[Graphic design by Bernardo Velez. Text: "Marigold & Lavender. Artists & activists bring together Día de los Muertos and Transgender Day of Remembrance. Mourn the dead; fight like hell for the living. Nitery Theater. November 6-11, 2017. Free admission. Please RSVP. Website: marigoldandlavender.wixsite.com/home." Image: A person of color in calavera makeup, wearing marigold and lavender flowers in their hair, holding up a protest sign in the shape of a transgender symbol. The trans* symbol consists of a circle with three extensions: a Venus symbol, a Mars symbol, and a compound Venus/Mars symbol. Within the circle of the trans* symbol are the words: "Mourn the dead; fight like hell for the living."]
For more info, here is a newspaper article written
by Felicia Hou about Marigold & Lavender in the
DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS
OCTOBER 31-NOVEMBER 2
Día de Muertos is a joyous and sacred celebration honoring our deceased loved ones. It is a uniquely syncretic tradition, straddling both indigenous practices of the Americas and the influence of colonial Catholicism. Each year between October 31st and November 2nd, altars filled with cempa-súchil (marigolds), feasts, and other relics invoke the return of our beloved dead's souls to the world of the living.
The celebration is made up of two individual celebrations: Día de Los Fieles Difuntos (All Saints Day), commemorating the spirits of lost children, and Todos los Difuntos (All Souls Day), honoring adults that have passed on. Rituals and traditions are meant to honor and memorialize the dead, as well as herald the joyful return of ancestors into the living world in order to partake of the prepared feasts in private homes, graveyards ... and even theaters.
In the traditions of radical queer Chicanx feminism, Día de Muertos is also an occasion to recognize the longstanding and ongoing history of colonial violence against indigenous peoples, structural and hate violence against trans* lives, state violence against immigrants and refugees, and police violence against Black lives. To honor the memory of the millions lost to genocide, racism and hetero/cis-sexism, Día de Muertos is a call for solidarity in the struggle for justice.
TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE
NOVEMBER 20
This year (2017), at least 28 trans* and nonbinary people have been killed in the U.S. – 24 were people of color.
Before this year, last year (2016) was the deadliest on record for trans* people, with 27 known homicides in the U.S. Again, most victims were women of color. The actual number in any year is likely much larger, as we are commonly mis-gendered by police and media, and because our deaths are often not reported at all. We – who are trans*, gender-queer, nonbinary, genderfluid, gender expansive, gender nonconforming, agender, and who resist-rework-refuse the male/female sex binary and the man/woman gender binary – are literally dying from racist hetero/cis-sexism.
"With so many seeking to erase transgender people – sometimes in the most brutal ways possible – it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that
we continue to fight for justice." – Gwendolyn Ann Smith, Founder of Transgender Day of Remembrance
Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual observance on November 20 that honors the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-trans* bigotry and hetero/cis-sexist violence. It is one of many efforts in the everyday struggle for trans* liberation and justice.
| 28 | January 1
| 41 | January 4
| 23 | January 6
| 23 | February 8
| 18 | February 19
| 24 | February 21
| 31 | February 25
| 25 | February 27
| 38 | March 22
| 27 | April 9
| 28 | April 21
| 59 | April 25
| 46 | May 16
| 28 | June 13
| 17 | June 25
| 28 | July 2
| 32 | July 31
| 29 | August 11
| 26 | August 12
| 30 | August 22
| 17 | September 3
| 28 | September 5
| 26 | September 12
| 21 | September 16
| 47 | October 21
| 30 | October 31
Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow
Mesha Caldwell
Sean Hayes
Jojo Striker
Jaquarrius Holland
Keke Collier
Chyna Gibson
Ciara McElveen
Alphonza Watson
Kenne McFadden
Chay Reed
Brenda Bostick
Sherrell Faulkner
Josie Berrios
Ava Le'Ray Barrin
Ebony Morgan
TeeTee Dangerfield
Jaylow McGlory
Gwynevere River Song
Kiwi Herring
Ally Steinfeld
Kashmire Nazier Redd
Derricka Banner
Scout Schultz
Stephanie Montez
Candace Towns
Marigold & Lavender
EVENTS
November 6-11, 2017
Visual Art & Altar Exhibition
The Marigold & Lavender Project
Gallery Hours
Mon Nov 6 - Sat Nov 11 | Nitery Theater
Mon Nov 6
4:00-8:00 | Gallery open
5:00-6:00 | Artist talk
Tue Nov 7
12:00-4:00 | Gallery open
Wed Nov 8
12:00-4:00 | Gallery open
Thu Nov 9
5:00-9:00 | Gallery open
7:00-8:00 | Performance
Fri Nov 10
5:00-9:00 | Gallery open
7:00-8:00 | Performance
Sat Nov 11
12:00-4:00 | Gallery open
Please RSVP for artist talk
and performance events
(see below).
