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New Season of KCETLink's Acclaimed ARTBOUND Series Launches With Focus on Social Issues Expressed Through Art

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JP Shields

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New Season of KCETLink's Acclaimed ARTBOUND Series Launches 

With Focus on Social Issues Expressed Through Art

The 7th Season of KCETLink's Flagship Southern and Central California's

Arts and Culture Series Debuts With Episode Exploring "Mundane Afrofuturism"

www.kcet.org/artbound

BURBANK, Calif. - October 19, 2015 - KCETLink Media Group today announced the 7th season of itsacclaimed series ARTBOUND, which explores and illuminates the cultural issues of our times, providing critical in-depth analysis of how arts and culture affect our society. Through one-hour documentaries and an expanded digital footprint, ARTBOUND investigates the role that creative industries have in shaping the future of the region and the nation. The new season of ARTBOUNDpremieres Tuesday, Nov. 17 on KCET (Southern California) at 8 p.m. and nationwide on Monday, Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. PT/ET on Link TV (available on DirecTV channel 375 and DISH network 9410).

To give viewers a chance to show their support for the new season of ARTBOUND, KCET launched a social media awareness campaign to help spread the word. By following this link visitors can add a "splash" filter to their Facebook and Twitter profile pictures.

The debut episode of season seven explores "Mundane Afrofuturism," an hour-long special that proposes a new theory of the black aesthetic of the 21st century. "Afrofuturism" is a term that originated in the early '90s to theorize black techno culture and explore new expressions of black art.

Created in collaboration with the award winning creative studio Ways and Means, along with artist and filmmaker Martine Syms, "Mundane Afrofuturism" explores the tension between conventional, segregated channels of media distribution and the black imagination. Through a close reading of works by five Southern California artists engaged with problems of representation, the episode will walk through their artistic and creative processes as well as discuss inspirations. The episode features in-depth interviews with artists that include novelist Tisa Bryant, musician/producer Delroy Edwards, film programmer Erin Christovale and visual artist Nicole Miller.

The critically acclaimed weekly television series and online destination ARTBOUND will continue to capture the spirit of the burgeoning arts and culture community in Southern and Central California and how it's shaping California as the creative capital of the world. The series will shift its focus to more immersive documentary specials, taking a macro view of the impact of arts and culture on society.

Additionally, ARTBOUND will continue to partner and collaborate with institutions across the region, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Autry Museum, the Irvine Foundation, USC and Occidental College.

The series will also continue to air videos created from popular user-voted online columns from cultural tastemakers about how the arts and artists have shaped the region. Since its inception in 2012, the series has earned high industry praise including several Emmy® Awards, LA Press Club awards, two Golden Mike awards and a National Entertainment Journalism award, among others. Most recently, ASCAP recognized ARTBOUND with the prestigious ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor / Virgil Thomson Multimedia Award for outstanding music.

Highlights on the upcoming season include an exploration back to pre-industrial Los Angeles to explore one of its key and most controversial figures, Charles Lummis; a revealing look at highly skilled, yet rarely noticed work of artisans migrating from Mexico and Latin America who are creating exquisite furniture, textiles and design goods; as well as an analysis of the "Third Los Angeles," a term coined byLos Angeles Times architecture critic and Occidental College professor Christopher Hawthorne.

Season Breakdown:

Mundane Afrofuturism

A new framework for black diasporic art production is taking shape in contemporary Los Angeles. This documentary profiles five emerging artists whose work explores the intersection of race, class, identity and aesthetics.

MOCAtv Special

ARTBOUND collaborates with the Museum of Contemporary Art showcasing upcoming exhibitions, historical segments, artist documentaries, and original video art pieces created in collaboration with artists, musicians and fashion designers. Features interviews with Museum Director Philippe Vergneand MOCA's new chief curator, Helen Molesworth.

User Voted Episode

Based on the most popular user-voted stories on kcet.org/Artbound, including: Good Design Is for Everyone: The Evolution of Low-Income Housing in L.A.The Spirit of North ShoreDrummer Peter ErskineWill Art School Adjuncts Unionize?; and El Mac: Making the Ordinary Extraordinary

Lummis

Charles Fletcher Lummis: historian, photographer, ethnographer, archaeologist, poet, librarian, Indian rights and historic preservation activist. This documentary explores the fascinating life and legacy of one of California's most iconic figures.

User Voted Episode

Based on the most popular user-voted stories on kcet.org/Artbound, including: The Chicana/o Printmakers of 'Estampas de la Raza';, Junk Dada: The Stories Behind Noah Purifoy's Joshua Tree SculpturesAlma Ruiz: Former MOCA Curator Discusses Three Decades at the Institution; and At the Epicenter: Cristopher Cichocki's New Earth Art.

LA's Creative Rise

In the 1930s, Paris generated some of the most defining art of the 20th century. In the post-war years, New York City took its place. Now, at the turn of the millennium, all eyes are on Los Angeles. Can Los Angeles live up to the expectations? Artbound explores.

The Third Los Angeles

ARTBOUND will examine the Third Los Angeles, to borrow a term coined by Los Angeles Times architecture critic and Occidental College professor of practice Christopher Hawthorne, to look at how architects and urban planners re-define the next 100 years of built environment in Los Angeles, a metropolis once called "the city of the future" in the 1950s.  The episode is produced by Dignicraft, a collective of artists and filmmakers inspired by human dignity and justice. Working for over 15 years in the Tijuana and Los Angeles region, they have developed an expertise in the production of documentary films. 

Artists and National Parks

Artists have created art in national parks since the late 19th century when famed Hudson River School painters captured the majestic views of our nation's western parks. ARTBOUND celebrates the sights and sounds in national parks today that continue to inspire artists in more than 50 residency programs across the country in conjunction with the 100th year anniversary of the National Park System.

ABOUT KCETLINK MEDIA GROUP

KCETLink Media Group, formed by the merger between KCET and Link Media, is a national independent, nonprofit, digital and broadcast network that provides high-quality, culturally diverse programming designed to engage the public in innovative, entertaining and transformative ways. With a commitment to independent perspectives, smart global entertainment, local communities, and opportunities for engagement and social action, KCETLink depicts people and the world through a lens unavailable elsewhere in U.S. media. A viewer-supported 501(c)(3) organization, KCETLink content is distributed nationally via satellite on Link TV - DIRECTV channel 375 and DISH Network channel 9410 - and on KCET in Southern and Central California via broadcast and cable, as well as through various digital delivery systems. For additional information about KCET and Link TV productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org or linktv.org.

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