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SAN FRANCISCO—Night of Ideas
February 1, 2020 @ 11:00 am – February 2, 2020 @ 11:00 am
SAN FRANCISCO—You’re invited to the second edition of Night of Ideas, presented by the The French Consulate in San Francisco, KQED, San Francisco Public Library, and SFMOMA. This seven-hour marathon of philosophical debate, keynotes, panels, performances, and interactive experiences is designed to spur dialogue and creative participation on the theme “Living on the Edge.” This theme asks us to consider: We live in a world balanced on the edge between immense challenges and even grander possibilities. How do we reckon with these tensions and use them to create new visions for how we live together? Each floor of the library is devoted to exploring different edges that contemporary life in the Bay Area balances on:
Chaos + Creation: How do we cope with disorder and disruption to fashion new ways to think and be?
Wonder + Worry: What anxieties about the future weigh on us most, and what fascinations will transform the way we live?
Exclusion + Belonging: How do we find belonging and identity while making space for differences of lived experience?
Truth + Doubt: With consensus about history and facts increasingly fractured, what narratives should we affirm?
Circulation + Borders: How do we transcend limits on movement for a healthy economy and a just society?
Join thought leaders and change-makers as they address these topics in keynote talks and discussion sessions. See a special live broadcast of KQED’s Forum with host Mina Kim. Share your own creative voice and exchange ideas in a range of participatory workshops, activities, or open mics. Enjoy spectacular performances and music by local artists shaping the culture of the Bay Area. This event features diverse voices and talent from community organizations, including California Humanities on the “Wonder & Worry” floor.
Documenting California Wonder & Worry, 10 pm–Midnight
Documentary films provide a window into worlds we may never otherwise experience, allow us to get to know people we may have never met, and help us empathize with the contemporary challenges around us. California Humanities supports films, podcasts, and interactive media projects that explore critical California subjects and issues, and on this Night of Ideas, we present four Bay Area documentary filmmakers who will share excerpts of their work and engage in a discussion with the audience about how their films can help us better understand who we are and where we live.
Amir Soltani, Dogtown Redemption Katie Galloway and Dawn Valadez, The Pushouts Tom Shepard, Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America Rodrigo Reyes, Sansón and Me Facilitated by John Lightfoot, Senior Program Officer, California Humanities
For more information and full list of speakers, panelists, and performers, visit nightofideassf.com
Saturday February 1, 2020 7 pm–2 am
San Francisco Public Library—Main Branch 100 Larkin Street San Francisco, CA
Accessible for wheelchair users. American Sign Language interpreters will be provided. To request other accommodations, please contact marti.goddard@sfpl.org or call (415) 557-4557 at least 3 business days in advance. Night of Ideas is co-presented by the the French Consulate in San Francisco, KQED, SFMOMA, and the San Francisco Public Library. The event is made possible by the support of the City and County of San Francisco, the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, 836M, Cultural and Scientific Services of the French Embassy in the United States, the French American Cultural Society, the Institut Français, French bee, Microsoft, and the Open Society Foundations.
