The Fine Arts Center

This exhibition brings together for the first time the work of seven internationally renowned artists working in the field of photography, including:

YTO BARRADA (France and Morocco)
RINEKE DIJKSTRA (The Netherlands)
CUNY JANSSEN (The Netherlands)
AN-MY LE (born in Vietnam, currently living in the US)
CLARE RICHARDSON (UK)
JOHN RIDDY (UK)
and JOEL STERNFELD (US)

It combines work by young, emerging artists with work by those who are more internationally renowned. Works by these artists have been exhibited previously at such major museums as the Victoria and Albert, London; the Stedelijk, Amsterdam; Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Jeu de Paume, Paris; Sprengel Museum, Hannover; and Museum Folkwang Essen. For several, this will be their premiere museum exhibition in the US.

Their images are very personal diaries of a place, exploring the evolving relationship between people and nature, rural and urban, old and new, timelessness and change, natural and artificial. It is the balance between these contrasts that lends these bodies of work a highly contemplative feel. The format of the exhibition will constitute a series of narratives or extended essays by each artist, which resonate and connect with one another. Singular characteristics in certain of these individual pictures, as well as obscure connections between contrastive identities and disjunctive moments, engender a sense of surprise and discovery. For example, Cuny Jansen travels to Amami-Oshima Island, Japan, to produce beautifully printed portraits of young people seen against a virgin landscape, encouraging an optimistic reading of the enduring truths of survival and beauty. John Riddy juxtaposes the natural beauty of Mount Fuji against the indications of an urbanized modern Japanese town. Clare Richardson is drawn to an area of Transylvania through her interest in farming and the mythic potential of unspoiled nature, in particular the narratives and folklore associated with the forest. Rineke Dijkstra presents portraits of schoolchildren and adolescents in city parks in Europe, China, and the US, positioning her subjects in almost Eden-like surroundings, looking back to the tradition of landscape painting. Joel Sternfeld’s photographs are grand and epic in scope, recording a New England landscape at different times of the year and depicting the painterly and expressive changes of the seasons from the lush verdant green of springtime to the snowy expanses of winter. An-My Le explores a quarry along the Hudson River in New York where trap rock has been mined for over a century, returning repeatedly and choosing a range of times of day and weather conditions to record the site and its activities. Yto Barrada brings together a series of photographs to examine the static and transitory life of Tangier, Morocco ñ the border city 13 km from Europe across the Strait of Gibraltar — at once symbolic, physical, historical and intimately personal.

Wednesday, September 24 – Sunday, December 14
University Gallery
Free and open to the public.

Inscribed on stone tablets in Babylonia more than three thousand years ago, the Epic of Gilgamesh tells of King Gilgamesh’s quest for immortality after losing his dearest friend, Enkidu. This unforgettable story, set in Mesopotamia (today’s Iraq), is presented in a mesmerizing mix of music and storytelling. As the storyteller, Margaret Olivia Wolfson spins her version of the epic, bringing its characters and themes of friendship and courage, love and loss to new and exciting life, as renowned Palestinian-American musician Simon Shaheen and the musicians of his Qantara Ensemble, perform dazzling rhythms and haunting melodies on Oud (Arabian lute), violin, Ney (Arabian flute), and world percussion. Together, the storytelling and music create a thrilling experience guaranteed to inspire and intrigue.

When: Friday, November 14, 10:00 AM
Where: Bowker Auditorium
Tickets: $20, $15: FC students & Youth: $15 Reserved seating

Reserve seating while it lasts! If you would like to leave a comment please feel free to do so! We love hearing what you think about the shows of the Fine Arts Center! Be a critic! Be a fan!

Let’s go globe-hopping! 🙂

Led by Paul Taylor, the reigning master of modern dance, this magnificent troupe makes spirits soar. The San Francisco Examiner proclaimed, “Paul Taylor is without question the greatest living American choreographer.” His works are known for their emotional depth, dazzling physicality, social reverence, humor, superb musicality, and a rare sense of beauty. His dancers are brilliant and his choreography offers unending surprises. “One of the most exciting, innovative and delightful dance companies in the entire world,” says The New York Times. Funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the American Masterpieces initiative, with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies.

Thursday, November 13
Concert Hall 7:30 pm
$40, $30, $15; Five College Students and Youth 17 and under $15

Jurors, Independent Curators: David Gibson and Klaus Postler

Everyone wants to know who the next important and influential artists will be: We’re conditioned by popular culture to want to know who is the latest and the greatest and who is on the rise to the top.

No one can guarantee that the artists selected for New England/New York/New Talent 2008 will become the visual artists whose work will endure and which will make a lasting impact, never the less, Hampden Gallery is excited to participate in the process of identifying who these artists might be and, equally important, to take part in identifying by what measure or yardstick they will be chosen.

November 7 – December 7
Hampden Gallery

The passionate artistry, energetic stage presence, and astonishing virtuosity of Esperanza Spalding have propelled her to the forefront of the current scene. Hailed by The Boston Globe as the “Ace of Bass” Spalding is recognized and lauded by both peers and jazz critics alike. This twenty-something phenom is committed to exploring the rich potential of jazz composition and blazing new trails on bass AND vocals. Billy Taylor Artist-in-Residence.

Friday, November 7, 8:00 PM
Top of the Campus
$15; Five College Students and Youth 17 and under $7

We’d like to hear what you think, so if you could, become a critic and write what you thought about Esperanza Spalding! Thank you for reading and we hope you have a good weekend! Be a fan and go globe-hopping with us!

The power of this a cappella ensemble of African-American women transcends all the technologically enhanced music of the day. They seamlessly blend lyrics, spirited movement, and stirring narrative interpreted in American Sign Language. Since its founding in 1973, Sweet Honey in the Rock has performed around the world, raising their voices in hope, love, justice, peace, and resistance. Sweet Honey invites its audiences to open their minds and hearts and think about who we are and how we interact with our fellow creatures on this planet. Funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the American Masterpieces initiative, with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies.

Music Samples

Saturday, November 1
Concert Hall 8:00 pm
$35, $30, $15; Five College Students and Youth 17 and under $15

The power of this a cappella ensemble of African-American women transcends all the technologically enhanced music of the day. They seamlessly blend lyrics, spirited movement, and stirring narrative interpreted in American Sign Language. Since its founding in 1973, Sweet Honey in the Rock has performed around the world, raising their voices in hope, love, justice, peace, and resistance. Sweet Honey invites its audiences to open their minds and hearts and think about who we are and how we interact with our fellow creatures on this planet. Funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the American Masterpieces initiative, with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies.

Music Samples

Tuesday, October 28
Concert Hall 7:30 pm
$40, $30, $15; Five College Students and Youth 17 and under $15

Based on the bestselling novel by the Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner tells the story of Amir, a boy from Kabul, who is haunted by the guilt of betraying his childhood friend Hassan, the son of his father’s servant. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of the monarchy in Afghanistan through the Soviet invasion, the mass exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the Taliban regime.

Post-performance talk with the actor Sorab Wadia.

This Literature to Life representation of The Kite Runner is made by special arrangement with the author and The American Place Theater.