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Heal Hear Here

  • LA State Historic Park 1245 North Spring Street Los Angeles, CA, 90012 United States (map)

Saturday May 20, 2023 3PM–7PM
LA State Historic Park:
1245 N. Spring St., Los Angeles CA 90012

A reparative afternoon of collective care in nature to help provide our communities with healing art practices to begin to recover from years of isolation, fatigue, injustice, and hardship. 30 artist groups selected by 30 organizations featuring music, processions, movement, sound, and workshops. Park located near metro, buses, bike routes, and parking, ADA compliant.

With great respect, Freewaves and Heal Hear Here acknowledge the Yaavitam, the first people of this ancestral and unceded territory of Yaanga that we now know as the Los Angeles State Historic Park and downtown Los Angeles; honors their elders, past and present, and the Yaavitam descendants who are part of the Tongva/Gabrielino/Gabrieleño and Fernandeño Tataviam Nations. We recognize that the Tongva are still here and we are committed to lifting up their stories, culture, and community. As settlers and guests (Kuuyam), we recognize our responsibility and obligation to care for and live in reciprocity with their land.

For Water, a two part piece that will open and close Heal Hear Here, is a sonic acknowledgement of land and water that puts words into action. As many of us are, voice artist Sharon Chohi Kim is a guest on this land. Through vocal improvisation, she will make an offering in the spirit of water, which will be acknowledged and received by Culture Bearers Tina Orduno Calderon (Gabrielino Tongva, Chumash, Yoeme) and Lazaro Arvizu Jr. (Gabrielino/Tongva). This act of reciprocity is an attempt to model a greeting rooted in interculturality, acknowledgement, honor and regard of water as kin.

The closing ceremony, performed by Sharon Chohi Kim, is an invitation to act on the statement “As settlers and guests (Kuuyam), we recognize our responsibility and obligation to care for and live in reciprocity with their land.”

For Water is part of Procession, a civic activation tracing the memory of the city through the Los Angeles River (Paayme Paxaayt). Procession is Directed by Joel Garcia and Debra Scacco, and will take place at Los Angeles State Historic Park on October 21, 2023.

More info: http://freewaves.org

Earlier Event: May 18
Zine Collages of the “Future”
Later Event: May 21
Tlalli Ceramics Studio Launch