• Portrait of artist Raven Chacon wearing a black tee shirt with white graphic, standing in an arid field with the sun low on the horizon.

    Raven Chacon. Photo: Adam Conte

  • Alcatraz Island hospital wing of prison cellhouse. Photo: National Park Service

Raven Chacon: Live from Alcatraz

Co-presented by Art in the Parks and Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy

As part of Undoing Time: Art and Histories of Incarceration, composer Raven Chacon debuts a new sound-work on Alcatraz. The work is a sonic meditation on the histories of the island and its occupation for nineteen months beginning in November 1969 by the group Indians of All Tribes, as a protest regarding civil rights abuses at that time. The sound piece draws upon many sources, including archival sound footage of Radio Free Alcatraz, which broadcast news of the occupation from the island every weeknight for most of the first year of the protest. Choosing the former hospital wing as the site of the performance, Chacon is interested in excavating the layered violent histories on the island while in a space formerly dedicated to healing and repair.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Raven Chacon: Live from Alcatraz