S1: It's time for Midday Edition on KPBS. Today is our arts and culture show where creatives across San Diego join us to talk about their work and their muse. I'm Jade Hyndman with conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and intrigued. Arab-American art and culture are front and center in a new exhibit at the El Cajon Branch Library.
S2: We seek to kind of create a space and an outlet where our youth can say , no , I'm reclaiming my heritage.
S1: Then we dive into the history of Filipino food. And finally , your weekend preview. That's ahead on Midday Edition. I'm. Arab American art and culture are the subject of a new exhibit coming to the El Cajon Branch Library this weekend. Homeland and Home Making will showcase work honoring the experiences and identities of immigrant communities from Middle Eastern countries. It highlights youth stories through various art forms like dance and even embroidery. The exhibit is hosted by the Medal Center , also known as the Arab Community Center of San Diego. Joining me now to discuss the details is Farida Erekat. She is the youth programs manager for the Medal Center. Bourita. Welcome to midday edition. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Hi. Thank you so much , Jade. I'm glad to be here.
S1: Glad that you could join us. So this exhibit is the culmination of two years of youth workshops covering all kinds of mediums.
S2: Um , when we first started conceptualizing this project , uh , back , I want to say end of 2022 , we recognize that , of course , culture is really integral to all communities , but particularly with our community across many different waves of migration , resettlement in the US. Um , and also now different , uh , different Arab communities , even within San Diego. So we have a Syrian community , an Iraqi community , a Palestinian community , and culture and the arts are a really integral way for us to kind of maintain that relationship with our heritage , as well as kind of , uh , I guess , participate or partake in kind of like that enrichment with each other. Yeah.
S1:
S2: And what was really cool is that we partnered with predominantly Arab artists. And this was of course by intention , because of course there's many great artists all over the world. But for us , working with our youth , especially the kind of 1.5 generation of immigrants , um , we wanted to create workshops where they can see themselves in the artists , where they can see that they have not just opportunities for learning , but also opportunities for becoming these people , you know , becoming filmmakers , becoming photographers , becoming theatre practitioners. Um , whatever it is that we are focusing on. So we did storytelling , we did filmmaking , photography , theater , um , traditional folkloric dance called Deca , as well as printmaking , poetry and Tetris or traditional embroidery. Wow.
S1: Wow. And tell me what you mean by 1.5 generation. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. So the 1.5 generation is basically this term that's coined to describe this generation of immigrants that are kind of coming , I want to say , between the ages of early childhood and kind of like adulthood. So it's kind of that adolescent period , you could say. Um , and they're called the 1.5 generation because they're neither coming with their own families as adults , where their formative years were in another country. But they also didn't necessarily grow up fully in the US. And so there in this juxtaposition , you could say , where they're trying to adapt , um , and acculturated in schools , learn the language , learn the culture. But then they're also at home , expected to play this role with their families , you know , helping their parents adjust in terms of translation , in terms of navigating a lot of different social services. Um , being cultural liaisons is kind of like how we refer to them.
S1: Yeah , it's like this dual identity , it sounds like , for sure.
S2: And I think that , um , I myself , I grew up in San Diego my whole life. Um , but I think I also relate a lot to the youth , especially the ones who kind of came at age five , age ten , whatever it is , because I think that they very much feel caught in the middle , particularly growing up in a culture that is not always welcoming to Arab Americans or Muslim Americans. Especially these days , when on the news , all we see is our communities are being villainized or our home countries are being painted , as you know , say , propagators of harm. It can be hard to find a space or find a community in school or just in general outside of the home.
S1: Yeah , well , one goal of the exhibit is to highlight collective yet individual experiences of displacement and migration faced by refugee communities across the world.
S2: And I think also to touch on this point of , you know , why , particularly for Arab youth. And I think that , of course , Arabs , we are not native to this land. Um , and we come from , I think , a very rich culture. And within that larger culture there is , uh , unique specialties , you could say , or just different food , different dialects , different clothing , and so many different traditions across countries. And I think especially with youth who are now in America , in San Diego and El Cajon , and they're in a more politically conservative environment where they sometimes feel rejected or feel like they're not really sure what they're places creating this platform for them to explore traditional art mediums or art mediums to express themselves , allows them to really navigate these questions of identity in a rooted in , I would say , a community center where we are coming from within as opposed to from outside. So we're not looking at our youth and saying , tell me who you are. Tell me about your trauma. You know , tell me. Uh oh. Okay. You're a refugee. Oh , you're an immigrant. Like where we are coming from. We are all immigrants or families of immigrants , or were coming from this understanding where our youth , for the first time , uh , can feel like they're with their community and they don't have to explain themselves. They really just get to focus on what is it that I want to do and who am I as a person. And of course , part of my identity is , uh , where I'm from , uh , where my parents are from , uh , the language I speak , my traditions , my heritage , my religion. And so we just create that platform for the youth to feel safe , uh , really engaging those things.
