Past Event Series
Current Event Series-
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Talks & Conversations 2025
OngoingArtists, curators, scholars, and others share their insights on BAMPFA exhibitions, the arts, and other cultural topics.
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Readings 2025
OngoingMeet the authors of new books and hear poets and other literary lights read their work.
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Family Events 2025
OngoingSecond Saturdays: Hands-on activities and participatory readings designed for kids and their families.
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Exhibition Tours 2025
OngoingGet a deeper look at the artworks on view by joining an expert-led tour.
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Black Life 2025
OngoingExperience the vitality and range of cultural production in the African diaspora through this multidisciplinary event series.
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Imagining Beyond Authoritarianism: Race and Gender in Our Times
February 10, 2024Join us for a daylong exploration of the theme “Imagining Beyond Authoritarianism: Race and Gender in Our Times,” co-hosted by BAMPFA, UC Berkeley’s Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry, and the International Consortium of Critical Theory Programs.
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Talks & Conversations 2024
OngoingArtists, curators, scholars, and others share their insights on BAMPFA exhibitions, the arts, and other cultural topics.
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Readings 2024
OngoingMeet the authors of new books and hear poets and other literary lights read their work.
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Family Events 2024
OngoingSecond Saturdays: Hands-on activities and participatory readings designed for kids and their families.
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Exhibition Tours 2024
OngoingGet a deeper look at the artworks on view by joining an expert-led tour.
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Black Life 2024
OngoingExperience the vitality and range of cultural production in the African diaspora through this multidisciplinary event series.
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Black Studies Open University
Abolition Democracy Fellows Spring 2023 Speaker Series
February 1–April 19, 2023The Black Studies Collaboratory is a collaborative initiative to address racial inequality through bold and unique humanities-based research projects, housed in the Department of African American Studies and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The project asks, What is the role of Black studies in building more just futures? What lessons from Black feminist, Black radical, and Black intellectual traditions can we apply to this moment in history? And how do we solidify our commitment to Black studies as a public good?
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Video Art in Context
Arts + Design Thursdays
January 19—April 19, 2023How have artists made use of the screen? What are the opportunities and hazards of using the screen as a vehicle for connection? A stunning roster of artists, curators, designers, and critics consider these questions and more.
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Talks & Conversations 2023
OngoingArtists, curators, scholars, and others share their insights on BAMPFA exhibitions, the arts, and other cultural topics.
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Readings
OngoingMeet the authors of new books and hear poets and other literary lights read their work.
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Full
Monthly Performance Series
2016-2023Explore the BAMPFA galleries and discover exciting performances in our dramatic space on the night of each full moon.
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Five Tables
First Thursdays of each monthFive Tables is a monthly event coinciding with First Free Thursdays organized by the BAMPFA staff, and periodically by the Student Committee. Drop by the Florence Helzel Works on Paper Study Center for a curated behind-the-scenes experience.
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Exhibition Tours 2023
OngoingGet a deeper look at the artworks on view by joining an expert-led tour.
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Black Life 2023
OngoingExperience the vitality and range of cultural production in the African diaspora through this multidisciplinary event series.
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The Black Poet’s Imagination
September 25–November 13, 2022This reading series brings together a deeply talented group of Black poets and highly skilled performers to address themes of revolution, wounding, and intergenerational healing through powerful words.
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Arts + Design Thursdays
Thinking Through Art and Design: Creativity & Practice
September 1–December 1, 2022BAMPFA partners with Berkeley Arts + Design to offer this lecture series about creativity and practice as a vital resource in times of change. Join us every Thursday afternoon to hear cutting-edge thinkers and makers share about their creative practice.
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Arts + Design Fridays
Landscapes of Migration, Incarceration, and Resistance
September 2–December 2, 2022Join us for a lively series of talks by artists, performers, scholars, and activists exploring themes of global and US migration, exclusion, and belonging. We use the historic Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay as jumping-off point for this exploration.
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Arts + Design Fridays @ BAMPFA
Perseverance, Renewal, and Reflection in a Changing World
February 4–April 29, 2022Join us every Friday afternoon to explore cutting-edge thinking and making on topics of current interest to UC Berkeley’s creative faculty.
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Readings 2022
OngoingMeet the authors of new books and hear poets and other literary lights read their work.
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Full 2022
Monthly Performance Series
OngoingExplore the BAMPFA galleries and discover exciting performances in our dramatic space on the night of each full moon.
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Five Tables 2022
First Thursdays of each monthFive Tables is a monthly event coinciding with First Free Thursdays organized by the BAMPFA staff, and periodically by the Student Committee. Drop by the Florence Helzel Works on Paper Study Center for a curated behind-the-scenes experience.
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Family Events 2022-2023
OngoingSecond Saturdays: Hands-on activities and participatory readings designed for kids and their families.
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Arts + Design Mondays @ BAMPFA
Perseverance, Renewal, and Reflection in a Changing World
September 13–November 15, 2021Pre-register for the events using the zoom registration link in the event pages below. For more information and updates, visit artsdesign.berkeley.edu.
