by Sandy | Aug 3, 2009 | Blogroll, Books, Culture, Writers
A local book reviewer described the latest Toni Morrison novel, “A Mercy”, as “ferociously beautiful”. (Actually, you can describe many of her books this way.)
Ms Morrison has such a fantastical, spiritual approach to her characters and plot, but she’s also got “edge”. She can set a tone, paint a picture, capture identifiable feeling/emotion and describe events so clearly and with such poetry that it makes you laugh or, it makes you cry. There are some passages in her much acclaimed book “Beloved” that are so painful that your throat clutches and closes. Her “truth”, cloaked in make believe, is sometimes difficult to handle – sort of a ground glass in the oatmeal type of thing. You feel it.
(“Beloved” won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 and Ms Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.)
I think she is amazing and a real gift. “A Mercy”, by Tony Morrison
“Writing was … the most extraordinary way of thinking and feeling. It became the one thing I was doing that I had absolutely no intention of living without.” Toni Morrison
by Sandy | Jul 31, 2009 | Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Culture, music
Salif Keita, a native Mali, (the home of Timbuktu) blends the music and songs of his homeland with those of Cuba, Spain and the West coast of Africa (Senegal, Ivory Coast)
An exciting performer, Keita’s CDs capture all of the passion and emotion of his live performances.
Salif Keita’s recent releases:
Soro
M’Bemba
The Mansa of Mali…A Retrospective
by Sandy | Jul 29, 2009 | Art, Blogroll, Culture
32 pieces have been gathered for the Art Institute of Chicago‘s exhibit, “Beyond Golden Clouds”. It showcases the art of Japanese screen making from the 16th to 21st centuries.
Screens have covered, divided and beautified spaces in different cultures around the world. According to the museum catalog, “…the screen is the canvas upon which artists have historically realized their most expansive visions, which is why they are so often career-defining masterpieces.”
“Beyond Golden Clouds: Japanese Screens“ – until 9/27/09
AIC, Art Institute of Chicago, 111 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois
Images: 6 panel screen, 17th century and “Willow, Bridge and Waterwheel”, 1650 Hasegawa Soya
by Sandy | Jul 24, 2009 | Blogroll, Culture, Exhibits
“Tradition, Change and Celebration in Native Women’s Dress” will be on exhibit at the Museum of the American Indian in NYC through Sept. 2009.
“Bringing together a vast array of dresses and accessories from the Plains, Plateau, and Great Basin regions of the United States and Canada, “Identity by Design” highlights Native women’s identity through traditional dress and its contemporary evolution.” (museum catalog)
“Identity by Design” until 9/29/09
Museum of the American Indian – (212) 514-3700
George Gustav Heye Center, 1 Bowling Green St, NYC
(Crow elk tooth cloth dress, ca. 1890. Montana. Red and green wool, imitation elk teeth (bone), seed beads, muslin, thread.)
by Sandy | Jul 14, 2009 | Art, Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Culture, Events, Exhibits, Museums, Photograhy
“Richard Avedon: Photographs 1946 – 2004”
More than 200 photographs are included in this retrospective of Avedon’s work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Born in NYC 1923, he began work in 1944 at a department store, but quickly became the go-to photographer for magazines like Vogue, Look, Harper’s Bazaar, etc. Richard Avedon may be best known for his pictures of movie celebrities, rock stars and fashion magazine covers, but he was also involved with film and published several books.
“Richard Avedon: Photographs 1946 – 2004” – Until November, 2009
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
151 Third Street, San Francisco, CA
by Sandy | Jul 12, 2009 | Blogroll, Events, Exhibits, Learning, Museums
“The Journey to Flight” – Until November 1, 2009
Long lost photographs and artifacts of these World War II pilots are on display at California African American Museum (CAAM). There will be airplane making workshops for kids, question/answer sessions with some of the Tuskegee Airmen and many other activities surrounding this event.
“Tuskegee Airmen fought on many battlefields, foreign and domestic yet were under acknowledged and under appreciated. As the surviving Tuskegee Airmen were saluted by their newest Commander-in-Chief, President Barack Obama, riding past his Inaugural reviewing stand on January 20, 2009, they were smiling and rose up as proudly as if their now frailer bodies had slipped off the bonds of time. It’s time to recall for a new generation the regard we have for these ageless warriors and all those who sent them aloft –to see them as the young gallant men and women who proudly went to war for us all and became our heroes of WWII.”
“Tuskegee Airmen: The Journey to Flight” – thru 11/1/ 2009
California African American Museum (CAAM)
600 State Drive, Exposition Park, Los Angeles, CA
http://www.tuskegeeairmen.org/
