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

BOOK LAUNCH FOR EL ANATSUI: THE REINVENTION OF SCULPTURE

Who: El Anatsui, Chika Okeke-Agulu, Jason Farago, Massimiliano Gioni, Julian Lucas
What: Book launch
Where: New Museum Theater, 235 Bowery
When: Thursday, September 22, $10, 6:30
Why: “The fact that El Anatsui normally expects curators and collectors of his metal sculpture to decide how to install them, but also because they are hand-wrought, flexible things, with numerous parts that can behave in infinite ways when moved, how they are installed determines their composition, affect, and phenomenological presence. Having conceived the work, and invested so much labor along with his many studio assistants to realize it in initial sculptural form, ceding its inaugural and future manifestations to whoever has custody of the work, is an extraordinary power to invest in others, without any instruction or even suggestion of his own authorial intentionality.” So write Okwui Enwezor and Chika Okeke-Agulu in their new book, El Anatsui: The Reinvention of Sculpture (Damiani, $70), about Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui, who uses discarded items (primarily bottlecaps) in creating large-scale pieces that comment on the relationship between humans and the environment. The works are malleable, able to be displayed in various configurations that El Anatsui leaves up to whoever is showing the piece.

On September 22 at 6:30, the seventy-eight-year-old El Anatsui (“Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui”), who works in Ghana and Nigeria, will be at the New Museum for the official US launch of the book, highlighted by a panel discussion with Princeton-based artist, critic, and art historian Okeke-Agulu, art critic Jason Farago, and Brooklyn-based critic and essayist Julian Lucas, moderated by New Museum director Massimiliano Gioni. Okeke-Agulu wrote the book, which features such chapters as “El Anatsui and Modern African Art,” “The Aesthetic and Rhetoric of Fragmentation,” and “The Epic and Triumphant Scale,” with beloved Nigerian curator and critic Enwezor, who passed away in 2019 at the age of fifty-five and whose spirit will be felt throughout the evening.

NEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO LIVE: CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF NEW SOUNDS WITH JOHN SCHAEFER

Who: John Schaefer, Red Baraat, Combo Chimbita, Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley
What: Celebrating forty years of New Sounds
Where: Brooklyn Bowl, 61 Wythe Ave.
When: Wednesday, September 21, $51.90 – $1046.71, 7:30
Why: Queens-born Fordham grad John Schaefer began his New Sounds program on NPR in September 1982, introducing listeners to a wide range of musicians from around the world. The fortieth anniversary of the show will be celebrated on September 21 at Brooklyn Bowl as New York Public Radio’s annual fundraiser. The evening will include live performances by Red Baraat and Combo Chimbita, two groups that were recently featured on the program, which proclaims, “Hand-picked music, genre free. 24/7 radio from New York City.” There will also be a DJ set by Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley from Yo La Tengo. In a January 2011 twi-ny talk, Schaefer, when discussing how the internet has impacted his relationship with his audience, explained, “Now, if you don’t want to stay up till midnight, you can still hear New Sounds — and hear it anytime you like. And even after all these years, I feel like the digital communication with our listeners is still growing up, unsure of what it’s eventually going to be.” Now you can be part of the fortieth anniversary of New Sounds, in person at Brooklyn Bowl, where various NYPR on-air talent will be hanging out to mingle with.

BURN

Alan Cumming brings his debut solo dance-theater piece, Burn, to the Joyce this week (photo by Jane Blarlow/PA Wire)

Who: Alan Cumming
What: North American premiere of solo dance-theater piece
Where: The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Ave. at Nineteenth St.
When: September 21-25, $76-$106
Why: “You must not deny me!” Alan Cumming declares in his portrayal of eighteenth-century Scottish poet Robert Burns in Burn, making its North American premiere at the Joyce this week. The solo dance-theater work was created by Olivier- and Tony-winning actor Cumming with Olivier- and Obie-winning choreographer Steven Hoggett, who choreographed the piece with Vicki Manderson, and is set to the music of British composer Anna Meredith, including such songs as “Solstice In,” “HandsFree,” “Blackfriars,” “Descent,” and “Return.” The set design is by Ana Inés Jabares Pitz, with costumes by Katrina Lindsay, lighting by Tim Lutkin, projections by Andrzej Goulding, and sound by Matt Padden.

In a program note, Cumming — who has appeared on Broadway in Cabaret and a one-man reinterpretation of Macbeth and off Broadway in “Daddy” and has lent his voice to such films as They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead and numerous animated children’s films (while spectacularly lending his body to the hybrid documentary My Old School) — explains, “In 2015, I has just turned fifty and realised I would never be as fit or asked to dance in a show in the same way again. But I still felt I had one more in me! I meant a play or a musical that was dance heavy. Little did I think I would end up making my solo dance theater debut at fifty-seven!” Together, Cumming and Hoggett (Black Watch, Once, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) point out, “An early intention was to explore the idea of Burns as national icon and a figure who, under modern scrutiny, was becoming something more complex than the beloved face on tourists’ souvenir biscuit tins.” There will be a curtain chat with members of the creative team following the September 21 performance. Some shows are already sold out, so get your tickets now if you want to experience what should be an exhilarating evening of dance, theater, music, and poetry.

ANDREA MILLER AND GALLIM: WHY DO WE DANCE?

