this week in literature

MODERN MONDAYS: AN EVENING WITH WONG KAR WAI

wkw

Who: Wong Kar Wai, La Frances Hui
What: Modern Mondays
Where: MoMA Film, Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves., 212-708-9400
When: Monday, May 23, $8-$12, 7:30
Why: “Our distant comradeship went on for twenty years, all of them blessedly unconstrained by the inhibiting, red-eyed presence of a tape recorder. We never did a proper interview, much less anything so large as a book,” pop-culture and film critic John Powers recently wrote in his Vogue essay “How to Write a Book with Wong Kar Wai,” continuing, “As I flew home to L.A., I was experiencing what I’d long heard about working on one of Wong’s long-gestating films: You spend your time waiting and waiting, dependent on his decisions, wondering if there’s any end in sight.” They were trying to finish what would become WKW: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai (Rizzoli, April 2016, $65) in time for the opening of the Met Fifth Avenue’s exhibition “China: Through the Looking Glass,” for which Wong was serving as artistic director. Well, they made it, and on May 23, Wong, the writer-director of such cutting-edge works as Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Happy Together, and the lush In the Mood for Love, will be at MoMA for a Modern Mondays presentation including film clips, a conversation with MoMA Department of Film associate curator La Frances Hui, and a book signing. “China: Through the Looking Glass” continues in the Met’s Chinese Galleries and Anna Wintour Costume Center through September 7.

BOOK LAUNCH: CLEANING UP NEW YORK

cleaning up new york

Who: Bob Rosenthal, Ada Calhoun
What: Celebration for the paperback publication of Cleaning Up New York: The ’70s Cult Classic (the Little Bookroom, March 2016, $12.95)
Where: Rizzoli Bookstore, 1133 Broadway at 26th St., 212-759-2424
When: Wednesday, May 18, free, 6:00
Why: “$60. I needed $60 in three weeks’ time. I was out of a job so the idea of doing temporary work just popped into my head. I called a friend who had once done cleaning jobs and he told me to call up Everything for Living Space.” So begins Bob Rosenthal’s 1970s cult classic, Cleaning Up New York, which features the rather lengthy explanation on the front: “In which our hero coffees up with a pill, fortifies himself with some (pocketed) weed, and mops and waxes his way through weird vibes, domestic dramas . . . and seduction.” Rosenthal, who documented his time as Allen Ginsberg’s secretary for the Local East Village blog a few years ago, will be at the Rizzoli Bookstore on May 18 to talk about Cleaning Up New York with Ada Calhoun, the author of St. Marks Is Dead: The Many Lives of America’s Hippest Street (Norton, November 2015, $27.95).

HAPPY ENDING MUSIC & READING SERIES WITH CHARLES BOCK, ANI DiFRANCO, AMBER TAMBLYN & MORE

Who: Charles Bock, Ani DiFranco, Amber Tamblyn, Belinda McKeon, Kate Neckel, Lady Parts Justice, Amanda Stern
What: Happy Ending Music & Reading Series
Where: Symphony Space, Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 2537 Broadway at 95th St., 212-864-5400
When: Wednesday, May 18, $15-$30, 7:30
Why: Symphony Space’s Happy Ending Music & Reading Series presents artists performing risky feats while musicians collaborate on a sing-along of cover tunes. Past participants have included Lena Dunham, John Cameron Mitchell, Zadie Smith, Vampire Weekend, Jennifer Egan, and Moby. On May 18, host and curator Amanda Stern, who founded the series in 2003, brings together author Charles Bock (Alice & Oliver, Beautiful Children), musician, activist, and Righteous Babe Ani DiFranco (Up Up Up Up Up Up, Allergic to Water), author Belinda McKeon (Tender, Solace), artist and designer Kate Neckel (Start Now! The Creativity Journal), author, actress, and director Amber Tamblyn (Dark Sparkler, Joan of Arcadia), and special guests Lady Parts Justice for another unpredictable evening of art, music, literature, and mayhem.

