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04:00 PM » Art Auction & Reception

2nd Annual Benefit Art Auction & Reception
Original art from the Middle East and by Bay Area artists

Sunday, May 2, 4 to 8 p.m.

SomArts Gallery, 934 Brannan Street, San Francisco

Admission $10, applied toward any purchase over $50

To Volunteer at the event call 415.626.4061

Media Contact: Torange Yeghiazarian 415.626.4061 information@goldenthread.org

San Francisco Bay Area: On Sunday May 2nd at 4pm, Golden Thread Productions holds its annual Benefit Art Auction and Reception at SomArts Gallery featuring original art from the Middle East and Bay Area artists. Jewelry, antiques, gifts and services will also be available in the live and silent auctions. Complimentary wine and hors d'oeuvres from some of Bay Area's best wineries and restaurants will be served.

Live music will be performed by Kurt Ribak Jazz Trio and Mohammad Naser Zarif Afghani ensemble. As part of silent and live auctions, works by artists including Andrea Ali, Lara B., Youmna Chalda, Ali Dadgar, Nicole De Vito, Eshrat Erfanian, Hassan Fedawy, Kim Frohsin, Vida Ghahremani, Christine Hanlon, Taraneh Hemami, Mohammad Hourian, Candace Loheed, Lenea Maibaum, Lacey Mamak, Javier Manrique, Carolyn Meyer, Craig Nelson, Sian Oblak, Fayeq Oweis, Randall Sexton, Tomatsu Takeshima, Termeh Yeghiazarian, and Berge Ara Zobian will be up for bid. In addition, auction items include original jewelry by Nancy Dobbs Owen and Shahasp Valentine with additional arts and crafts from Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Yemen and Armenia.

Reception wine generously donated by Fetzer and Agajanian Wineries. Catered by La Mediterannee, Mangia Mangia, ACME Bread, La Cascada, Arabi Mediterranean Cuisine, Tannour, India Garden and Scharffenberger Chocolatieres.

Additional sponsors and donors: Narsai David, Sandy Cressman, Anchor Brewing Company, Agajanian Vineyards, Peet's Coffee &Tea, Love Joy's Tea Room, Tanjiah Morrocan Cuisine, Good Vibrations, Asian American theater, Impact Theater, Language Studies International, Super Sightseeing Tours, Orlane Beauty & Skin Care, Henna Garden, Floresco, Freedom Flowers, Kabul Tribal Art and Noah's Art

www.goldenthread.org

Golden Thread Productions www.goldenthread.org

Golden Thread Productions is a San Francisco Bay Area company dedicated to exploring Middle Eastern culture and identity as represented throughout the globe. We define the Middle East broadly and inclusively. The company is made up of artists from a variety of ethnic backgrounds that share an interest in the Middle East. Among the nations represented in our past productions are Iran, Armenia, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Algeria, Afghanistan, and the United States. Founded in1996, Golden Thread Productions’ annual programming consists of one to two main stage productions, ReOrient festival of short plays, as well as workshops, staged readings and special events.

Golden Thread Productions’ debut production was “Operation No Penetration, Lysistrata 97!” The classic Greek antiwar comedy was adapted to a Middle Eastern setting where Palestinian and Israeli women unite to force men into signing a peace treaty. Since then the company has continued to creatively present challenging social issues on stage. The company’s first internally developed production, “Love Missile,” - “lively staging …inventive shadow puppetry” - Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle - was an original anti-war musical collaboratively created by Hal Gelb, Janaki Ranpura and Torange Yeghiazarian. “Love Missile” explores the dilemma facing a Middle Eastern immigrant scientist who is asked to develop the weapons that will be used against her own nation. In 2002, Golden Thread Productions presented the San Francisco Bay Area premiere of “Nine Armenians” by award-winning playwright, Leslie Ayvazian, at the Magic Theatre to sold out audiences for three weeks - “Sympathetic and convincing” Lee Brady, Pacific Sun, “first rate actors in a moving piece” Anna Montzaris, SF Gate.

Golden Thread Productions hallmark event is ReOrient, an annual festival of plays exploring the Middle East. Debuted in 1999, more than thirty plays have been presented at the ReOrient festival, majority of them world and or U.S. premieres. For four weeks, this one of a kind festival turns San Francisco into a Mecca for innovative, spirited, and thought-provoking theatre from around the world. Providing a rare opportunity for artists and audiences alike to engage deeply and directly with the Middle East in a creative and supportive setting that displaces misinformation and encourages understanding.

In its brief history, Golden Thread Productions has worked diligently to probe and celebrate the Middle Eastern culture and identity in all its complexity. Made up of artists from all over the world, the company exemplifies Theatre’s ability to transcend cultural and political boundaries and to encourage an active dialogue. Golden Thread Productions’ commitment to in depth exploration and understanding is imminently important. This is true now more than ever given the volatility of our relationship with the Middle East and the global ramifications of our decisions influenced by our understanding of the region.