Past
Jasmine Orpilla (performer and composer) and Asher Hartman (director and writer) make Blessed with Switch, an unnerving hacking and syncing of language as it cuts into the geo-psychical feminine.
Learn moreInebria me is a new, experimental opera by acclaimed LA-based musician and performance artist San Cha that queers cisgender and heteronormative tropes of telenovela and celebrates the liberating power of ascendant relationships. Led by a visionary, bicoastal, queer of color creative team, Inebria me’s live sound score—with influences from ranchera, cumbia, punk, classical, and electro—merges with bold vocal performances and innovative theatrical design to create a powerful political and poetic statement for opera’s modern stage.
Learn moreIn DADS, Elby and Shane are confronted with the largest demon they have yet to face: their purpose. This deeply existential and heartfelt dance odyssey between two platonic lovers interrogates queer culture and Elby and Shane’s relationships to their fathers, all while trying to figure out their role in making the world a better place.
Learn moreHorizon is the perceived line where sky meets Earth—a locator in constant motion. Horizon is a dance.
Learn moreA delicious and convenient way to connect before the show, box meals offer a shared moment of nourishment and conversation with artists, staff, crew, and fellow attendees. Available for pre-purchase September 5 – 7 and 11 – 13, these meals invite you to slow down, gather at communal tables, and enjoy a thoughtfully prepared bite before heading into an evening of performance.
Learn moreDuring TBA:25, come gather in PICA’s Bar Garden for shared meals that bring artists, crew, and community together. PICA’s Bar Garden is home for the TBA:25 Opening Night Dinner, pre-show box meals with artists, and post-show chats over a drink.
Learn moreOmni Rail is an ambisonic, walk-through instrument designed from the stairwells, railings, and cable system of Portland’s historic 511 Building, transforming the architecture itself into a resonant body. The instrument is its own speaker system, both metaphorically and physically.
Learn morePICA is committed to accessibility as a value, ethic, and opportunity for learning, growth, and change. As we strive to create greater access to all of our programs and events, including the TBA Festival, we welcome feedback and dialogue from audiences and artists about their experiences and suggestions for improvement. To submit feedback, please contact us at boxoffice@pica.org or call 503-224-PICA (7422).
Learn morePICA’s Pavilion—airy, welcoming, and centrally located—becomes the Bar Garden during TBA. Whether you’re a longtime collaborator or first-time attendee, join us for drinks, toasts, and long-table conversations that spill into the night.
Learn moreView the digital version of the 2025 TBA catalog.
Learn moreA day-by-day schedule for TBA:25
Learn moreRooted in dovetailing practices of artmaking and gastronomy, Ray Anthony Barrett's "Who by Fire" returns to fire as one of the most fundamental elements for human survival.
Learn moreOn June 7, join PICA on the twilit waters of the Willamette River for Obsidian, the 2025 edition of our Annual Fundraiser: a one-of-a-kind dinner cruise aboard the Portland Spirit. Come together with a vibrant constellation of fellow champions for contemporary art and enjoy an evening of extraordinary support for PICA.
Learn moreGrit & Grain is a group exhibition that brings together more than 50 contributors to celebrate five years of print work made at nůn studios since its founding in early 2020.
Learn moreYou’re invited to participate in the creation of a large-scale, permanent 2D public artwork for Portland International Airport (PDX)!
Learn morePresented in conjunction with "ja' / buuts' / t'aan," Patricia Vázquez Gómez's immersive installation on the maayat’aan language, join us for an afternoon screening short films from the Yucatec Mayan diaspora!
Learn moreA random encounter with a camera on the streets of Tallinn, Estonia made choreographer and dancer Rakesh Sukesh a momentary poster boy for a right wing news channel’s campaign against immigration from Asia and Africa. What happens to his body when it is rendered into a viral, racist symbol? In because i love the diversity (this micro-attitude, we all have it), Rakesh tells the story of his own journey through the powerful semi-improvisational, trance-like movement technique that makes him such an in-demand teacher across the world. *show has brief full nudity.
Learn moreThis immersive installation explores the relationship between a group of Mayan youth living in Portland with with their mother tongue: maayat’aan (Maya Peninsular/Yucatec Mayan), an Indigenous language of present-day Yucatán, Mexico. Mostly shot in the Yucatán municipalities of Maní and Dzan with audio recorded in Portland, ja’ / buuts’ / t’aan investigates personal struggles to learn and preserve Indigenous languages that mirror enduring societal failures to support their survival.
Learn moreIn Preparation for Disappearances to Come is a music/dance collaboration. It is a machine to practice remembering and forgetting. It is an occasion for us to slyly, if futilely, enact strategies to sidestep the inevitability of our own future dissolution and the ephemerality of performance. It is a prompt to consider how our lives and works dissolve, replenishing the cultural compost that nourishes the future, even as we ourselves are forgotten. In Preparation for Disappearances to Come is presented by Performance Works NorthWest with the support of the PICA's SPACE Program.
Learn moreRoger Beebe returns to the road with a program of 16mm multi-projector performances celebrating the 25thanniversary of his first touring program. This evening of expanded cinema will include multiple-projector performances and essayistic videos that “explore the world of found images and the “found” landscapes of late capitalism.” With a fleet of 16mm, Super8, and video projectors, Beebe’s work touches on the themes of labor, structures and structuralism, and the real and virtual, not only in the content of the images, but also in how they appear on screen. This will be his first show in Portland since 2015.
Learn moreJoin us for an evening of communal warmth and artistic appreciation. Come one, come all to the annual Precipice Fund Celebration! On Saturday, December 7, we’ll gather together at PICA to raise a glass to friends, local artists, and the nourishment that Portland’s creative community offers one another. This event is free and open to the public.
Learn moreNOTHING#15: a bluff is the third part of Knight’s series. This performance presents Knight alone, responding improvisationally to a mostly empty space, its features, and its audiences.
Learn moreAlmost Everyone Is Ready: The Cinema of Stephanie Barber Presented by Cinema Project Stephanie Barber makes films and videos in which verbal communication often takes top billing, but they could also be watched for their elegant imagery alone. She is continually drawing our focus, with the intense work of her art, to the tenderest spots mostly out of reach.
Learn moreAutumn Knight’s performances create spaces for intimacy between the audience and performer. Her series NOTHING#15: a bar, a bed, a bluff is a three-part investigation into the Italian concept of “dolce far niente,” or “the sweetness of doing nothing.”
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