Managing eco-anxiety through nature, art and self-care

S1: It's time for Midday Edition on Kpbs. Today's show is about San Diego's arts and culture scene. I'm Jade Hindman. Here's to conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and also make you think. A local author talks about the healing power of nature.

S2: My relationship with nature always brings me back to my relationship with myself.

S1: Plus , film critic Beth Accomando takes us to the TCM Film Festival and then previews the Asian Film Festival's Spring Showcase. Also , Julia Dickson Evans walks us through the events happening this weekend. That's ahead on Midday Edition. Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman. Today's show is about San Diego's arts and culture scene. We'll speak with a local author who writes about the healing power of nature. Plus , we'll visit the TCM and Asian film festivals. Then we'll tell you about the events happening this weekend. This is Midday Edition , connecting our communities through Conversation on Midday Edition last week , we dove into the topic of eco anxiety. It's that chronic fear of environmental doom weighing on so many people as the climate crisis worsens. Today , we're sitting down with Raquel Cohen. Her lived experience with eco anxiety and past as an environmental educator led to her career as a spiritual coach. Her latest book is called Self-care for Eco Anxiety 52 practices for Positive Personal Change Through the Power of Nature. It's out now and Raquel , welcome back to Midday Edition.

S2: Thank you so much for having me here. It's such a pleasure to be here.

S1: So glad you're here.

S2: So I spent over ten years working in environmental education at institutions like the Monterey Bay aquarium , the San Diego Zoo. For me , nature has always been such a beautiful and spiritual place of restoration , of inspiration. I've always gone to nature to deal with stress or anxiety or just all kinds of different emotions going for walks. But when I was working in the field , I also recognized that I was starting to get more and more anxious , even as I was teaching people about the solutions to the many challenges we're facing with the environment , I found myself getting anxious. I found myself getting depressed. I found myself getting infuriated at moments as well. And then I'd have these moments where I would learn so much about the topic at hand , how bad everything is that I would have this. This almost like apathy of like , oh , overwhelm. It's so bad and nothing we're doing is making a difference. And when I was doing this work , the way that I was taught was through a lot of like , doom and gloom approach. Like , let's teach everyone how bad things truly are , how bad it can get. Let's kind of scare people into changing their behaviors. So when I was able to start working at institutions that were more about sharing solutions and that were actually really providing a lot of solutions and giving people hope , then I was able to start feeling into hope myself and that there is possibility here.

S1: Well , I want to dive into some of those solutions you talk about in your book. You write that interchange helps us to heal and care for ourselves while caring for nature. To tell me more about the significance of that inner work in healing. Mhm.

S2: Mhm. Oh , that's such a beautiful question. So ultimately , wherever we go , there we are , right. Where the relationship we have with ourselves is never a relationship we're going to get away from , because wherever we go , we're there with ourselves. So when we know that , then we can actually recognize that the relationship we have with our self is truly the most important relationship will ever have. And when we have a relationship with ourself that is loving , that is compassionate. And again , this is a constant conversation with self. Like I'm in a moment right now where I'm recognizing , oh , I haven't always been. I'm not being so self compassionate to myself in this moment. Right. So I have these practices I can go back to , to come back to a place of self-compassion. But when we're going through our life without caring about ourselves , without caring about how we truly feel , we're also bringing that out into the world. And so if we don't prioritize our relationship with ourselves and our relationship with our own mental , emotional and physical health , then we can't truly address in its full complexity our relationship with Earth , our relationship with others. And when I think about our relationship with nature , and this is my own experience , I'm hopeful that many who are listening might have similar experiences. But in my own experience , my relationship with nature always brings me back to my relationship with myself. I hope that answers the question. It did.

S1: No , it totally makes sense. And I know that that experience and taking that action in your own life is the inspiration behind your book , Self-care for Eco Anxiety , which it includes 52 weekly practices.

S2: Nature connection with Earth. Then we go to a place of creativity , co-creation with earth and creativity with ourselves. Because the creative energy is the energy of possibility , then we very naturally and organically begin to take action that give back to earth. Because in any healthy relationship we are reciprocating , we are taking and we are also giving. So if we come to this healthy relationship with Earth where we recognize how much Earth provides to us , then the actions we end up taking for Earth are ones that are going to benefit her. So the way I have the self-care practices organized is that the first 18 self-care practices are all about just connecting with nature again. Then the following self-care practices are about creativity , co-creation , and then the final practices in the book are practices that will actually give back to Earth , as you're also taking care of yourself.