S1: Yeah , well , this exhibit is being held at the El Cajon Branch Library.
S2: When I was growing up in San Diego , El Cajon was known as Little Baghdad. Um , and this is because there was a very large Iraqi population. This is dating back to the 80s or 90s in San Diego , and then post , uh , 2001. So post the US invasion of Iraq and the war on terror , we saw a very large influx of even more Iraqi community members really resettling in that region. And then after 2015 , 2016 is when we also see a large influx of Syrians. The most recent wave is actually Afghan community members. So El Cajon is like this multicultural hub where when you're driving down Main Street , you're going to see signs in English and Arabic and Dari and Pashto. And I think it's it's honestly a really amazing place to be because you can kind of take in that the world is rapidly changing. And also you can literally see with your own eyes , just within probably 500ft , all the different waves of migration and resettlement that have kind of led people to where they are now. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , you touched on this , but I really want to hear more about your own experience as a first generation Palestinian-American and how that's really guided your work with youth at the Middle Center. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Um , so I yeah , I grew up in a very large Palestinian-American Muslim family. Um , my parents immigrated actually from Kuwait at different points in time. And before that , uh , their parents , my grandparents , um , you know , were in Palestine and then , you know , forced to relocate after the Nakba. And so my family , I think I grew up with a lot of , uh , amazing family presence here. But outside of my family , I didn't feel like I had a space. And particularly in school , um , I didn't feel like there was really this , like , outlet. And so my culture and my community was just my extended family , um , maybe like some sort of community events on the weekends. But there wasn't this it wasn't a time , especially ten years ago , where I felt like I could just show up in this proud way or show up and just , like , be who I am unapologetically. And I think , of course , with all these different waves of immigration and all these different changes happening , um , there's still pushback that our youth experience , there's still discrimination they face and xenophobia and Islamophobia. And I think for our youth , what we want to do is help them actually have that outlet to not just push back , but to , in their own way , tell their stories. And so this name , this theme of like storytelling is because when our communities have faced historical erasure , when our communities are being described by outsiders or being labeled or being framed a certain way , we are kind of stripped of our ability to tell our own stories. And so through this project , through our work with youth in general , we seek to kind of create a space and an outlet where our youth can say , no , I'm reclaiming my heritage. I'm getting in touch with this different aspect of my culture. And through this medium of a prince or a film or a picture , I get to decide what my narrative is , and I get to be the voice speaking on behalf of myself and the community.
S1: Yeah , well , I'd also like to talk about how the Palestinian community is meeting this moment and responding to current events. What are your reflections on the power of art and community in the face of what's happening in Gaza ? Yeah.