FIRST SATURDAY — DISGUISE: MASKS AND GLOBAL AFRICAN ART

Zina Saro-Wiwa, detail, “The Invisible Man,” pigmented inkjet print, 2015 (Seattle Art Museum, commission, courtesy of the artist © Zina Saro-Wiwa)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, May 7, free, 5:00 – 11:00
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum celebrates its new exhibition, “Disguise: Masks and Global African Art,” which pairs twenty-five contemporary works of art with historical masquerade pieces to create a dialogue, at its free First Saturday program on May 7. The evening will feature live performances by Ifetayo Youth Ensemble, Jojo Abot, DJ Tunez, Laara Garcia (activating Saya Woolfalk’s “ChimaTEK: Virtual Chimeric Space”), and Djassi DaCosta Johnson (performing Brendan Fernandes’s In Touch); screenings of Jennie Livingston’s Paris Is Burning and short films from Wangechi Mutu’s AFRICA’SOUT!; a multimedia book club reading and discussion with Nnedi Okorafor, N. K. Jemisin, and Ibi Zoboi, along with performing arts collective BKLYN ZULU; pop-up gallery talks; a hands-on workshop in which participants can make their own masks and costumes; a talk by Arts of Africa and the Pacific Islands associate curator Kevin Dumouchelle on African masquerade around the world; interactive storytelling exploring African myth with Gage Cook; and, for the grand finale, a Vogue Ball hosted by Jacolby Satterwhite. In addition, you can check out such other exhibitions as “This Place,” “Tom Sachs: Boombox Retrospective, 1999–2016,” “Stephen Powers: Coney Island Is Still Dreamland (to a Seagull),” and “Agitprop!”

OPEN STUDIOS WITH WORKSPACE ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

Workspace Artist-in-Residence Tamar Ettun rehearses at LMCC’s Studios at 28 Liberty (photo by Jonathan Patkowski for LMCC)

Who: Sarah Anderson, Mirene Arsanios, Chloë Bass, Jesse Bonnell, Esteban Cabeza De Baca, Glendaliz Camacho, Adriane Connerton, Nick Doyle, Tamar Ettun, Joel W. Fisher, Nadja Frank, Susan Karwoska, Amy Khoshbin, Lisa Ko, Courtney Krantz, Tora Lopez, Melanie McLain, Rangi McNeil, Irini Miga, Trokon Nagbe, Meredith Nickie, New Saloon, Christina Olivares, Piehole, Ronny Quevedo, Maria Rapoport, Keisha Scarville, Pascual Sisto, Stacy Spence, Yuliya Tsukerman, Jessica Vaughn
What: LMCC Open Studios
Where: LMCC’s Studios at 28 Liberty, 28 Liberty St. between Pine, Liberty, Nassau, & William Sts.
When: Friday, April 29, 6:00–9:00, and Saturday, April 30, 1:00–6:00 (Open Texts 6:00–8:00), free with advance RSVP
Why: The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, which “empowers artists by providing them with networks, resources, and support, to create vibrant, sustainable communities in Lower Manhattan and beyond,” is kicking off its annual Open Studios by welcoming visitors on Friday night, April 29, and Saturday afternoon and evening, April 30, to wander through its Financial District space and check out works-in-progress by thirty-one artists artists who have been busy since September immersed in paintings, sketches, photographs, sculptures, videos, poetry, dances, plays, and more. The event is free with advance RSVP; the studios will close Saturday at 6:00 for two hours of spoken-word performances. The Open Studios program continues through October with presentations at 28 Liberty and 125 Maiden Lane and on Governors Island with such performers and choreographers as Okwui Okpokwasili, the Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre, Faye Driscoll, Netta Yerushalmy, Amber Hawk Swanson, Ephrat Asherie, Jodi Melnick, and YACKEZ (Larissa and Jon Velez-Jackson).

SAKURA MATSURI 2016

J-Lounge Stage at Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a great place to both party and relax (photo by Jason Gardner)

Brooklyn Botanic Garden
900 Washington Ave. at Eastern Parkway
Saturday, April 30, and Sunday, May 1, $20-$25 (children under twelve free), 10:00 am – 5:30 pm
718-623-7200
www.bbg.org

Spring appears to finally have arrived, and that means it’s time for one of the city’s most fabulous annual festivals, the Sakura Matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The weekend celebrates the beauty of the blossoming of the cherry trees with live music and dance, parades, workshops, demonstrations, martial arts, fashion shows, Ikebana flower arranging, a bonsai exhibit, Shogi chess, garden tours, the Mataro Ningyo Doll Museum, book signings, Japanese food, clothing, pottery, wall scrolls, kimonos, lots of children’s activities, and more. Below are ten daily featured highlights of this always lovely party, with many events going on all day long and over both days.

