Night of Ideas 2025: A Nocturnal Celebration of Culture, Debate, and Artistic Expression
San Francisco, CA – March 14, 2025 – Night of Ideas returns to San Francisco on April 5, 2025, transforming San Francisco Public Library, the Asian Art Museum, and Fulton Plaza into a hub for dialogue, art, and civic engagement. Under this year’s theme, “(un)Common Ground,” the event explores how art, technology, and diplomacy shape our collective future.
Initiated by Villa Albertine, and co-produced with the Asian Art Museum, KQED, and San Francisco Public Library, with artistic curation by Circuit Network, this free public event convenes scholars, artists, and policymakers for a night of debates, performances, and immersive experiences.
Night of Ideas also expands across the West Coast in 2025, bringing discussions and immersive experiences to Portland, Seattle, and Santa Cruz. In Portland, “Building Bridges in Uncertain Times,” organized by the Alliance Française chapter, gathers local artists, academics, and civic leaders to explore interconnectivity across education, arts, infrastructure, and food systems. Seattle’s edition, “Common Ground: Building Global Community,” hosted by the Alliance Française chapter at Town Hall, features keynotes, panel discussions, and performances centered on cultural diplomacy and international cooperation- including keynotes by Jason Chau (Gates Foundation) and Dr Anu Taranath (UW Global Studies). In Santa Cruz, “The Future We Share” transforms the night into an interactive celebration of activism, environmental solutions, and collective imagination, with live performances and hands-on sessions.
Since its inception in 2016 by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Night of Ideas has been hosted in more than 100 countries and 300 cities worldwide, with 25 U.S. cities participating in 2025 including Santa Cruz, Seattle, and Portland. By fostering global dialogue between the United States and France, this year’s edition explores how communities reclaim the spaces, resources, and values they hold in common while amplifying local perspectives.
More about the Afternoon of Ideas in San Francisco
This year’s event brings back Afternoon of Ideas, offering interactive and engaging activities for children and parents alike. Highlights include Tito Ramon's Pop-up Puppet Show, Drag Story Hour with Per Sia, a Chair Ballet Workshop by San Francisco Ballet, and hands-on art experiences like a Lego Printing by Arion Press, a Draw-Off with Illustrators Sendy Santamaria & Ana Ramírez González, and a reading and writing workshop with YA author Nina LaCour. Families can also take part in The School of the Future, a Villa Albertine-curated program moderated by KQED MindShift’s Nimah Gobir, featuring a thought-provoking panel of innovative educators, followed by student-led workshops and a session on nurturing creativity with The San Francisco Children’s Art Center. The Grammy-winning Alphabet Rockers will headline the family programming with an all-ages concert.
More about the Night of Ideas in San Francisco
As the sun sets, Night of Ideas takes over the Library’s Main Library, Fulton Plaza, and – for the first time! – the Asian Art Museum, with an expansive lineup of discussions (30 panels!), performances, and interactive ways to use your brain. This year’s theme “(un)Common Ground” explores the vital role of civil society in mediating our differences and charting a shared destiny. It challenges us to reconsider the values that form the foundation of our communities—whether territorial, social, or emotional—and how we can repair our social fabric amid increasing polarization. How can we rebuild a sense of the common good and what is necessary to realize it in a time of deep division? In an era dominated by AI and social networks, how do we forge meaningful interpersonal connections and preserve the essence of shared values? How can we find common ground?
Attendees can engage some of these questions in the Night’s many thoughtful panels and discussion programs. Sub-themes will explore how AI and algorithmic technologies shape the ways we share work, learning, intimacy, and resources of the common good with conversations featuring AI trailblazer Luc Julia, public intellectual Jeanne Proust (UC Santa Cruz), Asana Innovation Lab’s Rebecca Hinds, Accelerator for Learning executive director Isabelle Hau (Stanford) and organizations like Everyone AI.
The Night will also examine grounds of contested speech and expression with discussions about university neutrality policies with legal scholars Brian Soucek (UC Davis) and Diego Zambrano (Stanford); book bans with children’s author Maggie Tokuda-Hall, comics artist Laura Gao, and graphic novelist Maia Kobabe; and latter day literary depictions of thought-crimes and predictive surveillance with Moroccan-American novelist Laila Lalami in conversation with KQED Forum’s Mina Kim.
