Ryoji Ikeda: Premiere in San Francisco

January 9 - 21, 2018

WARNING : A very small percentage of people may experience a seizure when exposed to certain visual images, including flashing lights or patterns. If you or any of your relatives have a history of seizures or epilepsy, consult a doctor before watching. Footage from Ryoji Ikeda's mind-blowing video installation at the Park Avenue Armory.

Paris based Ryoji Ikeda will be starting San Francisco's Artistic year with the presentation of a diptych project at Gray Area and Minnesota Street Project. The project is presented by Ars Citizen who also curated last year's Sophie Calle's exhibition in San Francisco. Ryoji Ikeda (b. 1966 in Gifu, Japan) is one of the most renowned artists working at the intersection of art and sciences. Over the last twenty years, he has developed a body of work that includes large-scale audiovisual performances and installations, presented either in night clubs or in art institutions like museums.

‘supercodex [live set]’, audio-visual concert, Gray Area, January 9, 7pm Ars Citizen partnered with Gray Area to present the San Francisco premiere of ‘supercodex [live set]’, Ikeda’s celebrated most recent audio-visual concert. supercodex [live set] takes its title from Ikeda’s eponymous 2013 album, the final instalment in his pioneering ‘datamatics’ trilogy focusing on quantum information. ‘supercodex [live set]’ is described as the result of a complex research exploring the potential to perceive the invisible multi–substance of data that permeates our world, and more importantly, the nuances existing between “data of sound” and “sound of data”. Using raw data and physical laws to generate music and digital imagery projections, the stage show becomes an immersive experience expanding through mesmerizing layers of beats and pulsations to include all the audience. Tickets: $40 – $50 (on sale here)

‘A [4ch version]’, site-specific exhibition, Ars Citizen temporary space, Minnesota Street Project Gallery 200 (2nd fl.), January 9–21 The sound-installation A with its site-related versions may be perceived as Ikeda’s most radical work. It returns to his roots as a composer while charting new territories in sound creation and definition. The title A stands for the concert pitch also called “La”. “A” lies at the origin of music. It is the origin of all sonic creations, and by extension, of the cosmos and of elements. Before “A=440Hz” was defined as the standard concert pitch, there were many different historical standards that still vary depending on orchestras or countries. Specifically adapted to Gallery 200 of Minnesota Street Project, A [4ch version] will transform the space into a sensitive environment filled with invisible patterns of complex sound fabrics formed through the historical concert pitch A. It will lead the visitors into a physical and mental space where they can, in the artist’s words, “walk through and move around the invisible sound ocean of the history of standardizing of music.”

Call for application for writer's residency: "A Room With A View" Now - February 4th

Now - February 4th

After welcoming Martin Winckler and Dominique Fabre in 2017, FACS, in partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the Consulate General of France in San Francisco, and the Institut Français are continuing their writer’s residency program to help bring french writers to San Francisco. During their stay, our guest will be invited to spend 5 weeks at the Consul's residency and to partake in activities led by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the US (seminars, public readings and gatherings, writing workshops).

To learn more and apply, please visit the call for application page.

The call for application for the spring 2018 season is open now until February 4th. A second call for applications for the autumn season (end of October till mid-November 2018) will be published in March 2018.

Special Event at the Napa Valley Fim Festival: "Back to Burgundy"

November 8 - 12, 2017

The Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) lights up the valley during the most colorful time of year. NVFF features over 120 new independent films, studio sneak previews, and filmmaker Q&A’s in gorgeous winery venues and theaters across the valley. A special event co-organized with the French American Cultural Society will present the screening of "Back to Burgundy", by Cédric Klapisch.

37th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

July 20, 2017 - August 6, 2017

The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF), presented by the Jewish Film Institute, is the largest and longest-running festival of its kind and a leader in the curation and presentation of new film and media exploring the complexities of Jewish life around the world. French films are part of the line-up this year!