this week in lectures, signings, panel discussions, workshops, and Q&As

SCIENCE ON SCREEN: GRIZZLY MAN

Timothy Treadwell learns a rather painful lesson about living with bears in GRIZZLY MAN

GRIZZLY MAN (Werner Herzog, 2005)
BAMcinématek, BAM Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
Tuesday, April 29, 7:30
212-727-8110
www.bam.org
www.grizzlypeople.com

For thirteen straight summers, Timothy Treadwell ventured into the wilds of Katmai National Park in Alaska, where he lived among grizzly bears. For the last five of those years, he brought along a video camera and detailed his life with them and his battle to protect the bears (all of which he named) from poachers. “I have no idea if there’s a God, but if there’s a God, God would be very, very pleased with me,” Treadwell says into his camera in Werner Herzog’s brilliant documentary Grizzly Man, “because he can just watch me, how much I love them, how much I adore them, how respectful I am of them, how I am one of them. . . . Be warned: I will die for these animals, I will die for these animals, I will die for these animals. Thank you so much for letting me do this. Thank you so much to these animals for giving me a life. I had no life. Now I have a life.” In October 2003, Treadwell and his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, were brutally killed and eaten by one of the bears. Herzog, who knows a little something about filming in treacherous locations (Fitzcarraldo, Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Aguirre, the Wrath of God), made Grizzly Man from more than one hundred hours of tape, supplementing that with interviews with Treadwell’s friends and family. They all talk about a much-loved but troubled man who was desperate to be famous. His life with the bears got him onto television with Rosie O’Donnell and David Letterman, but it also got him killed, which some people think was what he deserved for crossing the line and thinking he could survive living with grizzlies. But Herzog shows him to be a thoughtful, compassionate man who just might have found his true purpose in life. (To find out more about Treadwell, check out The Grizzly Man Diaries here.). Although the film, which features a gorgeous score by Richard Thompson, won or was nominated for numerous awards (including editing, directing, and best documentary), it was curiously shut out at the Oscars. Grizzly Man is being shown April 29 at 7:30 as part of the BAMcinématek series “Science on Screen” and will be followed by a Q&A with wildlife journalist Jon Mooallem, moderated by science writer Robert Lee Hotz. The series concludes May 29 with George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, followed by a Q&A with author Sonia Shah.

PEN WORLD VOICES FESTIVAL: ON THE EDGE

PEN WORLD VOICES FESTIVAL OF INTERNATIONAL LITERATURE
Multiple locations
April 28 – May 4, free – $20
www.worldvoices.pen.org

“I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can’t see from the center,” Kurt Vonnegut wrote in his debut novel, 1952’s Player Piano. That sentiment is the theme for the tenth annual Pen World Voices Festival of International Literature, a week of lectures, workshops, readings, debates, conversations, performances, and more celebrating writers who are not afraid to go out on the edge and take risks, both personal and political. Sponsored by the PEN America Center, which supports freedom of expression throughout the world, the festival will feature more than 150 writers from 30 nations participating in nearly five dozen events. “Many of the finest writers in the world, the ones whose voices speak most eloquently to us, are also, all too often, the most exposed and vulnerable, because they are so prominently visible,” festival chairman and founder Salman Rushdie said in a statement. “Yet these are the voices we must listen to, the voices that show us how the world joins up.” Among those taking part in the festival are Colm Tóibín, Noam Chomsky, Elinor Lipman, Saul Williams, A. M. Homes, Bob Holman, Judith Thurman, Shirin Neshat, Paul Muldoon, Eileen Myles, Siri Hustvedt, Martin Amis, Parker Posey, Jay McInerney, Rosario Dawson, Joseph O’Neill, Francine Prose, and Rushdie. There’s always a lot to do and see at this annual celebration of the power of the written word; below are just some of the highlights.

