TBA:17
It’s time again for the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art’s annual Time-Based Art Festival (TBA) and its delirious stretch of rebuttals to anyone who says they don’t like performance art. You’re wrong! You don’t like bad performance art, so quit whining and get in line. Not sure where to start? I recommend what’s sure to be an amazing collaboration between boundary-pushing artists keyon gaskin and sidony o’neal; the interdisciplinary work of Demian DinéYazhi’, rooted in a queer feminist ethos and indigenous identity; and your last chance to attend Critical Mascara: A Post-Realness Drag Extravaganza, which is, delightfully, exactly what it sounds like, and this year features returning player Carla Rossi, Portland’s tackiest drag clown. Be slightly open-minded, and you can’t go wrong. MEGAN BURBANK
Sept 9-17, read our guide to the local essentials of the festival, and then visit pica.org for the full schedule of events.
Blu & Exile, Dag Savage, Choosey, Cashus King, Tope, The Last Artful, Dodgr
The underground West Coast hip-hop duo consisting of rapper Blu and producer Exile swing through Mississippi Studios for the Portland stop on a tour celebrating the 10th anniversary of their debut album, Below The Heavens.
9 pm, Mississippi Studios, $18-20
Kung Fu Theater: Shaolin vs. Wu Tang
This month’s installment in Dan Halsted’s ongoing celebration of all things whoop-ass is the only known 35mm print of this legendary 1983 Hong Kong classic, the kung fu equivalent of Avengers vs. Justice League, starring one of martial arts’ all-time best superheroes, Gordon Liu, performing frequent ballets of bonecrushing violence from mastermind choreographer Lau Kar Leung. Will Wu Tang defeat Shaolin? Will Shaolin best the Wu? Will they both realize just in the nick of time that they shouldn’t be fighting each other and team up to utterly dismantle the real villain? The satisfying answer to all these very obvious questions is sure to have you happily miming all the punches and kicks from your theater seat. BOBBY ROBERTS
7:30 pm, Hollywood Theatre, $7-9
Demetri Martin
Stand-up comedian and bestselling author Demetri Martin swings through Powell's to read from If It's Not Funny It's Art, his new collection of drawings and jokes.
7 pm, Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, free
Sumo Stew PDX
A celebration of sumo—not just the sport, but the fuel its competitors consume to earn victory. Live streams of grand tournaments play while attendees enjoy sausage chankonabe from Olympia Provisions, and a bento box filled with contributions from Afuri Ramen, Kayo's Ramen, Biwa, Asahi, and more.
7 pm, OP Wurst, $55
Ariel Gore
Journalist, author, and teacher Ariel Gore reads from We Were Witches, her new novel chronicling a single mother's struggles to triumph in a society that wants to see her shamed and silenced.
7:30 pm, Powell's City of Books, free
Don't forget to check out our Things To Do calendar for even more things to do!