S1: So in those groupings of the 52 practices , are there a couple you'd like to highlight for me ? Yeah.

S2: Okay. I would love to actually. Thank you. So in the first section , when we're talking about just connecting with nature itself , some of the first practices I share are practices that help us move through the nervous system , some of the kind of maladaptive qualities that can happen in our nervous system. So one of the the second self-care practice I share in the book is really about allowing ourselves to move through the fight response , to move through that feeling of anger , that feeling of rage that we might feel because the changes that we know need to happen aren't happening. For the creativity section , I have a number of self-care practices that are really about biophilic design. Biophilic design is really about bringing nature indoors so that we can feel that love for other species that humans have within our lived spaces , within our built spaces , as much as we feel them outside. So I have numerous self-care practices for bringing more plants into your home , bringing more elements of nature into your home. Even like finding a piece of wood on the beach and creating it into a statement piece of art in your home , for example. And then for the giving back section. Um , some great examples for giving back that are also really fun and a great way to provide for yourself have to do with creating safe habitat around your home. So one example I have of that is creating a pollinator garden , um , sourcing some native wildflowers for your space so that you can have a safe habitat for pollinators. That is something that feels good to do. And then when you actually see the monarch caterpillars and the monarch butterfly , and you know that you had a part in providing a safe space for these organisms , it just feels so wonderful.

S1:

S2: You are not crazy. What you're feeling is 100% valid for the situation at hand , but it's also not the end. It's the beginning place to help us come back to a relationship with Earth that provides us with a sense of love , a sense of connection , a sense of possibility , and a sense of interconnection in particular.

S1: Well , thank you for that advice. I've been speaking with Raquel Cohen. She's the author of Self-care for Eco Anxiety. Raquel , thank you so much.

S2: Thank you so much for having me. It's such an honor.

S1: Honor to have you as well. Her Eco Anxiety Plant workshop and book launch event is this Saturday from 1030 to 1230 at the Book Catapult in South Park. For more information , you can go to our website Kpbs. Org. Coming up , a pair of Oscar winning special effects artists discuss how they bring added excitement to the TCM Film Festival.

S3: We did blow the doors open at one point because of the positive pressure , and that was it did push the doors open. He turned it past 11 sound man. Either we're dangerous when you give us that knob.

S1: Plus a preview of the San Diego Asian Film Festival Spring showcase. You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. Welcome back. You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. April is a busy month for movie lovers. The Turner Classic Movies , also known as the TCM Film Festival in Hollywood , is happening. Then the San Diego Asian Film Festival's Spring Showcase is going on to both of those things. Kick off today. Here's Kpbs film critic Beth Accomando with more.

S4: April brings two of my favorite film festivals , and this year they both ended up on the same weekend. There's the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood and the San Diego Asian Film Festival's Spring Showcase here in San Diego. First up , I want to talk to Ben Burtt and Craig Barron about their presentation at the TCM Film Festival. Craig and Ben both come from an effects background , but I asked them to elaborate on how they come from different ends of the spectrum Ben working in sound design and Craig and visual effects.

S5: Yeah , well , I think the idea is that we complement ourselves as a team , and it started back when we were researching some of the Academy Awards that were given to visual effects movies , and Ben pointed out that the visual effects award was also the Audio Effects Award , meaning that the film would receive an award for the sound effects and for the visual effects. And so that sort of led us to discuss why and get involved in making presentations. And then we just sort of kept doing that. I think that basically in creating illusions , there's the visual component and the audio component. So we work together and we we sort of talk shop and discuss how something was created. We like to look back at traditional filmmaking techniques , some of which we've moved on to digital , but we love the originals because that's what inspired us to want to get involved in making films.

S6: Both of us are film lovers and film historians , and this gave us a chance. I think at some point it part of the motive for doing it was a conversation like , hey , Craig , what would you like to see ? You know , if we could get a nice print , get the Academy or someone to get a nice print for us or TCM ? As Craig has said , the final illusion in any movie is picture and sound together. But we've since expanded. We have not limited ourselves to just special effects , and.

S4: This year you have chosen them.

