/Music
Rave into the Future: Art in Motion
Oct 24, 2025 - Jan 12, 2026
Reduced Admission through September 1. Portions of our collection galleries are temporarily closed.
415-379-8800
Event WebsiteAbout
Rave into the Future offers a space of joyful connection and community through a blend of music- and dance-inspired video, sculpture, photography, and room-sized immersive installations by women and queer artists from the West Asian diaspora.
In recent years, Asian artists, DJs, and communities have been at the heart of a resurgence of electronic music-based dance parties across the globe. Meanwhile, music from West Asia has experienced a surge in worldwide popularity, connecting new audiences with the ongoing dialogue between tradition and innovation in the region’s diverse musical genres. Rave into the Future fills the Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang Pavilion with empowering energy and inspiring sounds; in addition to performances and DJ events, this group exhibition includes an in-gallery dancefloor where all are welcome.
SF/Arts Curator Insight
To pose the question in curator Naz Cuguoğlu’s words, what can we “learn from the autonomy, healing, and bliss that unfolds on the dance floor?” Rave into the Future is bringing long overdue recognition to West Asian artists in the diaspora, with an eye to not just global contemporary art and electronic music, but artists who paved the way: San Francisco’s Maryam Yousif exhibits a piece in homage to Assyrian singer Juliana Jendo, while Oakland’s Sahar Khoury will honor the legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum in a collaboration with electronic producers Lara Sarkissian and Esra Canoğulları (8ULENTINA). A somatic subwoofer experience by the talented “Gulf Futurist” Fatima al Qadiri also stands out.
Juhi Gupta
Contributing Writer
