ART SHOW The La Peña Cultural Center is holding an event this Sunday to celebrate the upcoming unveiling of its renovated Song of Unity mural. A Q&A about public art projects will be hosted by Ray Patlan, an accomplished muralist with work featured around the world, and will show work by artists Christian Muñoz,Maria Guzman, and Gonzalo Hidalgo. Attendees will also have a chance to see the 32-color silkscreen reproduction of the original “Song of Unity” mural, which is available for purchase. This is a family event, with arts and crafts stations and a variety of traditional Chilean cuisine. The event is free (donations accepted) and takes place on Sunday, Sept. 15, from 11am-2pm at at La Peña Cultural Center at 3105 Shattuck Ave.
THEATER On Friday, the new Oakland-based group Ubuntu Theater Company is kicking off its summer festival “Breaking Chains” with a tragic desert love story “Fool For Love,” produced at the Tilden Park merry-Go-Round. The festival, which runs from September 11-21, will put on plays in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco and Sacramento by renowned playwrights Dael Orlandersmith, LeRoi Jones, Daniel Maclvor and Sam Shepard. “Fool For Love” is Friday, Sept. 13, at 7:30pm. Tickets are $15-25 on a sliding scale.
EXHIBITION The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life invites the public to explore its newest exhibition, “Global India: Kerala, Israel, Berkeley.” The event features over 100 items on display, including some that have never been catalogued in the collection, detailing the history of the ancient Jewish diaspora community in Kerala, India. Visitors can examine ritual objects, ancient manuscripts written in several languages, textiles, and the 17th century Torah Ark from the venerable Tekkumbhagam synagogue in Kochi. The free exhibition runs from Tuesday, Sept. 10 to Friday Dec. 13, at 2121 Allston Way. The museum is open Tuesdays through Fridays.
OPEN MIC The Berkeley Fellowship is back with their monthly open mic night this Friday. The show will feature Bay Area musician Nate Moon and this month’s host, Holly Harwood, a peace activist with Code Pink, a poet, and a professional clown. It’s first come first choice for 10-minute slots for the evening, sign-up starting at 6:30pm. Show starts at 7pm, Sept. 13, at 1924 Cedar St. Suggested donations of $5-10 for the BFUU, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
COMMUNITY CINEMA Come see the classic Jean Renoir film Boudu Saved From Drowning this Sunday at The Tannery. Film critic Pauline Kael called it, “not only a lovely fable about a bourgeois attempt to reform an early hippy… but a photographic record of an earlier France.” The free event (donations are accepted) begins at 7pm, Sept. 15, at 708 Gilman St. There is free parking and all ages are welcome.
Check out Berkeleyside’s event calendar for many more happenings, and make sure to post your own community event there.
The hottest ticket this fall in Berkeley: Uncharted: The Berkeley Festival of Ideas. Uncharted is two days of provocative thinking, inspiring speakers, workshops, and a big party — all in downtown Berkeley in October. Register on the Uncharted website.
-By Eli Wolfe
