What is Redlining?
Definition: systematic practice of denying people (usually low income/poc) financial and other services based on where they lived
Do you live in a formerly redlined neighborhood and would like to be considered for future expansions of our project?
Please fill out our call for proposals! We are in looks for more artists.
What is East Bay: Redline Redefined about?
In the 1930s, the federal government carved The East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley and surrounding towns) into a series of puzzle pieces--imaginary lines were drawn down streets, dividing neighborhoods, families, and entire populations of Oakland residents. This practice, known as “redlining,” discouraged investments in certain neighborhoods, making it exceedingly difficult for much of The East Bay’s low-income and people of color to receive basic necessities. The boundaries of these redlined districts show a striking social chasm -- in which one’s ability to receive healthcare, schooling, or even access to basic necessities could be determined by the street you lived on. Nearly a century later, the exact same puzzle pieces spell out a story of a new East Bay: one in which renewed demand for city center properties has led to the continued exclusion of victims of the redlining era. East Bay: Redline Redefined will explore the balance between the past and present -- presented as a series of audio narratives, film, poetry, and more composed as neighborhood-specific walks, audience members will traverse history though the words, music, and field recordings of local residents, tying the legacy of redlining to the challenges faced by modern day East Bay residents.
East Bay: Redline Redefined is the first in the Redline Redefined series. This project will start in the East Bay and make its way to other formerly redlined cities in the Bay Area. East Bay: Redline Redefined is an audio and visual piece designed to be physically experienced walking through Oakland and Berkeley’s Historical streets. Via either mobile web or a pre-downloaded file, participants will hear the world with a brand new set of ears. Audience members will walk the map drawn by city planners in the 1930s, stopping at corners to listen to stories, music, poetry, and vivid sound design, all created by an experienced and diverse roster of professional East Bay artists. Each movement of the piece takes its audience to a different neighborhood, highlighting a variety of voices, family structures, and different aspects of redlining’s significant presence. For those who cannot physically attend a performance, a fully-functional virtual walking tour will be accessible online, as well as additional resources, transcripts, and translations.
East Bay: Redline Redefined encourages its audience to take a second look at who is included and excluded from conversations about development in modern-day East Bay. We believe that the most effective way for audiences to understand who benefits and loses from urban restructuring is by listening to neighborhoods through new ears. This is neither a symphony nor history tour--it’s a unique artwork that will prompt its audience to consider the foundation on which the East Bay cities are built.
Artists confirmed so far:
Sudhu Tewari will interview people in his neighborhood and use their voice to create the building blocks of his electroacoustic work.
Theresa Wong’s short film, Flatlands, portrays the landscape of West Berkeley and the hidden history of Asian discrimination from both the 1800s as well as the redlining policy of the 1930s.
Katy Luo’s video project, The Drive-by, is a remembrance of her Taiwanese immigrant family life in 1985. Using spoken poetry, recorded conversations, pictures, and manipulated sounds, Katy hopes to share a glimpse of a Taiwanese family navigating life in all the in-between spaces of inclusion/exclusion, past/future, and yellow zone/red zone.
Ayodele Nzinga, MFA, PhD will be composing stories of movement both physical and political of Black bodies from the south to West Oakland, California.
If this project is about the redefining of redlining, then it answers by offering a narrative shaped by redlining that is redefined by ‘memory of movement.’ This ‘memory of movement’ is imbued with the power to self-center, self-articulate, self-determine value and worth, and to intentionally uplift and build on a continuum of self.
Suki O’Kane’s piece will delve into the history of her neighborhood through a five-point geo-located sonic tour and a community bike ride complete with site histories, deep listening, and plant foraging.
Gabby Wen will be creating site-specific audio collages made solely from local field recordings and will lead a short, intentional walk from the Golden Gate Branch Library to Temescal Creek Park to listen closely to the sounds of the neighborhood.
Maxi Himpe and Hallie Smith’s sound-walk includes interviews with members of the community about the work they do in Oakland. Enjoy the sounds and voices of your neighbors, the people who pass and serve you often, and listen to the knowledge that they have to impart.
Interactive map is now live!
Proud to have Commons Archive, Golden Gate Branch Library, and City of Oakland Park and Recreation Department as our partners for this project.
This project was made possible thanks to the generous support of California Arts Council, The Bill Graham Foundation and The Puffin Foundation.