S2: So I think , um , yeah , having grown up also kind of with the Palestinian community , which is not necessarily based in El Cajon , I would say it's kind of spread out across different places in San Diego. Um , I think the past year has been definitely , really , really challenging. It's not just about our families and being like connected , but it's also that we're constantly 24 over seven witnessing the massacre of our communities , feeling helpless , and then an onslaught of media narratives that are , again villainized us. And we feel pretty powerless at times. And so I think that , you know , sure , there's demonstrations and there's different things and actions we can take. But I think what's really beautiful about the arts is art is a place where you get to be your own. Narrator. Right ? No one else can really define that for you. And so art becomes this outlet for us to , again , push back against the erasure of our culture , to reclaim things that have been stolen from us or reclaim things we've been deprived of. And so through , especially Tetris , which is a Palestinian embroidery that was famously used , um , in , uh , such as traditional Palestinian garments , um , during different waves and Palestinian history of repression. You could say women traditionally who were responsible for the embroidery would weave in different designs as ways of can , you know , conveying different messages , um , when certain colors , when the Palestinian flag itself was banned , they would weave in the colors of the flag or weave and use certain colors and themes and motifs to kind of convey the messages that we were not allowed to speak or not allowed to say openly. And so I think that art can be this way where you can kind of push against that in an alternative method. And I think the art is something that's so interpretive , it can reach wider audiences and something that maybe conversation might not reach someone , but maybe by looking at this piece or watching this film , they can be impacted in a way that they otherwise wouldn't have been. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. I mean , it's always been an avenue to to fight injustice and speak truth to power and reclaim the narrative. So but art can also be a space to just exist in a world that often demands otherwise. Tell me more about the value in that. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. I mean , I think particularly again with our youth , I can give a great example that , you know , in some of our some of our workshops , we of course , we wanted to focus on this identity and like homeland theme. But at the same time , I think that our youth , having experienced this myself , sometimes you're just viewed as an Arab or you're just viewed as a muslim , or you're just viewed as like this character and that that just becomes who you are. And I think for us , like our homeland or our heritage is part of who we are. But we are , of course , we're not a monolith and we're multifaceted people. And so in our workshops , yes , we implored the youth to think about home , to think about homeland , identity , belonging. But part of that identity is also their interests. It's their ambitions , it's their passions. And so if you look at some of the prints that came out of our printmaking workshop , we have things ranging from very homeland oriented pieces to also things like , I want to be a doctor one day , and it's an image of a stethoscope and it says Save Lives , or it's a print of one of the youth's favorite cars , a mustang. And I think that , again , it's important that we're not just tokenizing our youth or putting this expectation on them of this. You need to just be the way that we expect you to be or the way that society wants you to be. Art is this outlet for you to express yourself , whatever that , whatever that looks like. And that's not for us to define. And really , the goal is that we're finally putting the pens in the hands of the youth to write their own stories.
S1: I've been speaking with Farida Arkad , the youth programs manager for the Mesh Doll Center. Farida , thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you so.
S2: Much for having. Me.
S1: Me. And if you'd like to check out the exhibit , the opening night for Homeland and Home Making is this Saturday , October 19th at El Cajon Branch Library. The founder and chef behind a popular Filipino restaurant talks about his unique take on Filipino food and the rich history of the cuisine.
S3: We're doing Filipino food differently. I like to just say we're kind of repackaging it and making it presentable for everyone.
S1: Hear more when KPBS Midday Edition returns. You're listening to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. October is Filipino American History Month , and to celebrate , we're talking all about Filipino food. KPBS Arts reporter Beth Accomando spoke with chef Philip Esteban of Wild Flower and White Rice Bodega about the cultural exchange behind the Filipino food we know and love today. Also , we get a preview of a mouthwatering dinner chef Phil is preparing tonight for artifact at the MinGW International Museum. Take a listen , Phil.
S4: So I had the pleasure of speaking with you when the Filipino Film Festival is going on here in San Diego , and I also got to sample your food. First of all , tell me how you got into cooking and into being a chef.
S3: Um , I actually I guess the funny way to say it is , I grew up , I still have a sweet tooth. And so my grandmother used to always bake for us , and she always had those old school index cards with the recipe on there , and it was chocolate cake and carrot cake that I would always ask for her to make. And over time , I think she just got tired of making it. So one day I was like six years old and she asked like , do you want me to teach you how to make it ? Probably so she doesn't have to do it anymore. I just have pictures looking back , and I just remember baking with my grandmother and I probably that's the earliest memory of me cooking. And then in college , I remember still having the passion for food. I think as a Filipino culture , everything was around food , whether it's graduations or parties or birthdays. Everything centered around the food. And so in college , I was just hosting dinner parties. And I remember my roommate , his name was Michael. And Mike was like , dude , what are you like , what are you doing ? You need to go to culinary school. So I dropped out of college and then was it June ? Uh , 2002 , I believe. And then , um , enrolled that August to culinary school. My parents were definitely , um , questioning what that what that path was. But they they visited me at the first restaurant I was working in. They could see how happy I was. And they they never said anything after that.
S4:
S3: But the culinary world is a heavily white , male dominated industry , and so all my instructors were Caucasian. All the chefs I looked up to were Caucasian , so no one was really cooking Filipino food. And just throughout my career , I was fortunate enough to work for a lot of amazing chefs. But there was one chef in particular name Anthony Sensei , who unfortunately passed away a few years ago from cancer. But he would always , as I started to progress in my career and become a sous chef , executive chef and start doing events , he would always question me when I see him in town. He's like , what are you doing ? Like , you need to cook our culture. You need to cook our food. And that's when I started to really develop the idea of of white rice. I wanted to make something low brow and approachable for a demographic outside of Filipinos to to make it approachable. Um , San Diego , for instance. There's taco shops everywhere. And I looked at tortillas as a vessel. And what is our vessel , which was white rice and hence the name ? And , um , yeah , I don't think we're we're doing Filipino food differently. I like to just say we're kind of repackaging it and making it presentable for everyone.
S4: And you just opened a new restaurant up in LA. Yes.
S3: This is our , um , our first expansion outside of San Diego. Um , it is located inside the Boulevard Market in Montebello. Yeah , we opened up just last Thursday. It's been amazing. There's so many amazing Filipino chefs and so much history within LA , from high fi , historic Filipino town to the current chefs that are have already done a lot of the groundwork. We're just looking to add to the vibrant city.
S4:
S3: Most cuisines only have maybe 1 or 2 things , so I think that's what makes Filipino food unique. It's still a cuisine that is still being , I wouldn't say discovered because it's obviously been around for a long time , but this generation of films or Filipino Americans are reclaiming our own culture and understanding it and learning through it.
S4: Now , when I spoke to you before , one of the things you started talking about , which I found really fascinating , is this kind of cross-cultural influences between the Philippines and its colonizers , trade partners , uh , things like that. And this is something that you actually reflect in your menu. So talk a little bit about some of those exchanges.
S3: One thing that I always remember the idea when my when my grandparents and my father just moved here for the first time and they wanted us all to learn English first , which then in turn we couldn't like , I can't speak my language Tagalog and my kids can't. And it almost sad to think that for me to learn , I could probably try and learn a little bit from my parents now. But for my kids in the future , if they wanted to learn their own culture , they'd have to go to school or college for it. And so part of that reclaiming is there's this idea of decolonizing , like our mind , if you will , the idea of decolonizing our food. But you can't really do that , right ? Because when you decolonize the food , then you're not left with much , which caused me to kind of go down this path of understanding our own food through our culture and history. And for instance , like the the first era that we kind of talked about , of the influence of Filipino food was the Malaysian Polynesian influence , which brought us rice , fermented fish , bagan. And like , if we didn't have that , a lot of the staple dishes like crab wouldn't be here. Um , and then the next region was the Chinese traders. Right. And that brought us pancit and lumpia. And those are so synonymous in our cuisine. And , you know , then you think about Spain when they conquered the Philippines and it was like 250 plus years of of influence on the food , which brought us empanadas. It brought us pork. It brought us , you know , buffalo wouldn't be here if we didn't have that right , because it brought us corn from Mexico and it brought potatoes. And I mean , if that trade didn't happen from Manila to Acapulco for the Magellan trade , there would be no sinigang , you know , things like that. So the idea of kind of decolonizing our food is you can't do that because there's such this influence.
S4: And in looking at Filipino food just within the country itself , there's a lot of diversity. There's what , thousand islands are more than a thousand islands.
S3: But then you you talk about regional cuisine and the influences of certain areas where there's an abundance of something. So the whole area has a lot of coconut and chili , and so everyone just uses what's available to them , which is kind of like natural food , how you should eat. And it influences the food. And so our cuisine and the way that we cook , it is inspired by either different regions of my family or people that I've interacted with. Um , for instance , our sisig , which is not your classic sisig in terms of you're using every meat piece from a pig's face , like the ears , uh , the innards and all the stuff , and it gets chopped up and cooked and it has a ton of citrus and vinegar. Ours is more cream based. Whereas when you look in where sisig was invented. Pampanga. It's a cardinal sin , as they say , where there's no mayo and no egg in it. And we put mayo and eggs so everyone that comes up , they're like , this isn't sisig. And then they try it , and it is. But our culture is very proud. And with that pride fulness , it comes with a we hold tight to what we believe our culture to be. And there's not much room for trying new things unless there's a a healthy conversation that happens beyond it. So if it's if , like your aunt makes the the best lumpia to that standard , that's lumpia forever and no one else's is going to be better. And so we've had that exact experience as well. Or but chicken adobo. There's 152 different ways to make chicken adobo. But everyone just knows the soy sauce , vinegar , black pepper and bay leaves. Right. Uh , there's a very similar dish called I'm going to butcher right now. Item two. Item is the name. But in the southern islands of Mindanao , there's a big Muslim presence there. I think there that region like the Malaysian and the influence , um , in that area , in that region is so unique. And they take your typical adobo recipe , but instead they take the whole coconut , they cut it open and then they burn the entire thing like cha cha cha , the skin cha the coconut flesh. And then they grate the inside out. Um , and then while you're braising down the adobo , pork , chicken , beef , uh , they add in that the charred coconut into it , add in different spices , they add some peppers , which is unique for our cuisine. And it has this almost curry like flavor. But the , the filming of an adobo recipe. So yeah , there's so many different ways.