Opening Reception & Artist Talk
The Marigold & Lavender Project
Visual Art & Altar Exhibition
Mon Nov 6 | 4:00-8:00 | Nitery Theater
The visual artists and altar-makers will present on their artwork, sharing the development of their pieces and talking about the rituals and practices related to the dead that inspired their work.
Light refreshments served.
4:00-5:00 | Opening reception
5:00-6:00 | Artist talk
6:00-8:00 | Visual art & altar exhibition
Mourn the Dead
Fight Like Hell for the Living
Marigold & Lavender Project Performances
Thu Nov 9 - Fri Nov 10 | 7:00 | Nitery Theater
The Marigold & Lavender Project brings together the traditions – old and new – of Día de los Muertos and Transgender Day of Remembrance. These performances remember the dead as a way to reclaim, decolonize, and honor our cultural traditions and to demand the end of anti-trans* violence. Join our spoken word artists, musicians, storytellers, actors, and performance artists to imagine and create a just world.
5:00-9:00 | Visual art & altar exhibition
7:00-8:00 | Performance
PERFORMING ARTISTS
Áine Josephine Tyrrell
Director, Singer, Writer & Co-producer
Áine (she/her) is a singer, director, set designer, writer and scholar. Her current research is on ISIS terrorism in France and EU counter-terrorism policy as performance.
Elisa Marina Alvarado
Actress, Director & Community Organizer
Elisa (she/her) is a founding member and Artistic Director of Teatro Visión which celebrates over three decades of creating and performing theater of self-determination and hope. Elisa has taught theater for Teatro Visión, San José State University, and San Francisco State University and many community organizations. teatrovision.org
Emily Francis
Dancer, Choreographer, & Painter
Emily (she/her) is a scientist, choreographer, dancer, and painter. Her work addresses the union of chaos and organization, multiplicity, collective behavior, and outliers.
Jasmín Espinosa Jaimes
Writer / Storyteller
Jasmín (she/her) is a Chicana storyteller born and raised in the South who loves to share stories from her life and those that have touched her life in one way or another. Her favorite activities include daydreaming and complaining.
Kari Barclay
Performer
Kari Barclay (he/him & they/them) is a theater director, performer, and community organizer from Washington, DC and Durham, NC. He is currently community engagement intern for the SF Mime Troupe. His next work CAN I HOLD YOU is an original script about queerness and asexuality, premiering in February at Stanford. karibarclay.com
Karina Gutiérrez
Actor & Co-producer
Karina (she/her) is an actor, director, writer, and scholar interested in Latinx and Chicanx performance, history, and other cuentos.
Kevin Alexander Martinez
Spoken Word Artist / Performance Artist
Kevin (he/him) is an actor and storyteller from LA. His work examines the Latinx Diaspora and attempts to piece together a narrative of collective memory, trauma, and healing. He's queer, confused, and can't roll his r's but he's trying his best.
Roxa Meyer
Classical Pianist / Composer
Roxa (they/them & she/her) is a musician and composer who expresses through music whatever they cannot through words. When not at the piano, you can usually find them laboring over physics problems, fighting for environmental justice, or smashing the gender binary.