S6:

S7: Nature mad rampant roared its most awesome creation for born in that swirling inferno of radioactive dust where things so horrible , so terrifying , so hideous. There is no word to describe them.

S6: One of the premises of our show is that we try to unearth rare or unseen information about the making and the behind the scenes activity of a film. So we have been very interested in in the science fiction films that we saw as , as kids , the science fiction films of the 1950s , that kind of classic era. And we've done War of the Worlds and When Worlds Collide. So that was just on our list for a number of years , but we didn't bring it forward until we knew we could find some new and interesting , uh , stories about how it was made to reveal to our audience. Yeah , we.

S5: We sort of have an agreement that unless we can find something that we feel we can bring to it , that's that's more unique and different. Uh , we really don't want to do the title , but somehow we sort of once we focus in on something , we do tend to come up with material. And we we often say , well , I don't think we're going to be able to find anything interesting about that title , but somehow we always look back afterwards and go , hey , that was that was a pretty good show. We tend to love the process of discovery. We kind of call it an architectural dig.

S6: Archaeological dig. Yeah.

S5: Archaeological dig. Yeah. Sorry about that. And we sort of have called our series secrets from the Hollywood Archives because we love to go and see if there's material that perhaps hasn't been shown before or in some way , uh , revealing the creative process , because most of the people that made these movies really didn't have a chance to talk about them. And so we'd love to sort of reveal , uh , their creative process.

S6: The , the films in the classic era of Hollywood , there's very little documentation about behind the scenes crafts. But what is survived is stories of the stars and maybe the major directors , but finding information on how the visual effects were achieved or very rare , any kind of sound work on the film is extremely hard to find and only shows up in the in the rarest instances.

S4:

S5: Some things come from the studio archives. Sometimes there's stock shots , sometimes there's private collections. Obviously , we , um , have a very close working relationship with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and their archives , but it's really a matter of since Ben and I both talk shop , we sort of have a way to understand how we can use the material and , uh , adapt it with an explanation that the audience can understand. So there are a lot of things that are in archives that maybe somebody doesn't know what they are , or that we can kind of find and add value to by by discovering it.

S6: We will talk to fans and collectors who , um , might have set something aside , an article or an artifact about a science fiction film or something we're pursuing. And so we kind of do the usual shopping among all these sources.

S4: And just to give people an idea of the lengths that you guys go to. Talk a little bit about what you did for When Worlds Collide and really changing that whole kind of audio experience we were having in the theater. Yeah. Ben.

S5: Ben. Ben , um , got a little out of control on that one last year.

S6: We did. We were thinking of what kind of , uh , gimmick.

S5: Not gimmick. Value added. Okay.

S6: Value added experience. Uh , like William Castle would do , you know , but but it came about because the film seemed to offer some events in it for sound ship standby , Rumble of a rocket. There's rumble of an earthquake and the destruction of the Earth. And George Powell had said in interviews back at the time that they wanted to get as much low end theaters could play at that time with a different technology. And so we felt that we could further his dream and still not be disrupting his intention of that producing that film and , uh , add a huge rumble. You know , there was a sense around years ago in the 70s , which was a system to add a huge.

S3: Low frequency.

S6: Rumble during the earthquake movies , and we wanted something like that. So fortunately , um , it worked out that we were able to , um , Boston Light and Sound , you went over the top and gave us just what we wanted to generate a bit. A bends around track.

S5: Yeah , and in the rehearsals , we had to tone it way down.

S4: The building is still standing.

S5: It is. But we did blow the doors open at one point because of the positive pressure. And that.

S3: Was it did.

S6: Push the doors.

S3: Open and Ben had.

S5: To turn that knob. He turned it past 11 at that one point. And he's got to keep it. Got to put a blocker on that because you just can't help it , you know.

S6: Well it's a sound man. They were dangerous when you give us that knob.

S4:

S6: That is the group experience of watching a motion picture with a with a crowd of people all paying attention in a darkened room. Um , the way that that was the intention behind the exhibition of the classic films that the festival presents and the gathering of fans together to appreciate a film or discover a new film is really , I think , the energy that's the payoff for people attending the festival.

