Featured Events

Are you looking for children’s books but don’t know where to start? Let the library surprise your child (and you!) with a beautiful selection of books from Book Bundles To Go. Each Bundle consists of five books based on interest level, theme, or type of book. Every bundle is different! We will choose exciting books for you from our libraries throughout Los Angeles. To receive your personalized Book Bundle To Go, fill out the form on the website.

A More Than Human Tongue explores the fusion of ancestral practices and modern tech with a pair of innovative experiences. One Who Looks at the Cup, by Mashinka Firunts Hakopian with Atlas Acopian, and Lara Sarkissian, uncovers the secrets of tasseography (the fortune-telling method of reading coffee grounds) reimagined through AI.

Voice in My Head, created by Lauren Lee McCarthy and Kyle McDonald, delves into the mind’s inner workings, in which guests hear voices in their heads through earbuds – but with an AI twist.

This  event is Choose What You Pay. Suggestion begin with $15 per reservation, pay more or less, with rates accepted as low as $5 per reservation.

A More Than Human Tongue and Voice in My Head runs August 29, 2024 through November 3, 2024 at the Jerry Moss Plaza at The Music Center , 4:00–8:00 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, and 1:00–8:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) hosts its November Monthly Film Festival, which features its annual InFocus: Indigenous Cinema program, which highlights the work of indigenous filmmakers in front of and behind the camera, African Giants, writer-director Omar S. Kamara’s award-winning -debut narrative feature, and November Shorts, an offering of highlights from NFMLA’s ongoing general program.

InFocus: Indigenous Cinema is Saturday, November 16, 2024, from 2:30 to 10:00 p.m.

Get your tickets here!

 

Image from Lea Tupu’anga (Mother Tongue), courtesy of NFMLA

 

Image from River Bank (Pō-kehgeh), courtesy of NFMLA

Sangre de Nopal/Blood of the Nopal is a multi-site project offering an expanded understanding of cochineal’s scientific and Indigenous origins, a red dye developed by the Zapotec people. This multivocal exhibition will center ancestral knowledge and technical experimentation and bring a special focus to issues of immigration and labor justice.

Join us for the PigeonBlog Release Saturday, November 16 at the  Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery  (LAMAG) from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This event is a reactivation of Beatriz da Costa’s landmark work, “PigeonBlog” (2006–08) as part of the PST ART exhibition, “Beatriz da Costa: (un)disciplinary tactics.”

The program begins at 11:00 a.m. with a conversation between media archeologist and artist Leslie García, pigeon fancier Bob Matsuyama, and exhibition curators Daniela Lieja Quintanar and Ana Briz, who will explain the process of restaging PigeonBlog. In addition there will be a presentation by environmental justice scholar Bhavna Shamasunder. The pigeon release will follow the conversation and is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

All Images Courtesy of LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) 

Social Forest: Oaks of Tovaangar is inspired by Joseph Beuys’s influential work 7000 Oaks. In a multifaceted effort, The Broad will present his art, an offsite public reforestation project, and a series of programs connected with the legacy of Joseph Beuys’s art and environmental advocacy. Social Forest: Oaks of Tovaangar encompasses planting 100 native trees, primarily coast live oaks, in Elysian Park in Los Angeles and additional plantings at Kuruvungna Village Springs in West L.A. Reserve tickets at website

Desert Forest focuses on the plight of the iconic Joshua tree and the vital and sensitive Mojave Desert ecosystem that supports it. The tree’s survival is threatened by climate change as well as development, wind and solar energy industries, and wildfires.    In August 2020, a lightning strike ignited a fire that destroyed more than 1.3 million trees, prompting the California Fish and Game Commission to consider granting western Joshua trees protection under the California Endangered Species Act. This multidisciplinary project brings together natural history, Indigenous knowledge, public policy, conservation science, and creative works by historic and contemporary artists to spotlight the threatened tree and preservation efforts around it. From the first known photograph of a Joshua tree by Carleton Watkins to recent photographs by Cara Romero, the exhibition brings attention to the Joshua tree, current pressures on its fragile desert ecosystem, and its future viability.