Seeds and a dish with chicken and berries on a decorative table

Paige Emery: The Banana Leaf is a Container Technology, 2024, produced by Active Cultures and The Brick at Arlington Garden Pasadena. Photo by Jessica Howes.

Active Cultures is a public arts nonprofit in Los Angeles that explores the intersection of art, food, and ecologies through artist-led projects and programs.

Upcoming Projects

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ECOTONES

A program series with Life on Earth

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colectivo amasijo: a circular offering

a circular procession and communal meal

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Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez: Fungal Teachings

A Mycelial Residency

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FEATURED PROJECT

Masala y Maiz: a Conversation and Gathering

At LagoAlgo during Mexico City Art Week, we gathered with chefs and organizers Saqib Keval and Norma Listman of Masala y Maiz, in conversation with curator Paola Santos Coy, to explore the deep intersections of migration, colonization, and culinary traditions—and how their work actively challenges white supremacy, extractive food systems, and labor inequities.

We are hiring for a Getty Marrow Curatorial Intern

We are hiring for a Getty Marrow Curatorial Intern to support our artistic program in 2025! ⁠Full job description and link to apply in our bio.

⁠The Getty Marrow Curatorial Internship is a ten-week, full time position beginning in June 2025. The intern will assist in the planning, implementation, and archiving of programs related to the organization’s performances, events, and public art initiatives, and gain curatorial experience in the development of public programs and work collaboratively with artists and cultural partners in Los Angeles and beyond.
⁠
Please share widely with those who may be interested!

Image:
Soup & Tart: Los Angeles, June 8, 2023. Presented by the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and Active Cultures at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Produced by Active Cultures. Photo by Roadwork. @roadworkstudio

Join us on the rooftop of ArtCenter’s South Camp

Join us on the rooftop of ArtCenter’s South Campus for a gathering with colectivo amasijo, to connect with the cycles of the Milpa, the three sisters, and the equinox. Through this action, the Mexico City-based collective seeks to recreate moments when land was common, and paths to biodiversity were cultivated for the milpa to flourish.

colectivo amasijo guides us through an intimate performance, where we will touch, gather, and bind ingredients foraged from the Milpa and the hills of Pasadena. The performance will culminate in an offering of endemic foods harvested by the artists during their agricultural journey in the Yucatán and La Milpa, La Escuela (the site of their field work), as well as a meal by Fatima Juarez of Komal here in Los Angeles.

AC is pleased to present this keynote performance in conjunction with the The Brick’s Live on Earth! a Planetary Symposium.

Link in bio to RSVP!

Images:
Corn tamales workshop by Doña Mercedes, Felipe Luna, rainy season 2024, Milpa Alta, Mexico.
The work cycle of the milpa, la milpa, la escuela.
Separation of corn husks for tamales, Felipe Luna, end of the rainy season 2024, Milpa Alta, Mexico.
All courtesy of colectivo amasijo.

At the start of this year, AC welcomed Curator Nan

At the start of this year, AC welcomed Curator Nanette Orly to our team! 💫

Currently residing on Wiradjuri Country in Albury, New South Wales, Nanette will be relocating to Los Angeles in 2025. Nanette was previously Senior Curator at Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA) where she curated the award-winning exhibition SIMMER (2021), a project featuring local cooks alongside Australian and international artists; BOUND (2022), a presentation of contemporary thread and textile practices; and the biennial National Photography Prize in 2024.

In 2020, Nanette was appointed Chairperson of Runway Journal, a long-running digital publishing platform based in Sydney. During her two-year tenure, she initiated a close review of Runway Journal’s eighteen year old archive and opened the entire archive up to critique with the publication of ‘Issue 42: Archive’. From 2023-24, she sat on the board of un Projects, an independent arts publishing organization based in Melbourne. In 2024, Nanette undertook a curatorial fellowship at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and curated her first international exhibition between the lines (2024) at Openspace Bae in Busan, South Korea. Nanette holds a Master of Curating and Cultural Leadership from the University of New South Wales, Art & Design in Sydney.

