There are cities within cities—Koreatown, Japantown, Chinatown, Fremont’s enclaves of Southeast Asians and Afghans; Russians in San Francisco; and Latinos in the Fruitvale and Mission neighborhoods—that provide continuity and daily interaction with the wider community.

Based on the book Under the Dragon (Heyday Books), Trading Traditions explores the daily mix of California's new communities through photographs by Berkeley writer and radio journalist Lonny Shavelson, commentary by Oakland author and editor Fred Setterberg and Shavelson, and sound design by James LeBrecht, head of Berkeley Sound Artists, and Shavelson. They present the Bay Area as a virtual street fair, with food, music, and culture in constant exchange.

Immigration can mean loss, cultural isolation, and change, which Setterberg and Shavelson convey eloquently. It’s possible to maintain tradition within a household, but not on the street, where markets, movie theaters, places of worship, street signs, and conversation offer a cacophony of choices and distractions.
Shavelson has captured many such scenes:

* Mien teenagers from an Oakland high school sporting their hair in cornrows

* An African American leading the Chinese lion dancers in San Francisco’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade

* Latino converts to Islam sharing a Mexican lunch outside the mosque

* An Iranian Jew counseling Cambodian refugees in Fremont via the common language of art

* A Chinese man wearing a sombrero to blend in with his Latino neighbors

The photographs and text, mounted on sailcloth and suspended from the ceiling, give the installation movement and life. The soundscape fills the exhibition with street, prayer, and festival sounds—aural snapshots—from scores of local environments.

Trading Traditions also offers an area with mirrors where visitors can try on clothing from Nigeria, Mexico, Japan, East India, China, Guatemala, Russia, and Afghanistan. -- www.museumca.org