Monday, April 28

Opening Night: On the Edge, with Adonis, Gado, Sofi Oksanen, Colm Tóibín, Noam Chomsky, Salman Rushdie, Judith Butler, and Paul Berman delivering seven-minute orations, the Great Hall of the Cooper Union, $15-$20, 7:00

Tuesday, April 29

A Literary Safari, with Kevin Barry, Eliane Brum, Christopher Farley, Justin Go, Frédéric Gros, Joanne Hillhouse, Barbara Jenkins, Sharon Leach, Geert Mak, Vanessa Manko, Andrés Neuman, Jaap Scholten, Gabrielle Selz, Francesc Serés, Sue Shapiro, Kenan Trebincevic, Igor Stiks, Bae Suah, Elinor Lipman, and Deji Olukotun, taking place in rooms throughout the Westbeth Center for the Arts, $15-$20, 6:30

Obsession: Eileen Myles on Spoilage and Ruination of Other Kinds, with Eileen Myles, hosted by Mike Albo, Chez André at the Standard, $15-$20, 9:00

Wednesday, April 30

The FBI Was Never the Same: 1971 Screening and Discussion, with Johanna Hamilton, Bonnie Raines, John Raines, Larry Siems, and Betty Medsger, NYU Cantor Film Center, $15-$20, 7:00

Literary Death Match, with Kevin Barry, Alona Kimhi, Bae Suah, Parker Posey, Michael Ian Black, and Jay McInerney, Ace Hotel, $15-$20, 7:00

Thursday, May 1

The Nuyorican Poets Café, with Saul Williams, Rome Neal, Jive Poetic, Rosario Dawson, Gado, Natasha Trethewey, participants from Mark Nowak’s workshops with Domestic Workers United and Alliance for Taxi Drivers, Nuyorican Poets Café, $10-$20, 6:00

Obsession: Jennifer Boylan on Lost Loves, with Jennifer Boylan, hosted by Mike Albo, Chez André at the Standard, $15-$20, 9:00

Friday, May 2

The Literary Mews, with Clayton Eshleman, Deji Olukotun, Ed Pavlić, Yacouba Sissoko, Dan Neely, Tine Kindermann, Albert Behar, Paula Deitz, Mark Jarman, RS. Gwynn, Johanna Keller, Jeff Kline, Alexa de Puivert, Eddie Mandhry, Chinelo Okparanta, Godfrey Mwampembwa, Tope Folarin, Mukoma Wa Ngugi, Tarfia Faizullah, Luis Francia, April Naoko Heck, Hieu Minh Nguyen, George Prochnik, Eric Jarosinski, Stacey Knecht, Richard Sieburth, Chuck Wachtel, Jill Schoolman, Sebastian Barry, Maxim Leo, Yascha Mounk, Atina Grossmann, Benjamin Moser, Eric Banks, and Kevin Barry, Washington Mews, NYU, free, 10:00 am – 8:00 pm

Dylan Live: A Tribute to Dylan Thomas, with Paul Muldoon, Aneirin Karadog, Martin Daws, and Daniel Williams, the Auditorium at the New School, $15-$20, 8:00

Obsession: Dan Savage on Plaques and Trophies, with Dan Savage, hosted by Mike Albo, Chez André at the Standard, $15-$20, 9:00

Saturday, May 3

Broken Dreams in Two Acts: 25 Years since the Fall of the Berlin Wall, with Timothy Garton Ash, György Konrád, Geert Mak, Adam Michnik, and Elzbieta Matynia, Frederick P. Rose Auditorium at the Cooper Union, $15-$20, 3:00

Interview Magazine: The Re-Interview with Martin Amis and Michael Stipe, the Auditorium at the New School, $15-$20, 7:30

Sunday, May 4

Sex and Violence in Children’s Books: Where the Wild Things (Really) Are, with Sarwat Chadda, Robie Harris, Susan Kuklin, Niki Walker, and Sharyn November, Frederick P. Rose Auditorium at the Cooper Union, $10-$15, 12:30

In Conversation: Timothy Garton Ash and Salman Rushdie, Anspacher Theater at the Public Theater, $12-$15, 4:00

Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture: Colm Tóibín, the Great Hall at the Cooper Union, $15-$20, 6:00

SAKURA MATSURI

Large crowds will gather to see the blooming cherry trees at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden this weekend (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Brooklyn Botanic Garden
900 Washington Ave. at Eastern Parkway
Saturday, April 26, and Sunday, April 27, $20-$25 (children under twelve free), 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
718-623-7200
www.bbg.org

In her book The Cherry Blossom Festival: Sakura Celebration, author Ann McClellan writes, “The breathtaking sight of the cherry trees blooming in Japan has inspired princes, poets, artists, and ordinary people for over 1000 years.” However, just as every rose has its thorn, “The sublime beauty of the flowers and their brief life at the beginning of each spring symbolize the essence of a human’s short life well-lived.” This weekend, the beauty, delicateness, and symbolic nature of the cherry blossom will be honored as more than a hundred cherry trees are expected to bloom at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. On Saturday and Sunday, the annual Sakura Matsuri will include live music and dance, parades, workshops, demonstrations, martial arts, fashion shows, and much more. The festival will feature Ikebana flower arranging, a bonsai exhibit, Shogi chess, a manga mural, a wall scroll show, rice shaker and origami workshops, garden tours, shopping, a bookstore, Japanese food, and more, taking place all day long. Below are just some of the highlights of other special, more time-specific events.

Saturday

Children’s Suzuki Recital, with Brooklyn College Preparatory Center, auditorium, 11:00 am

The Battersby Show, with special guest Misako Rocks, J-Lounge Stage at Osborne Garden, 12:30

Ikebana Flower Arranging Demonstration, with Sogetsu expert Fumiko Allinder, auditorium, 12:30

Dancejapan with Sachiyo Ito, Cherry Esplanade, 1:00

IchiP Dance Party, J-Lounge Stage at Osborne Garden, 1:15

BBG Parasol Society Fashion Show, featuring J-pop singer Hitomi Himekawa of Rainbow Bubble, Cherry Esplanade, 2:00

Hanagasa Odori Parade, with Japanese Folk Dance Institute of NY, J-Lounge Stage at Osborne Garden, 2:00

Urasenke Tea Ceremony, auditorium, 3:00 & 4:30

Samurai Sword Soul, Cherry Esplanade, 4:00

The Battersby Show, with special guest Jed Henry, J-Lounge Stage at Osborne Garden, 4:15

Sunday

Soh Daiko, Cherry Esplanade, 12 noon

“The Art of Bonsai” Lecture, with Julian Velasco, auditorium, 12 noon

Awa Odori Parade, J-Lounge Stage at Osborne Garden, 1:00 & 4:30

Ukiyo-e Illustration Demonstration with Artist Jed Henry, J-Lounge Art Alley at Osborne Garden, 1:30 & 3:00

Dancejapan with Sachiyo Ito, Cherry Esplanade, 2:00

Sohenryu-Style Tea Ceremony, with Soumi Shimizu and Sōkyo Shimizu, auditorium, 2:30 & 4:00

Magician Rich Kameda, J-Lounge Stage at Osborne Garden, 2:00 & 4:00

Hitomi Himekawa and the Rainbow Bubble Girls, J-Lounge Stage at Osborne Garden, 3:00

Ryukyu Chimdon Band, Cherry Esplanade, 4:00

Cosplay Fashion Show, Cherry Esplanade, 5:15

CARRIE MAE WEEMS LIVE: PAST TENSE / FUTURE PERFECT

Carrie Mae Weems, “Untitled (Kitchen Table Series),” gelatin silver print and text, 1953 (© Carrie Mae Weems. Photo: © The Art Institute of Chicago)

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Ave. at 89th St.
April 25-27, most events free with museum admission of $18-$22, evening concerts $15-$35
Exhibition continues through May 14
212-423-3587
www.guggenheim.org

In her online biography, Carrie Mae Weems writes, “My work has led me to investigate family relationships, gender roles, the histories of racism, sexism, class, and various political systems. Despite the variety of my explorations, throughout it all it has been my contention that my responsibility as an artist is to work, to sing for my supper, to make art, beautiful and powerful, that adds and reveals; to beautify the mess of a messy world, to heal the sick and feed the helpless; to shout bravely from the roof-tops and storm barricaded doors and voice the specifics of our historic moment.” All this and more is evident in her current exhibition at the Guggenheim, ”Carrie Mae Weems: Three Decades of Photography and Video.” The show, which continues through May 14, is centered by her subtly powerful 1990 black-and-white “Kitchen Table Series,” which details the evolution of a woman photographed in the same domestic space, sometimes by herself, sometimes with children, sometimes with a man. In many ways it harkens back to painting series by Jacob Lawrence, capturing the African American experience, in this case with the focus on a woman. The show also includes photos from her “Colored People” grids, “Family Pictures and Stories” (accompanied by a voice-over by Weems), “Dreaming in Cuba,” “Roaming,” “From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried,” “The Louisiana Project,” and “Sea Islands Series” in addition to such short films as Afro-Chic and ceramic commemoration plates, all of which explore elements of black history from an often extremely personal perspective.

Carrie Mae Weems will cohost three days of art and activism at the Guggenheim this weekend (photo by Scott Rudd)

The Portland, Oregon-born artist will be at the Guggenheim this weekend presenting “Carrie Mae Weems LIVE: Past Tense/Future Perfect,” three days of discussions, live music, processions, readings, and more, cohosted by Weems and multidisciplinary artist Carl Hancock Rux. On Friday, there will be a tribute to conceptual sculptor and saxophonist Terry Adkins, who passed away at the age of sixty in February, with Vijay Iyer, Vincent Chancey, Dick Griffin, Marshall Sealy, and Kiane Zawadi, followed by “The Blue Notes of Blues People,” consisting of four sets of presentations by such visual artists, curators, choreographers, and scholars as Julie Mehretu, Leslie Hewitt, Shinique Smith, Thomas Lax, Michele Wallace, Camille A. Brown, Shahzia Sikander, Mark Anthony Neal, Sanford Biggers, Lyle Ashton Harris, and Xaviera Simmons. Other programs include “Written on Skin: Posing Questions on Beauty,” “Slow Fade to Black: Explorations in the Cinematic,” and “Laughing to Keep from Crying: A Critical Read on Comedy,” with Nelson George. The first two nights will conclude with ticketed concerts and conversations, with Jason Moran and the Bandwagon (Friday, with Weems) and the Geri Allen Trio (Saturday, with Weems and Theaster Gates). on Sunday, visual artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons will lead the procession “Habla Lamadre” before Weems offers closing remarks. Select programs on Friday and Saturday will be streamed live here.

LIVE IDEAS: JAMES BALDWIN, THIS TIME!

The life and career of James Baldwin will be celebrated at second annual Live Ideas festival at New York Live Arts this week

New York Live Arts
219 West 19th St.
April 23-27
212-691-6500
www.newyorklivearts.org

Last year, New York Live Arts presented its inaugural Live Ideas festival, honoring Dr. Oliver Sacks with a series of dance performances, special talks, and other programs. For the 2014 edition, as part of the citywide Year of James Baldwin celebration, NYLA is hosting “Live Ideas: James Baldwin, This Time!,” which runs April 23-27 at its home on West Nineteenth St. Every day at twelve o’clock, “Jimmy at High Noon” (free with advance RSVP) will feature actors, musicians, artists, and others reading from Baldwin’s works, which include Go Tell It on the Mountain, Giovanni’s Room, The Amen Corner, Another Country, and Jimmy’s Blues; among those scheduled to participate are Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Laurie Anderson, André DeShields, Kathleen Chalfant, Jesse L. Martin, Tonya Pinkins, Vijay Isher, and Toshi Reagon. In addition, Hank Willis Thomas’s free video installation, A person is more important than anything else…, will play continuously in the lobby, where the mural “Letter from a Region of My Mind,” incorporating the text of a piece Baldwin wrote for the November 17, 1962, issue of the New Yorker, will be on view. On April 23 at 2:30 ($15), Live Ideas curator Lawrence Weschler will moderate the discussion “Baldwin’s Capacious Imagination & Influence” with Roberta Uno and Margo Jefferson. That night the Opening Keynote Conversation ($40-$70, 8:00) brings together the impressive trio of choreographer and NYLA executive artistic director Bill T. Jones, photographer Carrie Mae Weems, and author Jamaica Kincaid. On April 23 at 5:00 and April 24 at 8:00 ($15-$40), director Patricia McGregor and actor Colman Domingo will premiere Nothing Personal, a stage adaptation of the collaboration between Baldwin and Richard Avedon, who went to high school together. The festival also includes “Baldwin & Delaney” (April 24, $10, 2:00), consisting of a reading by Rachel Cohen and a panel discussion about Baldwin’s encounter with painter Beauford Delaney; the multidisciplinary conversation “After Giovanni’s Room: Baldwin and Queer Futurity” (April 25, $10, 2:00) with Kyle Abraham, Rich Blint, Matthew Brim, Laura Flanders, and Jones; and “Jimmy’s Blues: Discussing the Poetry of James Baldwin,” comprising discussion and readings by poets Nikky Finney, Edward Hirsch, Yusef Komunyakaa, Ed Pavlić, Meghan O’Rourke, and Nathalie Handal.