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Arts + Design Thursdays @ BAMPFA
Creativity and Practice
September 2–December 2, 2021All events will be live captioned. If you require captioning to access a prerecorded event on our site, please contact Paris Cotz at pariscotz@berkeley.edu. Please allow seven to ten days for captioning to be provided.
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Thingamajigs Virtual Residency
July 8–31, 2021Genre-crossing music and arts organization Thingamajigs returns to BAMPFA for a monthlong residency of virtual performances and conversations.
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Arts + Design Thursdays
Time-based Media Art
January 28–April 29, 2021Join a changing lineup of media artists, curators, and thinkers as they explore the history and future of time-based media art.
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Arts + Design Mondays
February 1–April 26, 2021Join a changing lineup of artists, scholars, and experts as they share perspectives on timely topics.
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Readings 2021
OngoingMeet the authors of new books and hear poets and other literary lights read their work.
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Full 2021
Monthly Performance Series
OngoingExplore the BAMPFA galleries and discover exciting performances in our dramatic space on the night of each full moon.
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Arts + Design Mondays @ BAMPFA
Together: Reinventing Politics, Reimagining Health
September 14–November 30, 2020This public lectures series is organized by the UC Berkeley Arts + Design Initiative and cocurated by departments across campus. This year’s theme focuses on the aesthetics and politics of being “together,” online and offline—in educational contexts, civic contexts, and our personal lives.
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Arts + Design Thursdays 2020
Visual Cultures: Aesthetics of the Digital
September 3–December 3, 2020This webinar series focuses on the creation, delivery, and interpretation of visual experiences, defined by physical, physiological, and social conditions, which together form visual cultures. Presenters reflect a diverse range of cultural and creative backgrounds.
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Views and Voices
Personal Perspectives on the Collection
OngoingThis new audio series is designed to bring you closer to individual people behind BAMPFA and individual works from our art and film collections.
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From Collective Isolation
Poetry in Response to the Pandemic
OngoingWe’re presenting some of our favorite poets from the last few years of the series online, reading recent work that speaks to our current moment of isolation.
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Arts + Design Thursdays @ BAMPFA: Public Art and Belonging
January 23–April 23, 2020This noon lecture series explores relationships between art and belonging, with a focus on race.
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Five Tables 2020–21
Five Tables is a monthly event coinciding with First Free Thursdays organized by the BAMPFA staff, and periodically by the Student Committee. Drop by the Florence Helzel Works on Paper Study Center for a curated behind-the-scenes experience.
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Talks & Conversations 2022
OngoingArtists, curators, scholars, and others share their insights on BAMPFA exhibitions, the arts, and other cultural topics.
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Talks & Conversations 2021
OngoingArtists, curators, scholars, and others share their insights on BAMPFA exhibitions, the arts, and other cultural topics.
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Readings 2020
OngoingMeet the authors of new books and hear poets and other literary lights read their work.
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Readings
OngoingMeet the authors of new books and hear poets and other literary lights read their work.
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Readings
OngoingPoetry readings, book signings, and other literary events celebrate the written and spoken word.
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Online Events
OngoingStay connected with livestreaming and recorded events, from conversations with artists to dance performances and more.
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Gallery Talks, Lectures & Discussions 2020
OngoingArtists, curators, scholars, and others share their insights on BAMPFA exhibitions, the arts, and other cultural topics.
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Full 2020
OngoingExplore the BAMPFA galleries and discover exciting performances in our dramatic space on the night of each full moon.
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Film to Table Dinners at Babette 2020
OngoingDelectable dinners following screenings of the films that inspired them
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Family Events 2020
OngoingHands-on activities, participatory readings, performances, movie matinees, and more events designed for kids and their families.
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Family Events
OngoingSecond Saturdays: Hands-on activities and participatory readings designed for kids and their families.
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Duets in Social Distance
OngoingVideos by five cohabitating couples, who are also musical collaborators, created during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Black Life 2022
OngoingExperience the vitality and range of cultural production in the African diaspora through this multidisciplinary event series.
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Arts + Design Mondays @ BAMPFA: Equity and Democracy
September 9, 2019–April 13, 2020Join Berkeley Arts + Design and dozens of UC Berkeley campus organizations every Monday as we explore the connections among creative practice, social movements, and the strategic research of our public university.
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Arts + Design Thursdays @ BAMPFA: Responsible Design from Bits to Buildings
August 29–November 21, 2019This lecture series examines the role of the designer in articulating new methods connecting the conceptual knowledge for asking why with technical skills for asking how.
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March Member Appreciation Month 2019
March 1–31, 2019A full month of members-only events and discounts celebrating you, BAMPFA members!
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Arts + Design Thursdays @ BAMPFA
Creativity, Migration, Transformation
January 24–April 25, 2019Presenters from a diverse range of cultural and creative backgrounds explore the specific and metaphoric connections between creative action and the possibility of personal, cultural, and social transformation.
