Arts & Culture

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Orchids may lure pollinating insects with ingenious illusions rather than nectar. Some mimic the look or fragrance of other flowers. Others resemble female insects so convincingly that hopeful males unknowingly assist with pollination....

In documentary photographer and filmmaker Ken Light’s new book, Soul City: Oakland, U.S.A., 120 black-and-white photographs tell the story of the people of West Oakland. Covering the years from 1974-1976 and viewed through the lens of 2026,...

This week's calendar picks feature 'Radium Stories,' Los Hermanos Mendoza, Bill Frisell & Harmony 5, Adam Klipple Quintet, Tony Corman's Morchestra, The Australian Ballet, Shreya Ghoshal, Erykah Badu, Social Distortion, and Thelma and the Sleaze.

Ah, Outside Lands. Three days of music, art, gridlocked traffic, price-surging Ubers, inexplicably freezing temperatures, attendees from all over the world and, of course, so much discourse. Boasting headliners Charli XCX, The Strokes, RÜFÜS DU SOL and PinkPantheress,...

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the practice of niwaki, Japanese gardeners shape trees so they look both natural and artfully composed. They prune and style the branches to dramatize the tree’s inherent character. Their goal is to...

Frederick Noland is the unofficial oracle of lesser-known stories about Black people in America, and especially in the Bay Area. As an Oakland-based visual storyteller, the New Yorker cartoonist and California College of the Arts adjunct professor...

Zoe Muth’s songs are saturated with sadness and a sense of loss. Her voice reaches Iris DeMent’s level of earnestness and the way she yearns for the possibility of a better world. Muth’s sorrowful tone isn’t yet...