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Cultural Politics

The arts have always been used to tackle difficult issues on a wide scale. From poetry that ignites millions to photography that captures injustices, artists are using their creativity to make space for the marginalized and give light to untold stories.

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Janette Beckman, "Rivera Bad Girls" (featured)
Boulevards have the practical function of ordering commerce and traffic, but they are also displays of a city’s identity where culture, in its flow, is publicly shaped and performed.
The Woman's Building, North Spring Street, Los Angeles
Throughout its 18-year run, The Woman’s Building cultivated an experimental space for women from around the world to explore ideas in feminist theory and sexuality through art.
Pachucas and African American teens in zoot suits, 1940s.
Participants of pachuco culture were not just male, youth or Mexican American. The history of the culture includes a number of complexities.
Marjan K. Vayghan at LAX
Since President Trump signed an executive order to suspended refugee admissions and block citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, museum directors around the U.S. have expressed concern about its impact.
Nichole Speciale at Bunker Hill, US-Mexico Border, Border Field State Park, San Diego, CA, 2014. (featured)
A years-long endeavor, project "Incendiary Traces" has involved multiple artists, writers and researchers in an effort to explore the landscape in relation to war.
Parallels between the Pachuco and teddy boy subculture (featured)
The connection between Los Angeles and United Kingdom youth culture is something that crosses fashion, music and acts of resistance.
Kathryn Kanjo, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
There are now more women leading major arts organizations here than ever. For many of the institutions, it’s just the first or second time a woman has been at the helm.
Still from Artbound episode "The Mundane Afrofuturist Manifesto"
A report released by the California Arts Council illustrates the challenges and opportunities facing nonprofit media coverage of the arts. After reviewing the study, the council voted in favor of renewing a $200,000 arts and public media program.
Votan Henriquez, "Warrior Wombyn (aka Rezzie the Riveter)."
Four California artists — Gerald Clarke Jr., Mercedes Dorame, Votan Henriquez and Pamela J. Peters — confront the issue of indigenous identity through painting, photography, sculpture and film.
Kimchi
In Los Angeles’ Koreatown, traditions are preserved through the practice of banchan, a tradition of hospitality and cuisine in Korean culture.
"Spa Night," a movie by Andrew Ahn (featured)
"Spa Night" director Andrew Ahn says that a major force driving him to make films is a desire to tell the stories of queer people of color not represented in mainstream media.
The Migrant Kitchen: Middle Eastern cuisine
Over the last century, traditional Middle-Eastern cuisine has found its way into Los Angeles culture through the many populations that have migrated to the city.
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