Home Events

Though May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Austin’s premier Asian American Film Festival serves up AAPI cinematic talent through June, too.

According to organizer Clussy Fou – of Austin-branch clown troupe Fou Fou Ha – what unfolds within Kick Butt Coffee this Friday isn’t your ordinary night out in ATX. No, no: This is “a crossing of the streams fusion of drag, burlesque, comedy, circus arts, and even a slash of horror to keep you feeling alive.” As such, expect a vendor market of beautiful baubles, creative cocktails, fine foods, and “a seriously questionable raffle” in addition to the totally terrific variety show onstage. But how will you and your merry band of fools get to this performance of a lifetime? Perhaps in one car – eco-friendly, yes – that’s comically small, but somehow you all fit inside? Just a thought! – James Scott

Dance doesn’t have to be stuffy or restrictive. Movement is a world language, and Borderless is here to remind us of that fact. With a scant two nights of performances, you can experience music, theatre, and dance from a multicultural crew of collaborators. Local talents Anuradha Naimpally, Luis Ordaz Gutiérrez, Jun “Sunny” Shen, and Ciceley Fullylove each created works designed to break choreography barriers. Accompanied by live music composed by members of Frederico7 y Los Primes and Son y No Son, Borderless stands as a testament to the limitless power of stories. – Cat McCarrey

Now in its 18th year, Austin’s African American Book Festival has set a high standard for literary programming. Boasting some unique programming for children and families – including a dance poetry workshop led by Ballet Afrique founder and creative director China Smith, an art session with award-winning children’s author and illustrator Don Tate, and a Gwendolyn Brooks poetry reading with literary activist Patrick Oliver – and a headliner in legendary poet and activist Nikki Giovanni, this year’s festival will stick to the memory of all those who attend. The theme – “Black Feeling, Black Talk” – is fitting. This is the culmination of centuries of resilience, of diving into literature to both express and inspire the stirrings of revolution. – Cy White

Eager to watch a tragic, thought-provoking, sociopolitical tragedy? Experience the student-performed, professionally directed classic (which feels like an understatement), in a replica Elizabethan theatre space by Lake Austin.

Regine Malibiran is a woman of passion. She pours her soul into every project she undertakes – creative and entrepreneur, activist and advocate. Now as the founder of forth space productions, she has taken all of her passion and experience to forge a path for artists to express their truths fearlessly and with the support of forth space, whose mission and name derive from the “sociological concept of the fourth space as a realm where meaning is made and all the potential that lies between here and forward.” “BUMUO,” from the Tagalog for “whole,” is an exhibition that centers the strength and artistic brilliance of the Filipino community. Six artists tell the connective story of the Philippines, reclaiming their history, rejecting the manipulation of the colonizers who inhabited their home for four centuries, and building a future of healing and empowerment. On view through July 27. – Cy White

A lucky few may have already seen the “Sonder” show at Davis, but if you haven’t, please rush to the reception this Saturday. It’s a perfect time to bask in a wealth of styles and mediums. Dissect the surreal landscapes of Garrett Middaugh and Isabel Stensland. Lose yourself in the hypnotic shapes of Lisa Beaman and Joseph Hammer. Marvel at the intricate details in sculptures by Dana Younger and John Sagar. Sigh at Denise M. Fulton’s brightly impressionist nature paintings. And those are just small portions of artists represented! There’s something for every artistic taste, so gorge yourself on Davis’ impeccable buffet of beauty. – Cat McCarrey

We’re in that liminal space of summer, where life is lush and blooming, right before it succumbs to death by heat. Big Medium’s curator Coka Treviño has collected an exhibit full of garden scenes representing that magical explosion of garden growth. In her own words, it’s a way “to forget how heavy it feels to be a human.” There’s constant discovery in the wide variety of works, from dozens of artists like the established Dawn Okoro and up-and-comers MuthaGoose. Join the opening reception this Friday to view interpretations of glorious greenery. – Cat McCarrey

Austin racks 10 black metal projects? Triple that, but this corrosive sampling seethes top to bottom. Nocturnal Onslaught dropped malevolent incantation EP Invoking Legion this month, while blackened speed metallers Sadistic Force hammered out April cassette Iron Rite. Rabid scene vets Vacha torch mind palaces and Orodrim majestically taps a similar OG polar freeze. Brüka flays, Throat Piss burns, and Varenth’s hypothermic Valentine’s Day EP The Unsilent Winterdark opens on a seven-minute withering whose title once passed through Jacqueline Bisset’s lips in summertime Jaws sequel The Deep, “Ora Pro Nobis” – pray for us! – Raoul Hernandez

School’s out for summer! And out forever, at least in Beyond August Productions’ Exit Strategy. The story of a run-down high school finishing up its final year before eradication, Exit Strategy follows students and staff on the edge of displacement. Education is a hellscape in the best of times. One can only imagine the anarchy within a school on the brink of annihilation. In cases like that, does anything matter? Get ready to test those limits with Exit Strategy, showing the humor and madness in dire circumstances. – Cat McCarrey

For the rest of this month and into the next, Flatbed Press, local bastion of multiple originals, is putting you on to the next gen of Austin printmakers. For the third year in a row, this annual exhibition features work from students receiving a printmaking degree from any college in the Austin area, including UT, ACC, St. Edward’s, Texas State, and Southwestern. The work ranges from traditional to experimental, both in form and process. Hot tip: While you’re there, make sure to step out of the gallery and check out the working press portion of the building. – Lina Fisher