S4: And you have an event tonight at artifact for Filipino American History Month.
S3: One , if you haven't been there. Very , very beautiful. Um , but they have this amazing restaurant called artifact. Uh , that was a James Beard nod as well. They do monthly , uh , themed regional cuisine. Uh , last month was Turkey , and this month being Filipino American History Month. They wanted to do the Philippines. Um , and gracefully. TK called me up one day and he was like , why would I try and cook Filipino food when I never have in my life ? When I could just ask a good friend and local chef to do it ? And we just started to kind of ideate the process and what we wanted to do. So yeah , we have three snack items that will be serving , um , a local box crab. So from the local fishermen , uh , we'll be doing a local box crab. Um , our caldo more in a snack size , a little bowl that you use. Nice little spoons , fancy dip , you know. Um , and then two variations of ceviche or can allow. So we're doing an oyster , one with the sauce that we use for our can allow at the restaurant. So coconut pickled ginger , um , cucumbers inside just right into a shell. So one shooter and then manila clams with a pickled ginger and red onion vinaigrette. So your French , if you will , uh , French technique into it. Um , and then the first course is local whitefish. We're going to be using sable fish or black cod. Um , and that is cured in a , in a salt butter with miso. So there's a really famous dish by Nobu that he created and it's a black cod dish where it's sugar and miso sake , and they cured the fish. And then once it's cured , let it air dry for a day , and then you just roast it in the oven. And it's so tender , so nice. And I'm just doing a variation of that , of that is with initial like a classic Filipino marinade. Um , and then it has a caramelized yogurt with it and other stuff on top of garnishes. The entree course is the actually that dish I was just talking about. Um , it's um , um , so the braised short rib with charred coconut and roasted cauliflower , and then the dessert course is , um , I'm making , like , a house pole from , like , a cookie butter. Almost , uh , with sweet , condensed , like condensed milk ice cream. So condensed milk is something we put on everything in the Philippines. And I was like , let's make an ice cream base out of that. Um , not too sweet. Um , and it has a kind of pulverized cookie butter underneath. And then like little dollops of coconut gel and all the little herb garnishes to make it look pretty. So it should be a fun , fun night. Uh , we're looking forward to it. And I think it's almost sold out or sold out already. So , um , yeah , just looking forward to kind of sharing the cuisine with everyone.
S1: That was chef Philip Esteban of Wildflower and White Rice Bodega , speaking with KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando. He'll be serving a Filipino feast at artifact at the MinGW International Museum tonight. Tickets are $95 for members and non-members of the Mené. Still ahead , a new paleontology center opens at the San Diego Natural History Museum.
S5: This new space downstairs will encourage the public to take a look at the work that we do , our collections , that we are a museum of collections.
S1: Here about the day to day life of a local paleontologist and your weekend art preview. KPBS Midday Edition returns after the break. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition I'm Jade Hindman. The San Diego Natural History Museum celebrates its 150th anniversary this weekend. They're holding a free block party to celebrate and to show off a brand new 8000 foot paleontology center for our fall arts guide. We wanted to understand what it means for the museum to make paleontology more accessible to the public. So we talked to someone doing just that. Christopher Plummer is the paleontology lab manager at the San Diego Natural History Museum. KPBS arts reporter Julia Dixon Evans sat down with PWF to talk about what it's like to work with fossils and people. Take a listen.
S6: Can you talk a little bit about what the paleontology lab handles.
S5: On a day to day basis. It's different. So it kind of is unique in that sense. Most of the time I am there supporting the volunteers and other staff members in the fossil preparation of these specimens that are coming from the field. I do some education and outreach. In our lab window. We have a demonstration space where I'm able to engage with the public.
S6: So this window is like in the museum. People can walk up as they're strolling through the museum and see a lab at work , correct ? Yes.