GALLIM founding artistic director and choreographer Andrea Miller will be at the National Arts Club on September 20 (photo by Franziska-Strauss / First Republic Bank)

Who: Andrea Miller and dancers
What: Actions and Detail panel discussion
Where: The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South
When: Tuesday, September 20, free with advance RSVP, 7:00
Why: On September 20 at 7:00, GALLIM founding artistic director and choreographer Andrea Miller will be at the National Arts Club to discuss her company’s approach to dance upon its fifteenth anniversary. Since 2007, the New York City–based company has presented such works as Fold Here, I Can See Myself, Wonderland, Blush, and To Create a World. Miller, a Juilliard graduate, stayed busy during the pandemic lockdown, presenting the site-specific You Are Here outside at Lincoln Center in July 2021, directing Another Dance Film starring Sara Mearns at the East River Park Amphitheater, and continuing to host the livestreamed Gallim Happy Hour featuring such guests as Ayodele Casel, Francesca Harper, Justin Peck, Mimi Lien, Camille A. Brown, Gina Gibney, Wendy Whelan, Alicia Graf Mack, and Kyle Abraham. At the NAC, Miller and some of her dancers will answer the question “Why Do We Dance?,” delving into her philosophy of creation and performance.

THE LIT. BAR: NEIL deGRASSE TYSON AND STARRY MESSENGER

Who: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Dr. Matthew O’Dowd
What: Book launch and talk
Where: Lovinger Theater at Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Blvd. West
When: Monday, September 19, $58.42 (includes signed copy of book), 7:00
Why: “Objective truths of science are not founded in belief systems. They are not established by the authority of leaders or the power of persuasion. Nor are they learned from repetition or gleaned from magical thinking. To deny objective truths is to be scientifically illiterate, not to be ideologically principled,” Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson explains in his new book, Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization (Macmillan, $28.99). “After all that, you’d think only one definition for truth should exist in this world, but no. At least two other kinds prevail that drive some of the most beautiful and the most violent expressions of human conduct. Personal truths have the power to command your mind, body, and soul, but are not evidence-based. Personal truths are what you’re sure is true, even if you can’t — especially if you can’t — prove it. Some of these ideas derive from what you want to be true. Others take shape from charismatic leaders or sacred doctrines, either ancient or contemporary. For some, especially in monotheistic traditions, God and Truth are synonymous.”

On September 19 at 7:00, the superstar astrophysicist and beloved pop-culture icon will be back where it all started, his home borough of the Bronx, to launch Starry Messenger. He’ll be at the Lovinger Theater at Lehman College to discuss the book with physics and astronomy chair Matthew O’Dowd, host of the YouTube show PBS Space Time; the event is being presented with the Lit. Bar, the Bronx bookstore and wine bar run by Lehman alum Noëlle Santos. Tickets include a presigned copy of the book, which features such chapters as “Truth & Beauty: Aesthetics in life and in the cosmos,” “Conflict & Resolution: Tribal forces within us all,” “Meatarians & Vegetarians: We are not entirely what we eat,” “Law & Order: The foundation of civilization, whether we like it or not,” and “Body & Mind: Human physiology may be overrated.”

TOM STOPPARD IN CONVERSATION WITH DANIEL KEHLMANN

Who: Tom Stoppard, Daniel Kehlmann
What: Conversations & Performances discussion
Where: Unterberg Poetry Center, 92nd St. Y, Kaufmann Concert Hall, 92Y online
When: Sunday, September 18, in person $15-$31, online $20, 4:30
Why: “Anti-Semitism is a political fact. It’s a bit soon for it to be a party platform, but when it is there will be Austrians to vote for it,” a character states in Tom Stoppard’s new Olivier Award–winning play, Leopoldstadt, which opens October 2 at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway. On September 18, Stoppard will be at the 92nd St. Y to inaugurate the eighty-fourth anniversary of the Unterberg Poetry Center — a year younger than he is — to discuss the play, which was partly inspired by his family history. The British playwright and screenwriter will be joined by German and Austrian author and translator Daniel Kehlmann, who has written such novels as You Should Have Left, Tyll, and Fame and translated Leopoldstadt into German.

Stoppard, born Tomáš Sträussler in 1937 in what is now the Czech Republic, is arguably the greatest living playwright of the last sixty years; his works include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Travesties, The Real Thing, Arcadia, The Invention of Love, and The Coast of Utopia, earning four Tonys and two Oliviers for Best Play. Sir Thomas has also won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Shakespeare in Love. His latest play, his most personal, begins in Vienna in 1899, in the Jewish quarter known as Leopoldstadt, and features more than three dozen characters; directed by Tony and Oscar nominee Patrick Marber (Closer, Notes on a Scandal), it is currently scheduled to run through January 29, 2023.

THE FACADE COMMISSION: AN EVENING WITH ARTIST HEW LOCKE

Who: Hew Locke, Tumelo Mosaka, Kelly Baum
What: Conversation about “The Facade Commission: Hew Locke, Gilt”
Where: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.
When: Thursday, September 15, free with RSVP, 6:30
Why: On September 15, Scotland-born, Guyana-raised, London-based sculptor Hew Locke will unveil his Met Museum facade commission, Gilt, which will be on view through May 23, 2023. The four-piece work references the Met collection, focusing on appropriation, power, and colonialism through a theatrical lens.

“Hew Locke creates emotionally powerful and visually striking work that will stop you in your tracks. This site-responsive commission for the museum’s facade will be informed by Locke’s deep knowledge of the Met’s collection and will reference the institution in ways both direct and indirect, recovering and connecting histories across continents, oceans, and time periods,” Met director Max Hollein said in a statement. Curator Sheena Wagstaff added, “Hew Locke uses a delirious aesthetic of abundance and excess to reflect themes of deep urgency in the past and present, including wealth, imperial power, and prestige, astutely critiquing their visual iconography through reclamation.”

The third facade commission, following Wangechi Mutu’s The NewOnes, will free Us and Carol Bove’s The séances aren’t helping, Locke’s aptly titled Gilt will be explored in a panel discussion September 15 at 6:30 with Locke, Columbia University director and curator Tumelo Mosaka, and Met curator Kelly Baum; you can attend in person at the Met’s Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium or watch the livestream online.