S5: I mean , for me , it's absolutely my favorite film festival , and people from all over the world come to Hollywood for the festival. It's not. There are local people , of course , but people from all over are coming and enjoying and who are really film fans and love classic movies. And it's exposing classic movies to another generation of young people who are coming to these festivals and seeing these films on the big screen. Sometimes , um , people come up to us afterwards and say they just really appreciate knowing a little bit more about how the classic films were made , in a slightly different approach that we like to take. Kind of we like to talk shop because I work in visual effects and sound , and we can kind of interpret , um , what classes , what the tools and techniques that the classic filmmakers were using , which for the most part is starting to be receding into the past , and that information is starting to get lost. So we want to kind of revisit it whenever we can.

S4: That was Craig Barron and Ben Burtt. They'll be presenting them at the TCM Film Festival on Friday. Now , I talked to Brian who , artistic director of the San Diego Asian Film Festival. Their spring showcase starts today , and first off , I wanted him to talk about the number of films that are really designed for cinephiles. Right.

S8: Right. I want to say , like , there were even more that didn't make it to the festival that I really wanted. But you're right. I mean , like , as people who live and breathe movies , as much as we love movies , we love talking about movies. We love remembering movies , thinking about the history of films. So yeah , we have a film called Celluloid Underground , which is this really exciting documentary out of the UK , and it's a it's an Iranian director who is based in the UK , and he remembers growing up and wanting to learn more about the world , wanting to learn more about cinema. But it's hard to find films from around the world in Iran , uh , especially after the revolution. And so he somehow stumbled upon this guy who has a huge trove of 16 millimeter prints and 35 millimeter prints that he just sort of hid underground , like , literally under the streets of Tehran , because after the revolution , you're not allowed to have these private stashes of films , but because of this person's sort of intrepid cinephiles , for an entire generation of of just curious cinephiles , we're able to see the films of the world. And so , so this this film collector died recently , and this director in who's now in exile in the UK wanted to make this film in tribute to this mysterious man and this influential pot of , of celluloid gold.

S4: And there's also films where it is simply a narrative film with a film kind of structure. Okay.

S9: Okay. Standby. Action. Yeah.

S8: Yeah. We have a film called Falling in Love. Like in movies. It's a film from Indonesia. It's sort of like a film within the film where a guy is a screenwriter. He's tired of having to just make these terrible adaptations of soap operas. He's like , no , it's time for me to write my own original script. But the thing is , he wants to make a romance , and he's going through a bit of a romantic. He's having a kind of a romantic story of his own , and he's starting to write his real life into the script. And so there's this. There's these two layers , at least two layers , maybe even more layers in the film of like , what is reality ? What is the film he's making in the film ? He's pitching to this big producer , and it's really fun to see kind of how one's ideals of romance and one ideals of filmmaking collide.

S4: And I love the way that you will focus on different countries. And this year you have a focus on Tibet , which I think is a country that a lot of people may not have seen a lot of films from.

S8: We may have seen films shot in Tibet by Hollywood , for instance. Right. Like Martin Scorsese made film in Tibet and so on. And China actually makes films in Tibet. But in a way that's sort of like , I don't the Tibetans are cute , exotic people , and actually Hollywood's version is not that different from that either. What we haven't seen are films made by Tibetans. And I mean , this is a relatively new phenomenon because it requires a generation of Tibetans to start going to film school , so become more and more like illiterate. And really , the first director to to try this out is this feature film filmmaker named Pemberton , whose films like , like they did not resemble anything like what was what Hollywood was making or what the Chinese film industry was making. In some ways , they were like , they're perfectly fine. Like like they're not. They're not really like politically dangerous movies. They're just about , you know , like Tibetans in the in their ordinary lives. But there's something about them that because they're from a very different point of view , they don't have that kind of exotic gaze that the Chinese people in China have or like Westerners have of Tibet. That they sort of disrupts our expectations of what a Tibetan narrative can be. And unfortunately , he died last year. He was only in his 50s. He was so young and beloved all around the world. We've shown several of his films at the San Diego Asian Film Festival before , but we haven't shown all of them and we haven't shown his newest film. So his newest and final film called Snow Leopard , which is this incredible allegory about what happens to animals in Tibet. And so this is our chance to pay tribute to some of the films we haven't shown in to his latest one.

S4: And I noticed there's also something new that's not exactly a film event , the poetry.

S8: Yeah , we're very lucky to have linked up with Jason Perez , who happens to be the San Diego Poet laureate right now. It's kind of going to be a sort of free flowing poetry jam. We like our films poetic , but sometimes we just like poetry and so and so.

