by Sandy | Jul 25, 2013 | Actors, Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Books, CDs, dvd
Everyone knows who Mr. Belafonte is – just listening to a few chords of “Day-O” or “Ma-tilda” brings his handsome face to the mind’s eye. At 85, he is still attractive of course, but Harry Belafonte: Sing Your Song, a fascinating documentary on DVD, fills in and rounds out the well lived life of the entertainer to be more than a man in a sexy shirt and tight pants. Besides being a singer, actor, husband and father, Mr. Belafonte is an activist, a pioneer and a humanitarian. A full life.
BTW: There is a book My Song: A Memoir and a CD, Harry Belafonte Sing Your Song: The Music that also celebrate this man’s life and music.
by Sandy | Jul 21, 2013 | Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Culture, Exhibits
The Museum of Fine Arts Boston presents, not the Tom Cruise movie, but, “Samurai! Armor from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection” featuring the extraordinary artistry of the armor used by samurai—the military elite led by the shoguns, or warlords, of Japan from the 12th through 19th centuries.” “…more than 140 objects from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller collection, including armored horses carrying combat-ready samurai in full regalia. Highlights include helmets of lacquered metal adorned with emblems often inspired by nature—which signaled the status of the wearer, differentiated samurai from each other, and also frightened the enemy on the battlefield—and full suits of exquisitely crafted armor, weapons, horse armor, and accoutrements used for both battle and ceremonies.”
Samurai! Armor from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection
Until August 4, 2013 – Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Avenue of the Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA
by Cybel Martin | Jul 14, 2013 | Blogroll, CDs, Culture, music
I love to listen to Brazilian music when I paint: Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Stan Getz etc. I just read this absolutely fascinating article in the NY Times about the origins of Brazilian music: how it was influenced by Arabic culture & how its aesthetic was passed onto American Blues. I have to get my hands on the recently released “Musica Tradicional do Norte e Nordeste 1938”. (It’s a 6 CD box set of Brazilian music circa 1938.)
by Sandy | Jul 4, 2013 | Blogroll, Books, Culture, Exhibits, Learning
Its that time of year again. This annual event involves over 200 exhibit booths, music, panel discussions and children’s activities. It’s a great way to spend a Friday night / Saturday in the city.
“The vision of the Harlem Book Fair is to partner with local
and national leadership organizations under the banner of literacy
awareness, affirming HBF as the nation’s largest African American
literary event celebrating family literacy, community empowerment,
and community cooperation. “
2013 Harlem Book Fair
Friday July 19 / Saturday July 20, 2013
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
West 135th Street between Malcolm X Blvd and Fredrick Douglas Blvd
by Sandy | Jun 6, 2013 | Art, Blogroll, Culture, Exhibits, Museums
This is just one of the many beautiful Benin bronze figures included in the Metropolitan Museum’s “Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas” exhibits.
“Oba” was the term used for King in Benin, West Africa (now part of Nigeria). I am so grateful that some of this former kingdom’s art has been preserved.
Art can be such a history lesson sometimes. So often it represents what is most important to a people during specific periods of their time.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
5th Ave and 86 Street, NYC
www.metmuseum.org
*Head of an Oba, 16th century (ca. 1550) Nigeria; Edo, Court of Benin (Brass)
by Sandy | May 9, 2013 | Art, Arts, Entertainment and Music, Blogroll, Culture, Exhibits
The Kinsey Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey
“Five centuries of African American history, culture and heritage… the exhibition celebrates Bernard and Shirley Kinsey’s passion for collecting objects of extraordinary significance over the 40 years of their marriage.
One of the largest private collections of African American artifacts, documents and artwork, the Kinsey collection of rare books and manuscripts, paintings, prints, sculpture, and photographs includes an early version of the Emancipation Proclamation, correspondence between Malcolm X and Alex Haley, slave shackles, a 1773 first-edition copy of poems by Phillis Wheatley”, and more.
The Kinsey Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey
Until May 19, 2013
MoAD – The Museum of the African Diaspora
685 Mission Street San Francisco, CA
Everyone knows who Mr. Belafonte is – just listening to a few chords of “Day-O” or “Ma-tilda” brings his handsome face to the mind’s eye. At 85, he is still attractive of course, but Harry Belafonte: Sing Your Song, a fascinating documentary on DVD, fills in and rounds out the well lived life of the entertainer to be more than a man in a sexy shirt and tight pants. Besides being a singer, actor, husband and father, Mr. Belafonte is an activist, a pioneer and a humanitarian. A full life.