SELECTED SHORTS / CELEBRATE YOUR VILLAGE! GREENWICH VILLAGE STORIES

SELECTED SHORTS
Symphony Space, Peter Jay Sharp Theatre
2537 Broadway at 95th St.
Wednesday, April 23, $28, 7:30
212-864-5400
www.symphonyspace.org
www.gvshp.org

CELEBRATE YOUR VILLAGE!
Three Lives & Company
154 West Tenth St.
Tuesday, April 29, free, 6:00
212-741-2069
www.threelives.com

“My mother used to say, ‘If you want to be young forever, move to the Village,’” Isaac Mizrahi writes in his contribution to the new book Greenwich Village Stories: A Collection of Memories (Universe, March 2014, $29.95), continuing, “I arrived more than twenty years ago and have lived here ever since. I will probably move out feet first.” A lot of people feel that way about Greenwich Village, one of the most famous and fanciful locations in the world. The book features brief recollections by more than sixty downtown New Yorkers, from fashion designers and musicians to poets and actors, from writers and politicians to newscasters and local business owners. Edited by Judith Stonehill, co-owner of the New York Bound Bookshop, which opened in 1976 at the South Street Seaport and closed in 1997 at its later home in Rockefeller Center, the book, a project of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation contains pieces by Wynton Marsalis, Malcolm Gladwell, Patricia Clarkson, Calvin Trillin, Linda Ellerbee, Nat Hentoff, Donna Karan, Lou Reed, Mimi Sheraton, Mario Batali, Karen Finley, and Ed Koch, among many others, each memory accompanied by a related photograph or painting. “Walking through the Village is to brush against immortality,” Stonehill writes in the foreword. “Our cherished neighborhood is no longer as creative and raffish these days, or so it’s said, but there are many things that seem unchanged in the Village.” On April 23, contributors Dave Hill, Penny Arcade, Simon Doonan, Ralph Lee, and Mizrahi will gather at Symphony Space for a special Selected Shorts presentation, reading their pieces, joined by Village residents Parker Posey and Jane Curtin, who will read Village-set fiction, in an evening hosted by BD Wong. In addition, on April 29 at 6:00, Three Lives & Company invites people to “Come Celebrate Your Village!,” a reception, meet and greet, and book signing with Greenwich Village Stories contributors Lauren Belfer, Karen Cooper, Tony Hiss, Bob Holman, Anita Lo, Matt Umanov, and Trillin.

SUPER SÁBADO: MAD ABOUT LIBROS

Angélica Negrón will be telling musical stories at free Super Sabado at El Museo del Barrio

Angélica Negrón will be telling musical stories at El Museo del Barrio for free Super Sabado celebration of books

FREE THIRD SATURDAYS
El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Ave. at 104th St.
Saturday, April 19, free, 12 noon – 5:30 pm
212-831-7272
www.elmuseo.org

For the April edition of its free Super Sabado program, El Museo del Barrio celebrates the written word with “Mad About Libros.” From 12 noon to 3:00 on April 19, you can head over to the educational ArteXplorers Family Corner in the lobby or take part in a Manos a la Obra workshop where you can make your favorite book character. At noon and 2:00, in conjunction with Colorin Colorado, singer and actress Flor Bromley will be in the café, telling the stories of Librito and Juan Bobo and the Magic Book; composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón will share the participatory musical tale of Amigos at 1:00 and 3:00. From noon to 4:00, there will be a book fair outside the museum. And at 4:30, Roger Cabán of Poetas con Café will host poetry readings by Myrna Nieves, Jesus Papoleto Meléndez, and others. In addition, you can check out the special exhibition “Museum Starter Kit: Open with Care” as well as “Presencia: Works from El Museo’s Permanent Collection,” featuring pieces by Luis Mendez, Shaun El C. Leonardo, Oscar Muñoz, Benvenuto Chavajay, Christian Cravo, Roberto Juárez, Fernando Salicrup, Rafael Tufiño, and more.