S4:

S8: Um , Smoking Tigers is directed by so young Shelley Yoh , who is a UC San Diego alum. She did her undergrad here. She studied communication and visual arts , and we've sort of known about her through her short films. And then last year she was at the Tribeca Film Festival World premiering this movie , Smoking Tigers , and it won Best screenplay. It won best acting performance. It's it's a very Southern California Korean-American story about this one family. They're not that well-to-do. And they realize that , you know , like , if we want our child , our daughter to get ahead in the world , she needs to do well on her SATs. So it's about like this kind of sad camp that she's forced to go on. But instead of learning about , you know , math and verbal , she's learning the ways of the world , specifically how the much richer Korean American kids live and sort of where her place is within that. We're very excited to have Shelly coming to our festival for Q&A. The actress who's in the film , who won the award at Tribeca , she'll be here as well.

S1: That was Beth Accomando speaking with Brian , who of the San Diego Asian Film Festival. Its spring showcase runs tonight through April 25th at the Ultra Star Mission Valley , and the TCM Classic Film Festival runs tonight through Sunday in Hollywood. Coming up , the conversation continues with a new exhibit about Caribbean culture.

S10: This Caribbean history is just a part of San Diego as much as any other kind of border history. We've been told.

S1: That and all of your weekend events when we return. You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. Welcome back. You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. For our weekend preview , we have a new exhibit of contemporary art from the Caribbean diaspora , as well as some dance , theater and music. Joining me with all the details is Kpbs arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans. Julia , welcome.

S11: Hey , Jade. Thanks for having me.

S1: So glad to have you here , as always. So let's start with the visual art from the Caribbean diaspora. Yeah.

S11: Yeah. So this is a major group exhibition. It's at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla. And this exhibit actually originated at the Museum of Contemporary Art , Chicago. It traveled to Boston , and it finally comes here as the only West Coast stop. There's 27 artists , and these are artists that are of Caribbean heritage or have lived in the region or of the diaspora. Um , and I just walked through the exhibit yesterday and I really loved it. I love the way that it is divided into these conceptual sections. The first is like territories , so about lands and also about bodies. And then there's formal rhythms , which is about movement. One of the pieces in this section that I really loved is is these like huge hanging light bulbs. It's almost like a curtain of light bulbs. That's by Felix Gonzalez-Torres. And he also has another work in there. It's a stack of blank papers that you can touch. You can pick it up and take a piece of a Felix Gonzalez-Torres work home with you. So , yeah , there's a lot of really incredible pieces , and a lot of the works are really large and sculptural. And there is video works , many video works in , in the exhibit that are also arranged , really sculptural. It was a great a great exhibit.

S1: And this exhibit opens today , which is the museum's monthly free Third Thursday event.

S11: I love that they have late hours , too , because a lot of museums tend to close , you know , during the workday. And there is going to be a free public tour that's at 5:00. And then an artist talk with one of the artists and the curators of the exhibit. And I had a chance to talk with one of the curators , Isabel Caso. She was actually part of the original curatorial team at the Museum of Contemporary Art , Chicago. And now she works here at the museum here. So she is kind of the this force that brought it here. So I , I started out by asking her to define Caribbean art in a nutshell and maybe talk about what some of those misconceptions are.

S1: All right. Let's take a listen.

S10: I can't say that there's any nutshell of any type of art. I can feel myself and probably anyone that would be , um , pigeonholed instantly wanting to liberate themselves from that. But this exhibition excels at showing the the fluidity , perhaps , of the Caribbean diaspora. This exhibition has , you know , over 20 artists that are of the Caribbean diaspora , whether that be living there or of Caribbean heritage. So I think that these at least specifically here , uh , the exhibition is kind of anchored in this concept of diaspora and migration. And in that way , it does not ever want to be in a nutshell , because it's always in the state of movement. So one of the points of the exhibition is that our identities are constantly in flux and constantly in these , um , moments or states of transformation. So the artwork that is here , um , in this exhibition is really to suggest movement and travel through not only bodies , but forms , materials and techniques.

S11: That's great. And I wanted to ask you a little bit more about that idea of movement. I was reading a couple of reviews of this exhibition when it was in Chicago , and that's where the exhibition originated , and several of them mentioned that idea of movement. Can you talk about how that actually manifests and what it looks like in these works of art ? Yeah.

