CULTURAL AWARENESS : 4 weekend events go far beyond a skin-deep approach to racial issues.

Four South Bay events this weekend are designed to promote greater understanding among the Los Angeles area’s diverse ethnic groups, a goal attracting broad interest in the wake of the April-May riots.

Ten video works by a dozen artists exploring racism, assimilation and cultural identity will be screened Saturday at the South Bay Contemporary Museum of Art. The exhibit, “Beyond the Color Line: Reflections on Race,” is scheduled to travel to six other Los Angeles-area venues. The program was commissioned by the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and is presented in conjunction with L.A. Freewaves, a video festival by 60 Southern California arts and media organizations.

According to guest curator Claire Aguilar, the video works were intended to deal exclusively with race issues after the riots. But the project quickly broadened to include videos on anger, how people perceive Mexican-Americans, and Vietnamese gangs.

The screening “offers work by media artists who share their remembrances of the past and hopes for the future in an American society that lies deeply divided between class, culture and race,” Aguilar said. “It’s really about social justice.”

Also Saturday, Al Osterloh, project manager of Rebuild L.A., will speak about the progress of the group, a nonprofit organization created after the riots to revitalize South-Central Los Angeles. The meeting is sponsored by the Leagues of Women Voters of the Beach Cities, Torrance and the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Taking a historical tack to explain the roots of American society, Mexican author Carlos Fuentes will speak Saturday night at Loyola Marymount University in Westchester on “Columbus and the Culture of the Americas.” The speech will commemorate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in North America.

“As we come to the end of the century and as we go through the ordeal of 1992 and the quincentennial, there is a need to clarify our history, to understand who we are and what we have done,” Fuentes said in an April interview with Los Angeles Times Magazine.

Widely translated throughout the world, Fuentes’ fictional works include: “Where the Air Is Clear,” “The Death of Artemio Cruz,” “Terra Nostra” and “The Old Gringo.” A noted essayist, Fuentes has also written historical works about Mexico.

An all-day workshop with the theme of “Reading Latin America” will be hosted Saturday by Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson. Sponsored by the university’s School of Education and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee’s Center for Latin America, the conference will explore the use of culturally authentic literature in the classroom.

Arthur Dorros will be the guest featured speaker at the conference, discussing “How the Multicultural Experience in Children’s Literature Relates to the Universal Experience.” Dorros is the author of “Tonight is Carnival” and “Abuela.”

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* “Beyond the Color Line,” a video arts program; South Bay Contemporary Museum of Art, 5029 Pacific Coast Highway, Torrance; 7:30 p.m. Saturday; information: (310) 375-3775 (free).

* “Rebuild L.A.,” a talk with Al Osterloh, project manager with Rebuild L.A.; Velvet Turtle, 3210 West Sepulveda Blvd., Torrance; 9 a.m. Saturday; information: (310) 545-1087.

* “Columbus and the Culture of the Americas,” a talk by author Carlos Fuentes; Loyola Marymount University, Loyola Boulevard at West 80th Street, Westchester; 8 p.m. Saturday; information: (310) 338-4570 ($5).

* “Reading Latin America,” an all-day workshop on cultural literature; Marvin Laser Recital Hall, Cal State Dominguez Hills, 1000 E. Victoria St., Carson; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; information: (310) 516-3774 ($15).