It’s the second coming of surrealism at Ivester Contemporary. Josias Figueirido aptly updates the legacy of Dalí and Chagall with his vivid dreamscapes. His exhibit presents spirit guides Piri the Dreamer and Flying Coyote in increasingly absurd settings, smoothly bubbled characters possessing hypnotic shininess. Paintings of them hang in eerily vivid flashe paint, existing harmoniously beside their animated counterpoints in an immersive, interactive reality. It’s the wondrous love child of Cartoon Network and modernism. You don’t want to miss it.: – Cat McCarrey

Prepare to enter the void: That’s the theme of the latest exhibition of dark arts from horror advocates Blood Over Texas in their latest exhibition of the best of our local visionaries of the strange and terrible. Yet it’s not just endless prints of Leatherface, Jason, and Art the Clown. The painstakingly curated show features the innovative taxidermy of Amelia’s Oddities, the faery fears of Chloe Janowski, disturbing dolls courtesy of Sideshow Asylum, eerie embroidery from Sinister Seams, and so much more. Plus, if you’ve been looking for a way to show your gratitude for that especially ghoulish gift, maybe pick up Doctor Abominable’s horror-themed stationery for a thank-you card. – Richard Whittaker

Stories matter: how we tell them, who we tell them about, and who does the actual telling. Join trans advocate Kanoa Arteaga – creator of Abundant Masculinities, a project providing space for men and transmasculine folks to address patriarchal wounds and create new, healthier models of masculinity – at a special writing sesh for trans and intersex folks to be the masters of their own narratives. Reconnect with your story, expand the memoir canon, find community and maybe even a little healing. Writers and non-writers of all levels are welcome; cisgender/non-intersex allies are encouraged to show their support by donating. – Jasmine Lane

Local purveyors of glitz and glamour Glaze present a two-part day-to-night fête to unveil the zine and event producer’s newest issue, Sovenance – a word defined by Glaze as “the ability of the mind to store and recall past sensations, thoughts, and knowledge.” Day party features drag performers Cupcake, Banshee Rose, MK Ultra, and RiotGirl, emceed by Fallout Theater Artistic Director Holly Hart. Tickets run $10 during the day to $20 at night for non-members. The cover reveal drops at 7, after which veritable local legends Farmer’s Wife, Tear Dungeon, and Flora & Fawna inspire “sovenance” with bangers galore. Be there day or night for the locally grown zine’s 10th editorial release and season, pulled off in partnership with Yawn Productions. – Lina Fisher

Before the stars of techno’s new guard were the model-gorgeous women pummeling dance floors with testosterone-raising sets, there was tastemaking young Magda, a Polish-born Richie Hawtin protégée. After cutting her teeth on Detroit-area parties, she made her penchant for dark tracks and unusual sound design known, unspooling basslines at a (comparatively) languid stroll’s pace, always embracing electro and funk in her DJ sets. Chafed at being pegged to a sound called “minimal,” she defined the early Aughts instead through Items & Things, a label run alongside Troy Pierce and Marc Houle. As producer Blotter Trax, with T.B. Arthur, she continues.– Christina Garcia

Celebrate the summer solstice! Austin’s Old Bakery & Emporium hosts cultural activities honoring Swedish American heritage such as flower-crown making, hair braiding, and a maypole. Nordic-inspired pastries from Fika Table, Mom and Pop’s Frozen Pops and traditional Swedish meatballs will be available for patrons. Austin hatmaker Mamie Raynaud discusses millinery, and festivities kick off at an unveiling of local artist Ruben Esquivel’s new mural. – Jasmine Iman Wright

Celebrate the end of Pride Month with a display of Austin’s multidisciplinary queer talent: a market with over 30 vendors put on by Future Front Texas; the Little Gay Shop hosting an all-ages tie-dyeing pop-up; a drag n’ draw with Skechers Drawing Club; a plant swap from Black Trans Leadership Austin; friendship bracelet making with Future Front; and improv exercises with the Gay Agenda. DJ Kickit will be spinning tunes, and you can either get your day buzz on or sample a bevy of nonalcoholic bevvies from Dear Dry Drinkery, JuiceLand, and Brother Friend coffee – all to wash down a delicious lobster roll from Garbo’s, tacos from Mariachi’s food truck, and sno-cones from SnoRide. – Lina Fisher

In Link & Pin’s Summer Exposure series, they’re presenting three artists for two weeks each. Kicking it off are Jan Pomeroy, Denise Elliott Jones, and Kristy Battani. Their work perfectly complements each other, exhibiting worlds full of vibrant colors and rich, evocative texturing. Play along with their vivid sightscapes this Thursday, in conjunction with East Austin Arts District’s Third Thursday walks. Or wait for the artist reception on Saturday, for wining and dining and art aplenty. – Cat McCarrey

Calling all lovers of intergenerational family tales – maybe a niche crowd, but definitely a good one. Zach presents to you The Lehman Trilogy, winner of five Tony Awards. One of those Tonys? Best Play. Decide whether it deserved the honors, all while following the infamous Lehman family from their arrival in America through the 1900s until their infamous financial firm (spoiler alert) collapsed in 2008. If you miss Succession but wished it had just a smidgen more early 20th century immigration struggle and concrete financial crisis, you’ve got to check this out. – Cat McCarrey

Golden Dawn Arkestra mastermind Topaz McGarrigle is all about creating immersive musical experiences, so taking over the classy new downtown dance club ROMA to debut his solo EP The Gift promises a provocatively intoxicating evening. The newly released four-song set mixes a slab of suave sax, heavy beats, and sweaty dance floor grooves, anchored by the “Cosmic Opera” trilogy of music videos directed by Ben Blanchard that sets the music into a retro Eighties world of Euro high-fashion glam and Dionysian revel. Special guests include Nnedi Agbaroji, Austin Strings, DJ Juan Lo, Cirque Noir, and more. – Doug Freeman