ARROZidency Research: Mission San Francisco de Asis & Mission Dolores Basilica

Sharing more of the extended research & photography of my month long ARROZidency artist-in-residence.

If you are just starting here, I recommend scrolling to the bottom to start at the beginning. View from a computer for the full experience!
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As another reminder, I've split up the work from my residency into 2 separate tags:

​For my main residency project only, visit:

VENERATING AN ICON

For the full extended roundup of my research during my residency, visit:

ARROZIDENCY

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A place I really wanted to visit during my time in the Bay was the San Francisco Mission, which I had just learnt was actually split into 2 different structures, including the Mission San Francicso de Asis & then Mission Dolores.

For anyone new here, I'm not religious, Catholic or Christian. However, I am interested in the history of the California Missions, because I'm interested in the parallels between the Natives of so-called California & the Natives of the so-called Philippines.

Strange, but one of my life goals is to someday visit all 21 California Missions. I've only visited 4. ​😅

Anyways, as someone part of the Ilokano/Filipino-Californian diaspora, I'm interested in the parallels between our histories because we share the same colonisers — Spain & the so-called United States of America — with both still having a traumatic chokehold on our cultures. Whenever I visit a church in the Philippines, my first thought is, "This feels like I'm in California." And when I visit a church in California, I find myself thinking the reverse: "I feel like I'm in the Philippines." It's these feelings that lead me to believe that the Californian diasporic experience is particularly unique among Filipinos.

[ For some quick comparisons, check out my more recent photos of the church in San Juan, La Union, where my father was baptised in the 1930s & where we had his mass before his internment; the Namacpacan church in Luna, La Union; & the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu, where I started my research for this residency. ]

​The Mission in San Francisco is the oldest structure in the city & it also houses the oldest & only cemetery within the city limits. This was particularly interesting for me, because while I haven't been to many CA Missions yet, this is the only one I've been to (so far?) with a cemetery. I'll share more history on the cemetery below.

Starting with some exterior views of the Mission San Francisco de Asis, moving into the interior, to the cemetery, and to the interior of the Mission Dolores Basilica.

​Photographs were created with my Nikon ZF & a 24-70mm lens.

Click any image below to enlarge.

Mission San Francisco de Asis Exterior

​Mission San Francisco de Asis Interior

St. Joseph's Altar (1810). Anonymous. wood, gold leaf, oil paint.
Left to right: St. John of Capistrano, Saint Joseph, St. Bonaventure.

St. Anthony's Altar ​(1810). Anonymous. wood, gold leaf, oil paint.
​Left to right: St. Pascual of Baylón, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Francis of Solano.

Reredos, Main Altar (1797). Anonymous. wood, gold leaf, oil paint.

According to church signage:

The reredos was crafted in Mexico and brought to the mission in 1797.

Clockwise from top left: St. Francis of Assisi in ecstasy. St. Joachim, father of Mary. St. Michael the Archangel. St. Clare of Assisi, founder of the order known as the Poor Clares. St. Francis of Assisi with the stigmata. St. Anne, mother of Mary. Crucifix. Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception. Tabernacle.

After a quick search, I learnt that a reredos is a type of altarpiece.

According to Britannica:

altarpiece, work of art that decorates the space above and behind the altar in a Christian church. Painting, relief, and sculpture in the round have all been used in altarpieces, either alone or in combination. These artworks usually depict holy personages, saints, and biblical subjects.

Several technical terms are associated with altarpieces. The predella is a low, decorated strip intended to raise the main part of the altarpiece to a height where it is readily visible from a distance. A diptych is an altarpiece consisting of two painted panels, a triptych has three panels, and a polyptych has four or more panels. A winged altarpiece is one equipped with movable wings that can be opened or closed over a fixed central part, thereby allowing various representations to be exposed to view. The term reredos is used for an ornamental screen or partition that is not directly attached to the altar table but is affixed to the wall behind it. The term retable simply refers to any ornamental panel behind an altar.

Ceiling.

MISSION INNER-EXTERIOR + CEMETERY

Pictured right is the Mission museum, which houses a fair amount of Native crafts & artifacts from the Ohlone people. To be honest, I didn't want to take photos of any of it. ​😕

Ceramic mosaic mural by San Francisco artist, Guillermo Granizo (1923-1996). According to Granizo, "In the garden of the mission is a mural of the Spanish Ship "San Carlos" that was sent by the Spaniards to the Pueblo San Francisco to sponsor and colonize the area."

Mission Dolores Cemetery

For centuries, the Native Raymatush Ohlone inhabited the peninsula. Near the Mission was once the Chutchui village, where Franciscan monks later decided to build the Mission.

While the church interiors were interesting to me, I was particularly drawn to the cemetery because it was my first time seeing one at one of the CA Missions. And it wasn't just interesting to me because I love gothic aesthetics! It actually has a disturbing & dark history (no pun intended).

Interred at this cemetery are around 5,000 Native Ohlone people. Sources say that they supposedly died due to bad weather & diseases brought from Europe. Somehow, I have a feeling the "bad weather" reason is a crock of shit. We all know by now that genocide of Native people via disease & illnesses is nothing new, especially now as we are witnessing the genocide of the Palestinian people, whom the Israeli government has blocked from receiving life-saving COVID-19 vaccines.

​There's also no way I counted 5,000 headstones at this cemetery, so they were likely buried together in an unmarked mass grave. Like all the other CA Missions, this one was no different. It was built by the forced labor of CA Natives, who were called "Indios" & violently forced to convert to Catholicism & adopt a Spanish name — just like the Natives of the so-called Philippines. 

Statue of St. Francis of Assisi.

What I find particularly resonant is the work of Ohlone descendants to honor their ancestors, who were wrongfully killed by Spanish colonisers on this property and buried here. In 2001, members of their community built this Ohlone tule hut as a lasting memorial to them.

I hope one day this statue of Junipero Serra is toppled, too. ​😤

Also at this cemetery is a statue of Kateri Tekakwitha, who apparently was a Native Mohawk woman from New York who converted to Catholicism & later became a saint. Beneath her statue reads "In prayerful memory of our faithful Indians." Some believe she was placed in the cemetery to ease animosity between the Natives & the Mission, & to serve as a marker for those unnamed.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find who this statue is of. 😅 If you happen to know, please feel free to drop a comment! I did love the juxtaposition of the statue with the green & the orange cone, so I decided to keep these in color.

Mission Dolores Basilica

While the Mission San Francisco de Asis was founded in 1776 (technically JUST before the United States was established as a country!), the Mission Dolores Basilica was built 100 years after in 1876.

I don't know what more to say about this basilica, other than the fact that it reminds me of churches in the Philippines. ​😅 This was the last space I visited at the Mission site. I didn't get any photos of the ceiling mural, but make sure to look up if you visit. While the small Mission church certainly had its own charm, the basically was epic in comparison.

Additional photos & research from the rest of my residency are forthcoming & will be tagged under ARROZidency.

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If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.