S10: Of course. Uh , and that's a really lovely question. I'm glad that you read the reviews , because one of and this is just kind of a sidebar , but the overarching themes it is , is a larger commentary on the ways in which artists and areas and regions are pigeonholed into these types of expected forms or movements or techniques or materials. So in this exhibition in. Here. There are six very broad and like the show itself , very fluid sections. There is territories , formal rhythms , exchange exchanges , image making , landscapes and traces. And these are all different sections that I think can equip the viewer or those who are walking through the exhibition with the ways in which the curators and also the show is set up. And in that all of these sections kind of merge into one another. So whether it be , for example , like formal rhythms , you know , if we think about art history forms are , you know , whether it be like a circle in , in a painting that , that then you find maybe reiterated in a sculpture later in the show. So they're not only depicting and capturing kind of these moments of motion , but emphasizing the fact that that is a movement and that that that's through the formal choices of materials and techniques.

S11: A couple of the works in the show are also about the commodities of the region , like crops or natural gas. I'm thinking about a piece called Gassman.

S10: So this is a fantastic work. I love that you chose it. And in fact , I will say that Chris Cozier , who is the artist of Gassman , which is a two channel , could even be three , kind of as a mutable installation from 2014. And Chris will be giving an artist talk at the museum alongside Carla Acevedo Yeats. Um , so it would be a great , great opportunity to just hear from the artist himself. But Gassman is is actually filmed on the on the shores of Lake Michigan. So you'll see two men in business suits kind of circling pump nozzles around. They're like above their head , almost like cowboys. Um , that very kind of spaghetti western , uh , moment of seeing men on a on a horizon. And he's really calling attention in this work to how cross-cultural influences are , are also impacted and shaped by global economies , specifically that in the Caribbean. So cozy is specifically looking at the environmental impact of extractive oil , uh , economies , as well as those of , you know , the conditions that come out of out of those various economies. So you have , you know , enslavement , forced labor , corruption , really kind of the gamut of things. And so I think that that's a really wonderful or wonderful is not the right word , but is is a poignant example , perhaps , of one of the things like the traces , I guess , is is kind of one one of the sections that that we're thinking of. So , you know , people and places are shaped by time and also just the materials , the colonial histories of materials.

S11:

S10: This exhibition has been unbelievable to work on in so many different ways. Karla being an unbelievable , groundbreaking curator of whom I look up to and have learned so much from. And , you know , just like the exchanging of economies or people like moving through places , you know , exhibitions do have a life of themselves and they do travel. So I started off at MCA Chicago , went to ICA Boston , and were the final and third venue of forecast form. And one thing that you can kind of note , if you know your museums or perhaps just your geography , is that all of these museums are situated on bodies of water , so they're literal sites. And I think being by bodies of water is really important , um , for these exhibitions. So when I was interviewing for my position , I always had in mind wanting to bring this exhibition to the West Coast. We are the only West Coast venue , and I think it's quite important that the show travels westward in terms of the the continental United States , because a lot of , uh , conversations about Caribbean diaspora is , is primarily had on the East Coast. And moreover , as an curator that focuses on Latinx and the broader art of the Americas , being in a border city like San Diego , where a lot of exhibitions focus just south of us , looking at , you know , exchange and migration from perhaps just from Tijuana , when in reality this Caribbean history is just a part of San Diego as much as any other kind of border history we've been told. So it was very important for me to bring this conversation to an institution that celebrates its trans nationality , its support of Latinx artists , and this , um , ability to tell a broader history that was fascinating.

S1: That was curator Isabel Caso discussing a new exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art , San Diego. Forecast forum opens today , and museum admission is free today , the third Thursday of the month. And Julia , I mean , that was a very interesting conversation and I can really appreciate how culture and migration come together at the border and beyond.

S11: And seeing this here , seeing this art from the Caribbean diaspora is like fascinating here at our borders. I loved I loved what she said about that.

S1: Yeah , art is a vehicle for so much. You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman , and I'm here with Kpbs Arts producer Julia Dixon Evans to discuss what's going on in arts and culture this weekend. Next , let's go to the stage. Cygnet theater has a new electropop musical from some unlikely source material. What do you know about that ? Yeah.