S5: It's a floor to ceiling glass window that opens. And what is fascinating about it , and what I really enjoy doing , is having it closed but unlocked and asking the visitor to open it themselves so they can break that fourth wall , and then we can begin engagement. So not only have the visual , but we can now have a conversation about what I'm doing , why I'm doing it.
S6: Tell me how you got into paleontology.
S5: My talk about this is I was a pre-med major in college , and I was moving into the more advanced coursework physical chemistry , organic chemistry , biochemistry. And it just wasn't settling , right. It wasn't my passion. It wasn't something that I was on a wavelength or vibrating with. So I took a one unit weekend geology field trip to the the deserts , the high desert. And that one weekend of classwork was so enlightening. It just encouraged me to take the introduction to geology class , and then it just kind of spiraled from there into paleontology. With such a heavy chemistry and biology background. It was kind of the , the avenue to to my future. And yeah. Okay.
S6: Okay. I'm anxious to talk about some of the things you brought with you today. Um , a little fossil show and tell. Can you , um , maybe walk us through what it means to prepare a fossil specimen ? Um , with one of these examples ? Of course. Yeah. First of all , maybe describe what we're looking at here.
S5: Um , when we find a fossil in the field , we. It's important for us to delineate where that fossil is. Are there additional fossils ? What is the the spatial distribution of these fossils. So context of fossil collecting is very important. It's not just that fossil , it's the sediment that it comes in. It is the placement. Um , I like to refer to this as a crime scene investigation of sorts. So this first example in front of me is this burlap and plaster jacket , which has the sediment and bone inside. And something that's really neat about this specimen is that there's two bite marks on it. So what appears to be the canine. So this could have been some sort of feline that took a bite of the shoulder blade , perhaps to it was a scavenger , like eating the meat because muscles will attach to these these larger bones. And this cradle enables us to flip the specimen back and forth. So I have I make the first side of the cradle in the jacket , and then I will flip the specimen into the cradle and then prepare what is then the surface side originally. And once that's clean , I'll create a cradle for that. And we're able to flip the specimen back and forth and see both sides.
S6:
S5: Yes. So this animal is ancestral rhinoceros. Don't think full size rhino. And again , it's 40 million years old , so I can't really call it a rhinoceros. It's I'm just trying to paint a picture. You can kind of feel the size.
S6: So one of the things that you're passionate about is making paleontology and science more accessible.
S5: Being behind this glass window , doing the work that we do , the public can come and take a look. I don't necessarily have to have the window open to engage or to educate. You just have to make a sign that explains what you're doing and why you're doing it. I find that the kids are the passionate ones about paleontology. It's this idea that everyone seems to as a child , even now , some adults gravitate towards. And if I can harness that , that fascination and even get one little kid into pursuing that , then I've done my job. Also , this is a field that not too many people are familiar with. There's a lot of questions. Um , a lot of pop culture informs us about paleontology , and I want to make sure that I'm there to either correct that or to , you know , enforce and encourage it. So , um , yeah , informing the youth is important , but also informing the adults of these youth is equally as important because they're the ones that can take that torch and run with it.
S6:
S5: Um , it has enabled us to bring all the specimens under one roof. We had them spread throughout not only the museum , but cities here in San Diego , so having that collection all together will encourage researchers to come and we can have everything for them. The conservation not only of paleontology , but botany , herpetology , entomology , all these fields. Um , you know , the museum has been doing it for 150 years. And it's important that we take this information , we move it forward. You know , we are caretakers. We're the stewards of this information. We are historians. And so we are here to record that data. And as we see sometimes in the past , history can write itself in favorable ways. We want to make sure that we are non-biased in that. So this this new space downstairs will encourage the public to take a look at the work that we do , our collections , that we are a museum of collections , that this data is vital to creating hypotheses. And , you know , coming to these conclusions Illusions that we have.
S1: That was San Diego Natural History Museum paleontologist Christopher Plouffe speaking with KPBS arts reporter Julia Dixon Evans , who joins me now. Welcome , Julia. Hey , Jade.
S6: Thanks for having. Me.
S1: Me. Always great to have you here.
