Silas Munro and his company, Polymode, use InDesign and other modern tools of graphic design to create award-winning projects from book design to museum displays. But what animates him? What are his light bulb moments? How does he do it? No easy answer, of course. But among his influences are the rich lineages of publications […]
Join a discussion with writer Valerie Luu, photographer Andria Lo, and poet Hieu Minh Nguyen exploring intergenerational stories and reflections of the culture of Chinatown. Lavish in the fun, colorful, sartorial images and stories celebrating the residents of Chinatown. Chinatown Pretty features beautiful portraits and heartwarming stories of trend-setting seniors across six Chinatowns. Andria Lo and Valerie Luu have […]
with author Nino Strachey in Conversation with SFSU Professor Loretta Stec An “illuminating” (Daily Mail, London) exploration of the second generation of the iconic Bloomsbury Group, who inspired their elders to new heights of creativity and passion while also pushing the boundaries of sexual freedom and gender norms in 1920s England.This event will be held […]
In 1848 when Samuel Brannan shouted “Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!” the precious metal he was waving around was stored in a quinine bottle. Malaria, scurvy, and plague all impacted the young city of San Francisco- and many of the recommended treatments for each (cinchona bark, citrus, gin) came in beverage form. The […]
with Romina Hernández This Letterform Lecture invites you come along for a signage journey across central Mexico City. About a year ago, Sandra Cuevas, the mayor of the Cuauhtémoc district in central Mexico City, decided to remove hundreds of hand-painted signs from food stalls, carts, newsstands, and street vendors. Even tamaleras with only a table […]
with Kate Dole Sharing work from the archives of handstyle master Leonard "Jade" Liu, Dole will review a brief history of San Francisco's graffiti scene. Join Kate Dole for a talk on the critical role of oral traditions in passing down and maintaining the core and foundations of San Francisco's graffiti culture through the […]
with Robert Liu-Trujillo, Nisha Sethi Rob Liu-Trujillo and Nisha Sethi of Oakland-based collective Trust Your Struggle speak on graffiti and its influence on their art practices. Trust Your Struggle is an multi-generational Oakland-based collective of artists, educators, and cultural workers who are dedicated to mobilising their communities on social justice, environmental sustainability, and community organising […]
Scholars David Stromberg and Aaron Lansky will discuss a new book, Isaac Bashevis Singer's Writings on Yiddish and Yiddishkayt, The War Years, 1939-1945 (White Goat Press). November 11 would have been the 120th birthday of the late Nobel Prize winner Isaac Bashevis Singer. This collection, edited and translated by David Stromberg, editor of the Singer Literary Trust, is […]
Dr. Amy Gore, assistant professor of English at North Dakota State University, will discuss the connections between books, bodies, and Indigenous book history at the release of her latest monograph, Book Anatomy: Body Politics and the Materiality of Indigenous Book History (University of Massachusetts Press, 2023). From a book’s “spine” to its “appendix,” bibliographers use a language […]
Terminal lsland: Lost Communities on America’s Edge tells a story of the birth, flourishing, and ultimate destruction of Terminal Island, a vibrant community in Los Angeles Harbor. Few Los Angelenos have visited Terminal Island, a sheltered spot in the Pacific Ocean that once served as a resort for wealthy Southern California landowners and as a […]
From a book’s “spine” to its “appendix,” bibliographers use a language of the body that reveals our intimate connection with books. Yet books do more than describe bodies—they embody a frontline of colonization in which Indigenous authors battle the public perception and reception of Indigenous peoples. Starting with John Rollin Ridge’s The Life and Adventures […]