The evening will bring together international perspectives on our shared past and future, with panels featuring diplomats, including French Ambassador for the Indo-Pacific Marc Abensour, discussing the state of trans-Pacific partnerships. It will also explore Vietnam’s complex diasporic identity, as journalist Doan Bui and Isabelle Pelaud (SFSU) examine memory, reconciliation, and artistic expression across generations. Comparative discussions, including San Francisco's Chief of Housing and Economic Development Ned Segal, will delve into the global future of welfare state policies in Europe, Asia, and the U.S.
How do cultures connect, collide, and evolve across borders? Through cinema, cuisine, literature, and heritage, thought-provoking conversations will explore how traditions are preserved, adapted, and redefined. Actress Laura Truffaut will examine how the New Wave cinematic revolution forged a shared language between French and American film, shaping generations of filmmakers. A literary conversation with Peter Maravelis, City Lights, will dive into the legacy of Oulipo, exploring its transatlantic dynamic in a playful and experimental spirit. Museum leaders, including Thomas Campbell, Emiko Usui, and Guillaume Kientz, will tackle Whose Heritage?, addressing the complexities of cultural repatriation and the future of global collections. Finally, Mélange will showcase the art of French-Asian culinary fusion, with Francis Ang & The Feybesse blurring the lines between tradition and reinvention—offering a taste of what happens when cultures meet on common ground.
Meanwhile, more festive sub-themes will celebrate the diversity of mobile creativity and the Bay Area’s culture of art on wheels, whether as skateboarding, low-rider clubs, roller skating, or Burning Man art cars, complemented by spectacular activations and activities with these wheeled artforms on Fulton Plaza.
Other notable speakers include environmental designer Nick Polansky, journalist Ray Suarez, dance maker Sarah Crowell, and many more.
Throughout the night, festival-goers can also explore local creative expression Skateboarding San Francisco Exhibition, browse a Small Business Marketplace featuring local artisans, and experience the grand unveiling of the SPECTRA Public Light Sculpture. And the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will put camp and whimsy into arts and craft with their Socks of Perpetual Indulgence Puppet Workshop and a Bohemian Rhapsody lip-sync finale in the Library’s Atrium.
A multidisciplinary program of live performances curated by Circuit Network will animate the night, featuring acts such as theatrical troupe the Thrillride Mechanics and a gamelan shadow puppet performance by Harmonic Drift. Fashion enthusiasts can enjoy a look at the BART Project Doneway Fashion Show, while dance lovers can relish a performance by ODC. Music from the likes of jazz singer Kim Nalley, accordionist Kitten on the Keys, fusion band Simon Melrose & the Get Down, and a special appearance by experimental composer and musician Miya Masaoka will score the night, along with DJs on Fulton Plaza curated by EMPIRE.
The night’s conclusion invites attendees to boogie down at SF Discothèque, presented by Friends of the SFPL & Value Culture, with DJ Beatific spinning beats in the Library’s atrium disco ball.
This year’s Night of Ideas promises to be a spectacular celebration of culture and community, and how they help us share our world. Join us for another unforgettable night of learning, expression, and connection.
Get more information and a full schedule of events, as well as register, by visiting NightofIdeas.org.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Afternoon of Ideas: Saturday, April 5, 2025 | 4 – 7 PM | San Francisco Main Library Children’s Center
Night of Ideas: Saturday, April 5, 2025 | 7 PM – 1 AM | San Francisco Main Library, Asian Art Museum, & Fulton Plaza
Night of Ideas: Saturday, April 26, 2025 | 5 PM – 9 PM | Alliance Française de Portland, 1425 SW 20th Ave #104, Portland, OR 97201
Night of Ideas: Friday, April 11, 2025 | 5 PM – 9 PM | Town Hall Seattle
Night of Ideas: Saturday, April 4, 2025 | 5 PM – 9 PM | University of California - Santa Cruz
About Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education:
Villa Albertine is an institution of the French Embassy in the United States, supported by the French government and Albertine Foundation. Villa Albertine’s mission is to strengthen ties between the United States, France and the French-speaking world through culture and education.