S11: So this is called Natasha , Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. It's based on , um , basically like a tiny section of Tolstoy's War and Peace , but it very quickly becomes its own thing. Is , is not something you need to have read War and Peace or even understand it. It's it's definitely standalone. And this story is about the romance between Natasha and Anatole and his depressed brother in law , Pierre. And this is written by Dave Malloy. And the music is inspired , yes , by electropop , but also Russian folk music and even indie rock. And this is a musical through and through. I read somewhere that there's just one line of dialogue in the entire script that's spoken. Everything else is sung , so that should be really fun. Interesting.

S1: Interesting. Electropop and Russian folk music and indie rock sounds like an unlikely pairing grouping , um , but I'm sure an interesting musical nonetheless. Contemporary dance company Disco Riot is having a showcase this weekend from their artist residency program. Fill us in on that program. Right.

S11: Right. So Disco Riot is great. They do a lot of really inventive stuff and a lot of stuff that supports. Local artists and choreographers , and this year's cohort for their Artists in Residence program is Greta Nunez , Victor de la Fuente and Cecily Holcomb , and they've been working together for the last ten weeks at Museum of Contemporary Art , San Diego's downtown space. They're working on new material. One of them , by Cecilia Holcomb , is called The Folk Dances of Monsters. So it's kind of digging into this idea that even people in the shadows can find love. And one of the other pieces that's Imperial Valley raised Victor de la Fuente. It's this theatrical dance piece that kind of looks at the brain and neurosis and the way that manifests in art and artists process. And then Mexican Brazilian choreographer Gretta Nunez , she has a piece that's about resilience and empowerment. And all three of these pieces will be performed Friday and Saturday night at the museum's La Jolla campus. So that should be really fun.

S1: Yeah , it sounds like it. All right. And it's Chicano Park Day , which commemorates the resistance 54 years ago in Barrio Logan after construction crews threatened a promised park space , students , community members , activists and artists famously staged a takeover in 1970 and were able to reclaim their park. So how is Chicano Park celebrating this year ? Right.

S11: It's Saturday all day from 9 to 4. Um , Chicano Park is right along Logan Avenue beneath the pylons for Coronado Bridge , and the theme this year is bringing back the true spirit and energy of the Chicano Park Takeover. So it's definitely a reminder of that. That plate from 54 years ago. So this is a community that , as you know , they had already suffered when Interstate five was built right through their neighborhood and then again when the Coronado Bridge was built. So this area and then , like the murals that are on the underside of the bridge , it all serves as a reminder of that fight to keep that one bit of parkland and that community gathering space. So this is a free event. Using that space , there's going to be live music , dance , including indigenous Aztec dance. There is low riders and just a bunch of kid friendly arts and crafts and things like that.

S12: Yeah , got.

S1: To remember that legacy and celebrate it. Finally , let's talk about what's on your radar for live music this weekend. Sure.

S11: Sure. A couple of of local highlights here. There's a San Diego Music Awards showcase that's going to be at poor House in Oceanside. There's a bunch of bands that are all locals and all up for awards for the San Diego Music Awards this year , Miniaturized mistress 77 , The Micro Blades , Lee Coulter and Slack Key Ohana. The main San Diego Music Awards is going to be Tuesday , April 30th. So this is a chance to kind of check out a really a diverse look at some of the the artists that are nominated for awards before the ceremony happens. And that's on Friday in Oceanside. And then Saturday there's a show at Belly Up that's with Lime Cordiale and Windsor , who I really love. Here is Windsor's song memory.

UU: We can turn back the clock. Whenever you want to. The world is changing. It won't stop. Even when exposed to all of the friends you had for. Raindrops just falling at your door.

S13: Every word you.

S11: And then on Sunday , one of my local favorites , Juliana Zaccaria , is headlining at the Casbah. This is her first time headlining at the Casbah , so that should be a really fun show. This is her track Subway Song.

S14: Our hands one inch apart , held to a vertical bar. As we stand.

UU: Yawning at the center of the empty car , under flickering. Light.

S14: Light. I watch you.

UU: Closing your eyes on the rumble of a tunnel.

S14: Really sounds quite nice. Weightless.

S1: All right. No one can say there was nothing to do this weekend. You can find details on these and more arts events , and sign up for our weekly Kpbs arts newsletter at Kpbs mortgage Arts. I've been speaking with Kpbs Arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans. Julia. Thank you.

S11: Thank you. Jade.

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.