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Five Tables 2019
OngoingDrop by our art study centers on Free First Thursdays for an up-close look at treasures from the BAMPFA collection.
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Workshops 2019
OngoingFrom hands-on art making to storytelling and performance, our workshops will inspire your creativity, engage your senses, and expand your ideas.
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Readings 2019
OngoingMeet the authors of new books and hear poets and other literary lights read their work.
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Gallery Talks, Lectures & Discussions 2019
OngoingArtists, curators, scholars, and others share their insights on BAMPFA exhibitions, the arts, and other cultural topics.
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Full 2019
OngoingExplore the BAMPFA galleries and discover exciting performances in our dramatic space on the night of each full moon.
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Film to Table Dinners at Babette 2019
OngoingDelectable dinners following screenings of the films that inspired them
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Family Events 2019
OngoingHands-on activities, participatory readings, performances, movie matinees, and more events designed for kids and their families.
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Black Life 2019
OngoingExperience the vitality and range of cultural production in the African diaspora through this exciting, multidisciplinary event series.
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Arts + Design Mondays @ BAMPFA: Fact and Fiction
September 10, 2018–April 29, 2019Distinguished speakers bring new approaches to age-old questions: How do we distinguish fact from fiction, the real from the artificial, truth from lies?
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Arts + Design Thursdays @ BAMPFA Fall 2018
Creativity, Migration, Transformation
August 30–November 15, 2018This lecture series explores connections among creative works, the experiences of migration, and the possibilities of personal and social transformation.
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Gallery Talks, Lectures & Discussions 2018
OngoingArtists, curators, scholars, and others share their insights on BAMPFA exhibitions, the arts, and other cultural topics.
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Family Events 2018
OngoingHands-on activities, participatory readings, performances, movie matinees, and more events designed for kids and their families.
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Full 2018
OngoingExplore the BAMPFA galleries and discover exciting performances in our dramatic space on the night of each full moon.
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Workshops 2018
OngoingFrom hands-on art making to dance and meditation, our workshops will inspire your creativity, engage your senses, and expand your ideas.
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Film to Table Dinners at Babette 2018
OngoingDelectable dinners following screenings of the films that inspired them.
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Black Life 2018
OngoingExperience the vitality and range of cultural production in the African diaspora through this exciting, multidisciplinary event series.
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Arts + Design Mondays @ BAMPFA—2017–18
Public (Re)Assembly
September 11, 2017–April 30, 2018This lecture series asks: What is the role of public assembly in our current moment?
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Arts + Design Wednesdays @ BAMPFA 2017
Curation Across Disciplines
August 30–November 29, 2017In this lecture series, some of the most innovative and incisive writers, artists, and scholars of our time consider what it means to curate today.
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Black Life 2017
OngoingExperience the vitality and range of cultural production in the African diaspora through this exciting, multidisciplinary event series.
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Hippie Modernism Forums
February 11 – May 13, 2017This series of four Saturday afternoon forums brings together artists, scholars, and counterculture veterans to explore the contemporary relevance of the Bay Area hippie legacy.
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Five Tables 2018
OngoingDrop by our art study centers on Free First Thursdays for an up-close look at treasures from the BAMPFA collections.
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Readings 2017
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Gallery Talks, Lectures & Discussions 2017
January 20–December 9, 2017 -
Full 2017 Music & Performance
Full Moon Performances
Once a month, our galleries come alive with experimental music and other impromptu happenings.
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Film to Table Dinners at Babette 2017
OngoingDelectable dinners following screenings of the films that inspired them.
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Family Events 2017
OngoingHands-on activities, participatory readings, performances, movie matinees and other events for children and their families.
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Family Events 2016
OngoingTours, hands-on activities, participatory readings, performances, and other events for children and their families.
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Gallery Talks & Lectures
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Architecture of Plant Life: Four Garden Tours
February 11–April 17, 2016Tours of the UC Botanical Garden, home to 11,000 different plants, offer a close look at nature’s perfectly built architectural gems.
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Perspectives on the Architecture of Life
Lunchtime Talks
Selected Fridays, February 5–April 29, 2016UC Berkeley professors from across campus offer immersive reads of works on view in Architecture of Life.
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Family Fare
Second Saturday of Each MonthFamily Fare connects art viewing with art making in ways that engage both young people and their grown-ups.
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Grand Opening Week
The New BAMPFA
January 2016Four days of festivities to celebrate the opening of the new BAMPFA in downtown Berkeley.
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Big Ideas
Architectures of Life Across UC Berkeley
January 27–April 20, 2016In this UC Berkeley lecture course open to the public on selected Wednesdays, professors from different disciplines explore themes of BAMPFA's Architecture of Life exhibition.
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Readings 2016
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Full 2016
On the Night of Each Full MoonOnce a month, our galleries come alive with experimental music and other impromptu happenings.