Thao P. Nguyen
Solo Performer, Writer, & Co-producer
Thao (they/them > she/her) is a solo performer, writer, and producer. They make art about whatever pisses them off — racism, sexual violence, white power, hetero/cis-sexism, and people who don't say "please" and "thank you." thaosolo.com
Victor Yañez-Lazcano
Visual Artist
Victor Yañez-Lazcano (he/him & they/them) is a second year MFA Art Practice candidate currently investigating, through different mediums, the various aspects that have contributed to the formation of his identity—specifically as it pertains to being a second generation Mexican-American raised in the rural midwest. yanez-lazcano.com
VISUAL ARTISTS
Bernardo Velez Rico
Visual Artist / Graphic Designer
Bernardo (he/him) is a Mexican-American mixed-media artist who seeks to humanize the Mexican immigrant experience by publicly staging narratives sourced from oral histories, first-hand experiences, and the unedited, intertwined history of the U.S. and Mexico. bernardovelez.com
Eda Benites & David Albán Hidalgo
Writer/Installation Artist & Writer/Poet
Eda (she/her & they/them) and David (he/him & they/them) are amigxs Andinxs. This is their first artistic collaboration in which they attempt to speak to legacies of pain and violence in the Andean region. Dedicamos nuestro proyecto especialmente para nuestras amigas del Mercado San Pedro, Cusco. Eda is a writer and installation artist, and David is a writer and poet.
Emily Francis
Painter, Dancer & Choreographer
Emily (she/her) is a scientist, choreographer, dancer, and painter. Her work addresses the union of chaos and organization, multiplicity, collective behavior, and outliers.
Finn Sonder
Inkwork & Tattoo Artist
Finn (they/them) enjoys surfing, whittling small boats, backpacking through deserts, serving up crepes at French House, and dressing up like a 14 year old boy who stole a whole lotta stuff from his grandpa's closet.
Jen Marrero Hope
Visual & Fiber Artist
Jen (they/them/frustrated gender groans) is a multimedia artist who draws, knits, sews, and laser cuts pretty things of questionable utility. They yell a lot about including marginalized folks in academic science and occasionally moonlight as a biochemist.
Sophia Xiao
Visual Artist
Sophia (she/her) is a visual artist and biology major who finds inspiration for her art in the people who surround her. She believes that true creativity lies in finding the fantastic in the ordinary, and she strives to do just that in her work. sophxiao.weebly.com
Stanford Women's Community Center
Artist Collaboration
The Women's Community Center exists to facilitate the success of students at Stanford by providing innovative opportunities for scholarship, leadership, and activism. wcc.stanford.edu
Talia Flores
Photographer & Videographer
Talia is a sophomore and an artist. On-campus, she is a fellow at Stanford’s Institute for Diversity in the Arts and a member of the Stanford Spoken Word Collective. Find her on Twitter @tal_ora.
THE MARIGOLD & LAVENDER PROJECT IS PRESENTED BY
Nitery Experimental Theater (NExT)
Nitery Experimental Theater (NExT), a project of the Stanford Theater and Performance Studies Department, aims to present bold and relevant performance meant to challenge, transform, and cultivate meaningful artistic expression. NExT is also committed to diverse communities, aesthetics, and politics that exist within the Stanford community. By building connections between student-artists and the Department of Theater and Performance Studies (TAPS), NExT intends to foster performance as an integral forum for community conversation. Performance at NExT may be raw, political, provocative, or even playful. NExT is not a new home for performance; NExT uses performance to make Stanford a new kind of home.
JUST ART: Stanford Artist/Activist Collective
JUST ART is a collective of artists, activists, artist-activists, and/or artivists. The collective's goal is to end oppression and to enact social justice by creating art and engaging in political action. We approach our work from an intersectional lens and center the stories of those who experience multiple vectors of oppression — racism, misogyny, hetero/cis-sexism, ableism, classism, xenophobia, religious oppression, etc. In April 2017, JUST ART produced 20 Minutes of Action a show created by Stanford artists of color in response to Brock Turner's "20 minutes of action," Donald Trump's "locker room talk," and the misappropriation of the term "rape culture."