Want to be like Frida Kahlo for a Day? – The SELFrida Challenge in SF.

I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.”
-Frida

(Culture) – Frida Kahlo –the Mexican painter, feminist icon, and a promoter of indigenous traditions would have been 109 years old this year. Frida is celebrated each year in San Francisco’s Mission District with “Fiestas Fridas,” a series of events encompassing art exhibits, documentaries, a fashion show, and salsa dancing in July.

“With Fiestas Fridas, we are reminding the community about Frida Kahlo and her grand love affair with San Francisco,” says main organizer Erika Guzman.

Undoubtedly, the most creative of these events is The SELFrida challenge –or Be Frida for a Day. It is lovely. You see people dressed up as Frida wearing a painted mustache, overly-colored eyebrows, and flowers in the hair. Everyone can participate just by showing up dressed up with their version of Frida.

Last year, 36 women and men showed up ready to SELFrida! at Balmy Alley.

Smart phones in hand, The “Fridas” will get together on July 24, in front of the new Frida Kahlo mural at Frida’s closet in the Mission District, as the new mural is officially inaugurated; the event with be filled with friends, music, food, and Frida Fashions. More details of The SElFrida Challenge at the end of this article.

Now, here is more about Frida…

Married to famous muralist Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo’s lifestyle -from living in a house painted in cobalt-blue in Mexico City, being bisexual, and becoming a self-taught artist, opened the roads for women, creative artists, and people wanting to live aside from conventions and norms.

Underneath her daring ways, there was a life full of challenges: she had polio at 6 years old, had a car accident years later, and subsequent health problems throughout her life.

Yet, she traveled around the world, had amazing love affairs and friendships, self-realized as painter, and left her mark. At least 140 paintings and drawings –among them her famous self-portraits.

Frida Kahlo was called a surrealist but she rejected the category, as she corrected that her work was born from her reality, not from her dreams or whatever imagination. Frida Kahlo was born on July and died on July 13, 1954, at age 47.

THE EVENT:
FIESTAS FRIDAS: The SELFrida Challenge
July 24th – 3 to 6 pm
Frida’s Closet, 3473 25th St, San Francisco

We’re taking selfies in front of the new Frida Kahlo mural at Frida’s closet in the Mission. The SELFIE Challenge is at 5pm with registration starting at 3 PM.
This event is free and all ages.

Fiestas Fridas is co-presented by Cine+Mas SF Latino Film Festival, La Calle 24 Neighborhood Association and Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts.