{"id":440909,"date":"2026-08-23T02:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T02:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/440909\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T02:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T02:40:12","slug":"san-francisco-gets-new-filipino-light-installation-a-second-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/440909\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco gets new Filipino light installation, a second sun"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A corner of Yerba Buena Gardens will be illuminated this September by a second sun.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Named for the coordinates of the geographic center of the Philippines, the light installation \u201c13\u00b0N, 122\u00b0E,\u201d an amber dome floating above a fountain, will brighten and fade in sync with sunrise and sunset in the Philippines. The installation \u2014 the city\u2019s first Filipino monument \u2014 will be formally unveiled on Sept. 4. <\/p>\n<p>Located in the eastern plaza across from SFMOMA, the installation is a collaborative effort among artists and cultural and neighborhood groups, including SoMa Pilipinas, the art collective \u201cmumu,\u201d the Yerba Buena Gardens Community Benefit District, and the Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen this opportunity came to work with SoMa Pilipinas on the sun dome, I mean, it just made sense,\u201d said Seve Ghose, executive director of Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy. \u201cHow do we make up for what happened here 35 years ago?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.somapilipinas.org\/history\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">construction<\/a> of Yerba Buena Gardens in the 1960s and \u201870s displaced thousands of people, many of them Filipino, with no official recognition of their community.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, SoMa Pilipinas <a href=\"https:\/\/media.api.sf.gov\/documents\/SOMA_Pilipinas_-_Mumu_-_13N_122E.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/media.api.sf.gov\/documents\/SOMA_Pilipinas_-_Mumu_-_13N_122E.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">conducted<\/a> a study, offering ideas for ways to \u201cilluminate\u201d the gardens with a marker of Filipino culture. As mumu said, speaking for the collective, \u201cWe really just need to manifest our being and be seen, so that we can\u2019t easily get pushed out again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/static1.squarespace.com\/static\/5b2c30b58f51305e3d641e81\/t\/6605c2dc13f2ca23e481df5a\/1711654063491\/SP-illuminating-ybgardens\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/static1.squarespace.com\/static\/5b2c30b58f51305e3d641e81\/t\/6605c2dc13f2ca23e481df5a\/1711654063491\/SP-illuminating-ybgardens\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Findings<\/a> were presented to the Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy and Yerba Buena Partnership in early 2024, and the idea was officially greenlit. From there, art collective \u201cmumu\u201d \u2014 the group behind the piece\u2019s concept and design \u2014 began brainstorming different images. They toyed around with the star, another symbol of Filipino culture, before deciding on the sun.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"585\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/unnamed-2-853x640.jpg\" alt=\"Modern cityscape with buildings, flags, and a large orange dome, reflected in a still water pool in the foreground at sunset.\" class=\"wp-image-866906\"  \/>The light installation 13\u00b0N, 122\u00b0E during sunrise. Photo courtesy of mumu. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe sun is a star,\u201d said mumu. \u201cWe\u2019ve traveled so far, so we wanted it to be a reminder of a sense of home. We are maritime people, an archipelago of over 7,000 islands. When you think about the unifying life force behind the motherland, it\u2019s the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Deciding on the coordinates for the piece took some figuring out. \u201cWhen you map out the latitude and longitude of the archipelago, there\u2019s at least twelve hundred options,\u201d mumu said. \u201cSo we wanted to make the coordinates at the center, not on any particular island \u2014 and for the dome to be floating in water. We wanted to leverage the idea of reflection on the water surface, and that sense of horizon, hope and longing.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Turning that idea into a durable public sculpture took roughly two years. The glowing dome, designed to withstand San Francisco weather and potential graffiti, was fabricated in Thailand and shipped across the Pacific. <\/p>\n<p>Officially, the installation will be temporary, slated to come down around 2030. \u201cI\u2019ll put the \u2018temporary\u2019 in quotes,\u201d Ghose said. \u201cThe San Francisco Arts Commission has already set aside funding for a permanent installation,\u201d said Raquel Redondiez, executive director of SoMa Pilipinas. \u201cThis light installation is really a reclamation,\u201d she said. \u201cNot only to acknowledge the history and presence of our community, but our resilience and our persistence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A mini \u201csun-veiling\u201d took place at the gardens on Aug. 8, during the Filipino festival Pistahan, allowing community members to see the structure for the first time. A hundred people gathered around the glowing dome, watching it rise. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo come together in community, serenaded by harana, for the soft launch of 13\u00baN 122\u00baE, feels like a return home,\u201d said mumu. \u201cIt will always be this bright reminder in San Francisco of where we came from.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A corner of Yerba Buena Gardens will be illuminated this September by a second sun. 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