S6: It's on Saturday from 10 to 3 , and you get free admission to the museum. You can also get half off memberships for the full year if you go in person. Um , and you can check out that new Paleo Center and the collections exhibition that they're in progress of putting in in the basement. The renovated basement and the new cafe will be open. It's called the Craft Taco. They're having a bunch of family friendly activities , stuff for kids of all ages , including really little kids. They have some things happening in their nature garden , and you can also see the new film in their theater. It's called T-Rex. That's not free , but the tickets for that are just $5. And for people over 21 , the rooftop bar is going to be open so you can grab a cocktail and a view up there.
S1: No reason not to go to that. This weekend is also the return of San Diego Zine Fest.
S6: Yeah , so it's this weekend both days and it's held at Bread and Salt. And this is their 12th annual event and it just keeps growing. There are over 100 exhibitors like small presses , authors , artists , creatives , vendors , organizations. Um , some of the the names on the list that I recognized , our project , Paint the Prison Arts Initiative , Burn All Books 31G which is a record label and a press barrio Art crawl will be there , representing the neighborhood radical History Club and books through bars and tons more. They have food and drink. They're going to be partnering with Mujeres Brewery next door. They're also having music performances and DJ sets throughout each day , and all of the other galleries that bread and salt. They will be open so you can check out all the art , including the current impact artist in residence , Khoisan. He's the sign painter and content creator and just really wonderful person who's doing fun work there in residence. So yeah , the event , the ZM fest is free all ages 12 to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
S1: Sounds like a lot of fun. All right. We have a panel discussion involving an artist and DNA experts this weekend. Uh , sounds very interesting. Yes.
S6: This is part of the Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego's. See you Saturday monthly event , this month's EP at their Encinitas location. It's this really nice area with gardens. It's all lit up at nice. So a lovely place to see some art. And one of the artists with work on view right now is Melissa Walter. We talked about her when her exhibit first opened. It's this body of work that was inspired by the use of forensic DNA analysis and criminal justice applications , and kind of the science and the implications of using that. And her art is really fascinating. It's almost everything I've seen of hers is informed by science in some way , not just the ideas , but she will take numbers and sequencing and , and data and use that to create like actual visual manifestations in the art. This is Melissa Walter talking about this project when she was installing it this summer.
S7: The body of work began with sort of learning about DNA analysis and the history of it and its history within forensic science. As I was making new work , I was still interested in that topic , but I was starting to think about it a little more from a psychological perspective of the people that might have been affected by the lack of DNA analysis in the , you know , progression of their lives or the presence of DNA analysis.
S6: And I'm just really interested in the way that art can tap into these bigger public issues and social issues. And this exhibit is a really great example of that. And she's doing a panel discussion this weekend. It's definitely not your usual artist talk. She's actually going to be the moderator , and she will have lawyers who have worked with the Innocence Project or have worked on exonerating cases through DNA evidence. She'll have a person who's a liaison between DNA scientists and lawyers and also a formerly incarcerated person. So that should be a really fascinating discussion.
S1: Sounds like such an engaging event.
S6: It's on Saturday , but the whole event , the party runs from 4 to 8 p.m. and families can come and make their own clay pots that are inspired by the double helix shape of DNA. So everything's connected , and they're also having music and drinks and snacks , and you can see the two exhibits that are on view right now at ICA North. There's Melissa Walters and then Manuel Alejandro Rodriguez. And this event is free also.
S1: Let's switch gears on to music. Here's an option for some jazz , gospel and bassoon.
S6: Right ? Not something you hear every day. But first off I'll say this is on Monday. So I'm kind of pushing the boundaries of the weekend , but let's go with it. Okay , Monday is the weekend now. So this is in Oceanside. It's at the Brooks Theater , and it's artist Joy Guidry , who is this incredible interdisciplinary artist and performer. They're mostly a bassoonist , but also pull in spoken word and electronic compositions and bassoon as one of my favorite instruments , partly because it's so unique and kind of misunderstood , but it has this really transfixing tone. And the gospel influence in Audrey's work is something that they've talked about as being really kind of inherent. Growing up in the South , both the sounds of gospel and themes of liberation. And this is Guidry song members Don't Get weary from their latest album , Amen , which is what this this concert revolves around.
UU: Members don't get weary and members don't get weary.
S1: Well , Amen to that. You can find details on these and more arts events , and sign up for Julia's weekly newsletter at KPBS Saugus Arts. I've been speaking with KPBS arts reporter Julia Dixon Evans. Julia. Thank you.
S6: Thank you. Jade , this is fun. Always.
S8: Always.
UU: Keep your hair.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
