche uses some of the traditions she learned while in the Philippines, to amplify the voice of the women whose voices have been made obscure by patriarchy and colonialism.

Miguel Arzabe creates work that is deeply connected to his family and his Andean ancestry, whose weaving tradition informs his process and imagery. For the Oakland-based artist, weaving becomes a way to deconstruct and recontextualize images and materials, finding new meanings, contradictions, and juxtapositions. For this exhibition, Arzabe is exhibiting a new woven painting, incorporating paintings made by his mother and daughter, an intergenerational collaboration connecting three generations of this family.

Working with the architecture of the space as well as political and personal histories, Chilean-born artist Daniela Rivera aims to generate open-ended conversations with her work to examine how these histories have shaped and informed us. Her installation for this exhibition will feature a structure coming out of the wall of the gallery, a visualization of how inextricable structural rules and norms are to our lives, but also the possibilities for us to counter and subvert them.

San Francisco-based artist Trina Michelle Robinson creates work that explores the relationship between memory and migration. Her interdisciplinary practice includes film, printmaking, installation, and archival materials to get to the roots of lost memories. The stories of her ancestors act as catalysts to release and recover the ways migration, both forced and willing, have become imbued in our bloodlines. Robinson’s work dives into the fractures, folds, and glitches in the stories we tell to release the trauma that lives inside and to find a way to glimpse into the future.

“I am honored to collaborate with such remarkable artists whose work deeply contributes to conversations on migration, displacement and decolonial praxis,” said Carolina Aranibar-Fernandez, exhibition curator and SFAC Director of Galleries and Public Programs. “We are thrilled to showcase their work in the various mediums they use—it's both timely and beautiful. It has been a true joy to work with and to learn from them.”

Praxis of Local Knowledge is organized and presented in partnership with San Francisco’s Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs (OCEIA) and the Headlands Center for the Arts.

Exhibition Details
Praxis of Local Knowledge
May 16 – August 17, 2024
SFAC Main Gallery, War Memorial Veterans Building
401 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 126, San Francisco, CA 94102
Wednesday – Saturday, noon – 5 p.m.
Free and open to the public

Public Reception Details 
Thursday, May 16, 6 – 8 p.m.
SFAC Main Gallery, War Memorial Veterans Building 
401 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 126, San Francisco, CA 94102 
No reservation required. Free and open to the public

Public Programs
All programs are free and open to the public 

Urban Fossils: Fresco Workshop
Saturday, June 29 | 2:00-5:00 p.m.
SFAC Main Gallery
Join artist Daniela Rivera for a fresco making workshop. Materials provided. RSVP at sfartscommission.org/praxis

Entretejidos: Paper Weaving Workshop
Saturday, July 13 | 2:00-4:00 p.m.
SFAC Main Gallery
Join artist Miguel Arzabe for a paper weaving workshop. Participants encouraged to bring family photos to use in the workshop. Materials provided. RSVP at sfartscommission.org/praxis.

Paneat
Saturday, August 3 | 2:00-4:00 p.m.
SFAC Main Gallery
A ritual performance with artist Kimberley Acebo Arteche and collaborators Joshua Ichban, and Transcriptions001.

Go West: African-American Lives and Westward Migration  
Date/Time/Location details to be announced.
Join artist Trina Michelle Robinson for a performance-screening program.

For more information about this exhibition, visit sfartscommission.org/praxis

###

About the San Francisco Arts Commission
The San Francisco Arts Commission is the City agency that champions the arts as essential to daily life by investing in a vibrant arts community, enlivening the urban environment and shaping innovative cultural policy. Our programs include: Civic Art Collection, Civic Design Review, Community Investments, Public Art, SFAC Galleries, and Art Vendor Licensing. To learn more, visit sfartscommission.org.