Artist-led encounters with diaspora, memory, and cultural practice
by: Shelly Gilbride, International House Davis
Davis, CA — In 2026, International House Davis (I-House) invites the Davis community to a series of artist-led gatherings exploring how culture moves, adapts, and takes root.
World Tour 2026: Roots & Routes—Encounters with Diaspora, Community, and Cultural Practice unfolds from January through September 2026 through performances, workshops, exhibitions, and participatory experiences that center migration, identity, and the ways cultural practices carry memory across generations and borders.
At the heart of Roots & Routes is the work itself: artists sharing living traditions—music, dance, foodways, storytelling, and visual art—not as static representations, but as practices shaped by displacement, adaptation, and connection. Each event invites audiences to witness, participate, and reflect on how creative expression helps people root, reroot, and find home in new places. Events range from intimate, hands-on workshops to lively backyard concerts.
Programming across the series draws from diasporic traditions rooted in Latin America, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, the Philippines, Siberia, India, Native American communities, Turkey, and Syria, represented by artists who live and work across the Sacramento region. Roots & Routes reflects the remarkable depth of global cultural knowledge embedded locally, offering a rare opportunity to encounter diasporic practice not through touring companies or distant
institutions, but through the artists who shape this community. These encounters foreground collective memory and lived experience, creating space for dialogue, learning, and shared cultural presence grounded in place.
The 2026 season includes The Art of Fermentation Workshop by Lorena Rodriguez; Writing Flash: Narrative of Origin by writer Karolina Letunova; Belonging, Becoming, Being and Beyond by Julie Arellano; Raíces en Movimiento by Karla Avila, Olga Novoa Cipriano, and Miguel Novoa; Echoes of Resilience, curated by Filiz Ruhm and Hannah Rose Beckman; Experience Argentina by Patricia Maccari and Veronica Flores; The Smoldering Forest: A participatory performance reimagining the Ramayana by Anuj Vaidya; Ceremony for Personal Transformation: The Medicine Wheel by Sylvia Rios; and Everything You Touch, Touches You by Pinar Uncu Brummer.
All participating artists were selected through International House Davis’s first-ever open Call for Artists, reflecting the depth of creative practice and cultural knowledge present in the region.
World Tour 2026 is made possible with support from the City of Davis Arts & Cultural Affairs. In alignment with I-House’s commitment to equity and access, a free ticket request option is available for community members for whom cost may be a barrier.
Learn more, explore upcoming events, request free tickets, or purchase tickets at internationalhousedavis.org.
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About International House Davis
International House Davis is an international culture center dedicated to fostering arts, culture, and idea exchange to create a globally connected, inclusive community. People from around the world gather at I-House to celebrate shared humanity, engage with diverse traditions, cultivate joy, combat isolation, and foster civic dialogue. Through culture and fellowship, I-House strengthens the vibrancy of Davis, the region, and beyond.
