Calendar

Over 400 years old, the Hamamatsu Festival is a celebration held each year in the town of Hamamatsu, Japan, from May 3 to May 5. Local towns which participate in the kite battles and float parades of the festival create cotton banners, called tenugui, with unique designs and colors that act as logos to help spectators identify the different groups competing. The library will be presenting over 100 of these tenugui cloths, along with the history of one of Japan’s most prominent events.

During the 1960s and 1970s San Francisco photographer Phiz Mezey photographed some of the significant events in the City's history.  This exhibit takes the viewer on a tour of San Francisco during this time. Highlights include the redevelopment of Western Addition, the San Francisco State Strike, personalities such as Martin Luther King Jr., Jimi Hendrix, James Baldwin and others.

Related programs:
Sunday March 3: Meet the artist Phiz Mezey, Main Library, Latino Hispanic Community Room, 1:00;
Thursday April 11 The Fillmore, Film and Discussion, Main Library, Koret, 5:30.

The Library's annual wit & humor exhibition examines the subject of work. Most of our lives are taken up with searching for and keeping a job; how about finding a job that we love? This exhibition draws on the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit & Humor to find the the lighter side of employment: a completely silly guide to working life. 

RELATED EXHIBITION & DISPLAY

April 1-May 31: S.S. Adams, the Edison of Practical Jokes.           Exhibition, Government Information Center, 5th Floor

April 1-May 31: Works for Me: Diligence and Drudgery, With Some Distractions. A book cover display, General Collections & Humanities, 3rd Floor

RELATED PROGRAMS

April 3: Elect to Laugh: An Evening with Political Satirist Will Durst.      Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 6:30pm

May 28: Josh Kornbluth presents Haiku Tunnel. Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 6:00pm

Thursdays at Noon (Large Screen Videos)
On the Clock: Films About Jobs and Working Life. Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 12 noon

April 4: High Fidelity
April 11: Trading Places
April 18: Up in the Air
April 25: The Associate

All films are shown with captions when possible to assist our deaf and hard of hearing. All program at the Library are free.

Images: Harold Lloyd, Master Comedian by Jeffrey Vance and Suzanne Lloyd (2002); all others courtesy San Francisco History Center, SFPL.

Andy Diaz Hope and Laurel Roth are San Francisco artists who often collaborate in addition to their solo careers. Their most recent work together is a triptych of tapestries inspired by the Unicorn Tapestries and structured on the three fundamental conflicts in literature - Human vs Nature, Human vs Him/Herself, and Human vs Human. The first tapestry, Allegory of the Monoceros, illustrates the end of Darwinian natural selection and the growth of human-centric evolution. The second, Allegory of the Infinite Mortal, portrays a garden for contemplation of the scientific and philosophical structures humans have used throughout history to explore the concepts of infinity and immortality and our place therein. The third tapestry was created during their fellowship at the de Young Museum and explores how cooperation and conflict have shaped human evolution. Each tapestry began with extensive research at the San Francisco Public Library.