@nanettekorly

Photo by Ian Han.

During Mexico City’s Art Week, AC and LagoAlgo h

During Mexico City’s Art Week, AC and LagoAlgo host acclaimed chefs and organizers Saqib Keval and Norma Listman, founders of the revolutionary restaurant group Masala y Maiz, in conversation with curator Paola Santos Coy.

Their work exploring the intersections of food, migration, and social justice through the connections between South Asia, East Africa, and Mexico has garnered international recognition not only for their visionary perspective but for their commitment to reimagining more equitable food systems. The conversation, led by Paola, will be bilingual.

Following the conversation, gather around cocktails and snacks prepared by the Masala y Maiz team. If you are in Mexico City, we would love to see you there.

Thursday, February 6, 2025
11:00 AM
LagoAlgo, Mexico City

@saqibkeval
@masalaymaiz
@normalistman
@lago_algo
@paolasantoscoy

Space is limited—RSVP at the link in bio!

Photos:
1. Saqib Keval and Norma Listman. Photo by Ana Lorenzana.
2. Courtesy of LagoAlgo
3. Masala y Maiz presents the MSG Club by Active Cultures, Mexico City, 2018. Photo by Ana Lorenzana.

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Conversatorio: Masala y Maíz
Saqib Keval and Norma Listman con Paola Santos Coy

Lago Algo y Active Cultures se complacen en invitarte a una conversación con activistas y chefs Saqib Keval y Norma Listman, sobre su práctica arraigada en el mestizaje, y el impacto de la colonización, la migración y el desplazamiento en las tradiciones culinarias.

Moderada por Paola Santos Coy. La conversación será bilingüe en español e inglés.

Jueves 6 de febrero de 2025
11:00 AM
Lago Algo, Ciudad de México

El espacio es limitado: confirme su asistencia en el enlace de la biografía.

Our hearts are with all those here in Los Angeles

Our hearts are with all those here in Los Angeles who are affected by the ongoing wildfires. AC is working closely with colleagues and immediate relief efforts to support our cultural ecosystem and artists—with the long-term health of our art, food, and ecology communities deeply on our minds.

Alongside our colleagues, we will continue to share resources focused on providing critical relief for artists, food workers, and efforts to preserve our vital ecosystems and heritage. See our link in bio for ways to support and be supported ❤️

This will be an evolving resource as we gather information in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

— Active Cultures Team

@griefxhope @lavacoalition @greenartlaballiance

As we wind down for the season and prepare for a r

As we wind down for the season and prepare for a rest, we reflect on all we shared together in 2024. It’s been a year of deep work for Active Cultures, and we are so grateful to you for being part of it all.

2024 saw the continuation of our artist-led projects connecting us to land and to each other. We gathered for ECOTONES, a series of eco-feminist programs co-presented with our friends at The Brick. We hosted Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodriguez to germinate mycelial networks among ecological art practices in LA and beyond. And after a long, perennial conversation with Enzo Camacho and Ami Lien, we welcomed them to LA this fall for three rich weeks of workshops, community programs, celebration and a symposium centering the Philippine liberation movement.

This year, we also laid the foundation for our future. Through our first-ever strategic planning process, we have set clear goals that foreground our support for artists, expanded partnerships, and growing our capacity to do this work with intention and care. We can’t wait to share exciting news about our next chapter with you in the new year.

Your support makes this all possible. As you reflect on your own year, we hope you’ll consider supporting AC with an end-of-year gift. Every contribution from our community sustains our programs, care for our team, and the ability to provide artists with the support they need to expand their rhizomatic practices. Thank you for all you do, for being at the table with us, and we hope you have a warm and restful holiday!

With love and gratitude,
The AC Team

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Active Cultures’ programs this year have been made possible through the generous support of its Board of Directors; the Gatherers Annual Fund; the Los Angeles Visual Arts (LAVA) Coalition; the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture as part of Creative Recovery LA, an initiative funded by the American Rescue Plan; the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture; and the California Arts Council.

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