Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds is pleased to invite the public to view a selection of short films that explore the cultural practices and personal stories of local and regional Indigenous community members, including Indigenous perspectives on climate change and traditional stewardship. A discussion with the artist/film maker Kirti Bassendine and local Indigenous leaders follows the screening, which will take place in the historical, Julia Morgan-designed Grace H. Dodge Chapel Auditorium.

Following its debut at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, photographer and filmmaker Kirti Bassendine brings her important work to the Monterey Peninsula. “As an artist, Kirti is intrigued by human relationships – especially how they impact the discovery of identity and belonging within one’s culture and the wider world. By bringing… Indigenous voices together, she creates a unique experience for audiences to engage with these ideas themselves.” (https://www.famsf.org/exhibitions/contemporary-indigenous-voices)

Each short film is a vignette about an Indigenous leader from California’s South Coast Range, which reaches from the Santa Francisco peninsula through the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Monterey Bay, and the lower Salinan Valley, and “highlights cultural connections between Indigenous people and their ancestral lands.”

These topics are timely because, in Bassendine’s words, “…Rematriation, Land Back, is a big conversation. “We are here, we have always been here,” is the fundamental message.” (https://www.famsf.org/stories/q-a-contemporary-indigenous-voices-kirti-bassendine)

Following the screening, artist/film maker Kirti Bassendine and regional Indigenous leaders will host a discussion with the audience.