In the arts and culture sphere, we encourage collaboration among French and US-based organizations and provide creators, thought leaders, and professionals with customized residencies, immersive networking experiences, grants, and connections to audiences so they can explore and share new insights into society’s pressing issues.
In the field of education, we craft projects and programs aimed at making French language and culture accessible to young US-based audiences, expand opportunities for students to study and complete internships in France, and support partnerships between French and American higher education and research institutions.
Villa Albertine is present in 10 major US cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. It is headquartered in New York’s historic Payne Whitney mansion, home to Albertine, our bookshop and nexus for French-American intellectual exchange.
Follow Villa Albertine on Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.
KQED serves the people of Northern California with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. An NPR and PBS affiliate based in San Francisco, KQED is home to one of the most-listened-to public radio stations in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services and an award-winning education program helping students and educators thrive in 21st-century classrooms. KQED Live is the station’s multi-platform live events program, dedicated to bringing journalism to life onstage, amplifying local culture, and building community.
San Francisco Public Library is part of the city and county of San Francisco and has been an institution in San Francisco since 1879. The library system is made up of 27 neighborhood branch libraries, a Main Library, and four bookmobiles. Its mission is to connect the city’s diverse communities to learning, opportunities and each other.
Located in the heart of San Francisco, the Asian Art Museum is home to one of the world’s finest collections of Asian and Asian American art, with more than 20,000 awe-inspiring works ranging from ancient jades and ceramics to contemporary video installations. Dynamic special exhibitions, cultural celebrations, and public programs for all ages provide rich art experiences that unlock the past and spark questions about the future.
Founded in 1984, Circuit Network is dedicated to fostering the development of contemporary dance, theater, music and performing artists who are creating work of high artistic caliber, deep social import and wide cultural impact. Circuit implements its mission by developing partnerships between artists and communities, providing project development and management services, and producing events locally in San Francisco with our roster of artists and projects.
More Information:
For press inquiries, interviews, or further details, please contact:
Lea Goigoux, Villa Albertine - French Consulate (contact point for SF, Santa Cruz, Portland and Seattle)
lea.goigoux@diplomatie.gouv.fr
628-999-33-15
Jaime Wong, San Francisco Public Library
Jaime.wong@sfpl.org
415-557-4295
Freesia Lee, Asian Art Museum
Flee@asianart.org
415-810-1644
Peter Cavagnaro, KQED
pcavagnaro@kqed.org
About Albertine Foundation
Previously known as FACE Foundation, Albertine Foundation is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting French-American relations through innovative cultural and educational projects. In close partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States and its arts institution Villa Albertine, Albertine Foundation promotes artistic, literary, and educational exchange and collaboration between creative professionals from both countries thanks to corporate, foundation, and individual support.
Follow Albertine Foundation on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
albertinefoundation.org
About the Institut français
The Institut français is responsible for France’s international cultural program. Supervised by both the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and by the Ministry of Culture, it promotes French culture abroad through cultural exchange initiatives. Operating in a space where the arts, intellectual exchange, cultural and social innovation, and linguistic partnerships interact and intersect, it is also responsible for promoting the French language and the sharing of works, artists, and ideas all over the world. The Institut français is one of Villa Albertine's main French partners.
institutfrancais.com
About Our Presenting Partner: The Judy and Peter Blum Kovler Foundation
The Foundation’s work has included the underwriting of public spaces. This includes being the largest supporter of Washington’s Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, the principal donor for the Emmett Till Exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, a major donor to New York’s Statue of Liberty Museum and to Washington’s United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and an early donor to Chicago’s Obama Presidential Center, its latest effort after decades of assistance on Chicago’s south side.
In connection to French culture and history, it has long been helping Notre Dame restoration and has only accelerated this work since the 2019 fire; the Louvre Endowment; and to education on Holocaust and Deportation scholarship including the 1988 Academy Award winning documentary, Hotel Terminus, the Life and Times of Klaus Barbie.
About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.