German illustrator Anna Haifisch will read from her latest graphic novel Von Spatz. An absurdist tale about artists in crisis, Von Spatz follows a mentally exhausted Walt Disney trying to recover at the Von Spatz Rehabilitation Center. There Disney meets Tomi Ungerer and Saul Steinberg, and together, they embark on a regimen of relaxation and art therapy. Expanding on her graphic exploration of the anxieties…
Encounter the original works Lee Freeman collected from cutting edge artists from communist-era Czechoslovakia, art pieces that might have never breathed and prospered without his vigorous determination to bring them across the Iron Curtain. Exhibition will be on view April 12th - May 4th, 2018 The opening is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit www.czechcenter.com. RSVP…
1979. Germany. Directed by Werner Herzog. With Klaus Kinski, Eva Mattes, Wolfgang Reichmann. At what point do we regard the conditions of an individual’s existence, rather than the individual himself, as responsible for his actions, regardless of how heinous these may become? Werner Herzog - the enigmatic filmmaker central to New German Cinema - addresses this question in his 1979 filmic adaptation…
Screening of the film Lettera al Presidente (Letter to the President) (2013, Italy, Documentary, 74 min.) In ITALIAN with ENGLISH subtitles. Directed by Marco Santarelli. Written by Teresa Bertilotti and Marco Santarelli. Followed by a conversation with Teresa Bertilotti. On the grounds of the residence of Italy’s president, three men are listening to a guide who is explaining the history of the gardens. Who are these three men? To…
Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice occupies a unique place in world culture. As the fictional, albeit iconic, character of Shylock has been interpreted as exotic outsider, social pariah, melodramatic villain and tragic victim, the play, which has been performed and read in dozens of languages, has served as a lens for examining ideas and images of the Jew at various historical moments.…
Ryszard Krynicki is one of Poland's most important living poets. For decades he has fought for freedom of speech and expression, battling against censorship in the days before democracy returned to Poland. Previously little-known in the English-speaking world, two major collections of his poetry have just been released. Our Life Grows, first published in 1978, was so politically incendiary to the…
Rudolf Klein, professor of modern architectural history at Szent István University, Budapest, will give a talk on his new book, Synagogues in Hungary, 1867–1918 (Central European University Press, 2017). This is the first comprehensive study that systematically covers all synagogues in Hungary from the Edict of Tolerance by Joseph II to the end of World War I. Unlike prior attempts, dealing with…
CATHERINE LIDDELL, Baroque lute Tickets and details: showclix.com/event/la-rhetorique-des-dieux Born out of the salons of the Grand Siècle, the 1652 manuscript called La Rhétorique des Dieux by Denis Gaultier offers an impressive synthesis of music, mythology, engraving, gold work, prose, and poetry. Weaving ravishing music with the spoken word, Boston-based lutenist Catherine Liddell mines the mythological roots of lute repertoire of Versailles, one golden…
RESERVE TICKETS April 2018 marks the twentieth anniversary of Belfast's Good Friday Agreement. Senator George Mitchell, who played a pivotal role in this peace settlement, will reflect on how this historic milestone came to pass. Funding to endow this lecture series has been generously granted by the Irish Institute of New York, which has been dedicated to the support and promotion…