Saturday, April 30

Book signing: Kate T. Williamson, A Year in Japan, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 11:00

Ukiyo-e Illustration Demonstration with Jed Henry, Art Alley, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 11:00 & 2:00

The Battersby Show: Cosplay 101, with Charles Battersby, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 11:30

Manga Drawing with Misako Rocks!, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 12 noon, 1:15, and 3:00

Sohenryu Tea Ceremony, with tea masters Soumi Shimizu and Sōkyo Shimizu, BBG Tea Center Auditorium, 12:15 & 2:45

Dancejapan with Sachiyo Ito, Main Stage, Cherry Esplanade, 1:30

Book signing: Abby Denson, Cool Japan Guide: Fun in the Land of Manga, Lucky Cats and Ramen, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 3:00

Hanagasa Odori flower hat procession, with the Japanese Folk Dance Institute of New York, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 4:00

BBG Parasol Society Fashion Show, featuring live music by the Hanami Ensemble, Main Stage, Cherry Esplanade, 4:30

Yuzu’s Dream: An Urban Folk Odyssey, with Yuzu, Akim Funk Buddha, and his Origami Dance Crew, Main Stage, Cherry Esplanade, 5:15

Sunday, May 1

Japanese Garden Stroll, 10:00 am

Akim Funk Buddha’s Urban Tea Ceremony Unplugged, BBG Tea Center Auditorium, 12 noon

KuroPOP dance party, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 12:45

Stand-up Comic Uncle Yo, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 1:15 & 3:00

Samurai Sword Soul, Main Stage, Cherry Esplanade, 2:00

Takarabune Dance, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 2:00

Book signing: Rumi Hara, The Return of Japanese Wolves, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 3:00

Colossal Origami, with Taro Yaguchi, J-Lounge at Osborne Garden, 3:45

Sohenryu Tea Ceremony for Families, with Soumi Shimizu and Sōkyo Shimizu, BBG Tea Center Auditorium, 4:15

The Seventh Annual Sakura Matsuri Cosplay Fashion Show, with original music by Taiko Masala, Main Stage, Cherry Esplanade, 5:15

DON DeLILLO AND DANA SPIOTTA

Don DeLillo and Dana Spiotta will team up at the 92nd St. Y on May 2

Who: Don DeLillo, Dana Spiotta
What: Reading, conversation, and signing
Where: 92nd St. Y, Kaufmann Concert Hall, 1395 Lexington Ave. at 92nd St., 212-415-5500
When: Monday, May 2, $15-$35, 8:00
Why: In accepting the 2015 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, Bronx-born writer Don DeLillo spoke of looking at the books on his shelf, how fragile each one can be. “When I lift the book from the shelf, gently, I understand, again, the power of memory that a book carries with it. What is there to remember? Who I was, where I was, what these books meant to me when I read them for the first time.” There are millions of people in the world who feel the same way about books written by DeLillo, the author of such well-regarded works as Great Jones Street, White Noise, Mao II, Underworld, and his latest, Zero K (Scribner, May 3, $27). On May 2, DeLillo will make his only New York City appearance in conjunction with the release of the novel, at the 92nd St. Y, with one of his personal favorite writers, Syracuse-based author Dana Spiotta, who has written such books as Eat the Document and Stone Arabia. Spiotta will read from her latest book, Innocents and Others (Scribner, March 2016, $25), DeLillo will read from Zero K, and then the two will hold a conversation, followed by a signing. “We are born without choosing to be. Should we have to die in the same manner? Isn’t it a human glory to refuse to accept a certain fate?” one of the characters says in Zero K. It also is a human glory to read almost anything by the seventy-eight-year-old DeLillo, a fate always worth accepting.