Night of Ideas - Marathon Festival of Arts & Ideas: Free Admission


Saturday, February 1, 2020 - 7:00 pm to 2:00 am

San Francisco Main Public Library
100 Larkin St,
San Francisco, CA


The San Francisco Public Library, SFMOMA, and the French Consulate in San Francisco unite to present a seven-hour marathon of debate, performance, readings, and music featuring top thinkers from San Francisco and beyond as we envision the city of the future.

Schedule By Floor / Topic

Chaos + Creation [Lower Level] – How do we cope with disorder and disruption to fashion new ways to think and be?

Special 2-hour broadcast of KQED’s Forum hosted by Mina Kim and a keynote by science fiction artist, filmmaker, inventor and body architect Lucy McRae.
Live performance by pioneering San Francisco-based, Afro-Jazz, urban funk band Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids.

Wonder + Worry [Floor 2] – What anxieties about the future weigh on us the most and what fascinations will transform the way we live?

Speakers include Isha Clark, youth climate activist, author and naturalist Obi Kaufmann, and renowned performance artist and founder of the MEDEA Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women and Mayor’s Art Award recipient Rhodessa Jones.

Exclusion + Belonging [Floor 3] – How do we find belonging and identity while making space for differences of lived experience?

Speakers include Reverend Deborah Lee of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity and Dominique Nora, editor-in-chief of the French magazine, L’Obs.

Performance by Black Benatar’s Black Magic Cabaret featuring local Trans artists of color.

Truth + Doubt [Floor 4] – With consensus about history and facts increasingly fractured, what narratives should we affirm?

Speakers include Pulitzer Prize-winning historian T.J. Stiles and conspiracy theory-scholar Kathryn Olmstead and panels on Fake News curated by French Tech San Francisco.

Circulation + Borders [Floor 5] – How do we transcend limits on movement for a healthy economy and a just society?

Speakers include Barbara Belvisi of Intersellar Lab and artist Caleb Duarte and readings and talks by American poets and writers, including Dave Eggers, curated by the French magazine America and its French editor-in-chief, Julien Bisson.

Friends Lounge [Floor 6] – Mix and mingle, drink and dance with the Friends of the SFPL.

Schedule By Time

6:30-7 PM
ON FULTON STREET (btwn Larkin and Hyde). Dance performance by Destiny Arts and opening remarks

8 PM
KORET AUDITORIUM – Live KQED Forum with Mina Kim
2ND FLOOR – Youth Open Mic on 2020 election issues with KQED Youth Advisors
THROUGHOUT BUILDING – Performances by Circus Bella, New Voices Chorus and Duniya Drum and Dance

9 PM
2nd FLOOR – Keynotes by Rhodessa Jones, award-winning performance artist and internationally renowned artist Lucy McRae
5th FLOOR – Performance by Bay Area Theater Cypher

10 PM
1st FLOOR – Performance by Ox + Vivvy featuring 10 Liza Minnelli drag queens
2nd FLOOR – Interactive performance with Wild Child Movement Collective
3rd FLOOR – Drag performances by Black Benatar
5th FLOOR – Panel featuring award-winning authors Dave Eggers, Ingrid Rojas Contreras and Kate Schatz

11 PM
THROUGHOUT BUILDING – Circus performances by the Vau de Vire Society and music by Chulita Vinyl Club

Midnight – 2 AM
KORET AUDITORIUM – Drag Bingo + Free Giveaways produced by Vivvy + Stud Collective
1st, 5th, 6th FLOORS – Dancing and DJs, including DJ D Sharp, the official DJ of the Golden State Warriors

Cost: Free