FESTIVALS & EVENTS : A Treasure Trove of Events in O.C. Will Honor Black History

Black History Month arrives with the usual scattering of local events, including theatrical presentations, art exhibits, film screenings and the return of the Black History Parade and Cultural Fair to Santa Ana after a two-year absence.

Following is a list of events touching on African and African American history and culture. Most, but not all, are staged in observance of Black History Month.

As noted elsewhere in this section, works by South African playwright Athol Fugard are in particular abundance this month. Fugard is a white South African whose works address that country’s political and social situation.

* “Different Visions: The Works of Kerry James Marshall and Joseph Edward Grant” is on display today, Jan. 27, to Feb. 25 at the Saddleback College Art Gallery, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo. Gallery hours are Tuesdays from 12:30 to 5 p.m.; Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Thursdays from 12:30 to 5 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Admission is free. Information: (714) 582-4924.

Several events are planned at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana. The museum also has on long-term display items from the Tishman collection of African art. Museum admission is $1.50 to $4.50. Information: (714) 567-3600.

* “Quartier Mozart,” a feature film set in the West-Central African nation of Cameroon, will screen today, Jan. 27, at 7:30 p.m. Free with museum admission.

* Christopher Steiner, assistant curator of African art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, will lecture about the international trade in African art on Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m. He will also introduce a film, “In and Out of Africa.” Admission is $5 for museum members, $7.50 for non-members (includes museum admission).

* An “African American Family Workshop” will be held Feb. 5 from 2 to 4 p.m. Children will make musical instruments and see a film on African American cultural accomplishments. Free with museum admission.

* “Wend Kuuni” (“God’s Gift”), a feature film from the West African nation of Burkina Faso about the interplay of traditional and modern cultures, will screen Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Free with museum admission.

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The African American Student Union at UC Irvine has expanded the concept of Black History Month to what they call an African Consciousness Quarter. Following is a list of some activities in the coming month. All are free and will be held in the Cross Cultural Center, near the administration building on campus. Information: (714) 856-2226.

* D.W. Griffith’s silent epic, “Birth of a Nation,” long controversial for its depiction of the Ku Klux Klan, will be screened today, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m.

* Speaker Adisa Ajamu will address male-female relationships in a talk on Feb. 10 at 7 p.m.

* A series of readings of works by African American women will be held Feb. 15 at 5 p.m.

* “Daughters of the Dust,” a feature film set in the richly African Gullah culture on the Sea Islands off the South Carolina-Georgia coast, will screen Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.

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At Orange Coast College, 2601 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Information: (714) 432-5039.

* Jamaican-born artist Michael Milton will be featured in an exhibition at the Orange Coast College Art Gallery from Monday, Jan. 31, to Feb. 28. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (also open 7 to 8:30 p.m. on the first and third Monday of each month). Admission is free.

* Also at Orange Coast College, historian Renoko Rashini will lecture about the former kingdom of Nubia in North-West Africa on Tuesday, Feb. 1, at 11 a.m. in the Fine Arts Lecture Hall, Room 119. Admission is free.

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* “A Raisin in the Sun,” Lorraine Hansberry’s study of an African American family living on Chicago’s South Side in the late ‘50s, opens Friday, Jan. 28, and runs through March 5 at the Alternative Repertory Theatre, 1636 S. Grand Ave. Performances are Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8, Sundays at 7 p.m. Tickets are $13.50 to $16. (714) 836-7929.

* “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” a one-woman show with Tamiko Washington, will be performed Feb. 4 and 5 and 10-12 at 8 p.m. in the Forum Theatre at Irvine Valley College, 5500 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine. Tickets are $7 to $8. (714) 559-3333.

* The Orange County Black History Parade will be held Feb. 5 beginning at 10 a.m. at Broadway and 15th streets in downtown Santa Ana. An accompanying cultural fair, with entertainment, food, rides, children’s activities and more, will run from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Santa Ana Stadium at Flower Street and Civic Center Drive. Admission to the parade and cultural fair are free. (714) 440-8943 or (714) 850-1577.