Arts & Culture

All Arts & Culture

  • Studying art by making it

    Harvard class encourages students to create artworks to better understand how they’re made.

  • In 1932, this opera was a hit. Why has no one seen it since?

    A workshop at Radcliffe showcased “Tom-Tom,” an opera by African-American composer Shirley Graham that hasn’t been performed since its 1932 premiere.

  • Inspired by Cairo

    Jonathan Guyer is writing a book about the surge of boundary-pushing graphic novels and cartoons in the Middle East and North Africa.

    Rare magazines, books for sale in Cairo shop.
  • A melding of humanities, sciences

    In his latest book, entomologist E.O. Wilson urges the next generation of great minds to evolve and explore the symmetry between the natural sciences and the humanities.

  • Solange visits as Harvard Foundation’s artist of year

    The Harvard Foundation honored Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Solange Knowles as 2018 Artist of the Year in a ceremony at Sanders Theatre.

  • Honored or not, these films won critic’s heart

    Ahead of the Academy Awards, David Edelstein ’81 talks up his favorite films of the past year.

    William DeFoe in film
  • The topic is race, onstage and afterward

    Poet Claudia Rankine’s new play places a conversation about race center stage and encourages audiences to continue to engage with the discussion after the curtain falls.

  • A turning point in memory

    A panel at the Graduate School of Design discussed historical monuments, and new ways to create them.

    Panel discussion at Harvard University's Graduate School on monuments.
  • Visions pursued through darkest shadows

    “Inventur — Art in Germany, 1943‒55,” at the Harvard Art Museums through June 3, features work that has drawn scant attention in the United States.

    "Street" by Louise Rösler.
  • Wielding data against doom and gloom

    In his 2011 book, “The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined,” Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker argued that despite common assumptions, violence has dropped dramatically from biblical times…

  • New chapter for ‘The Odyssey’

    Professor Emily Wilson, the first woman to translate the ancient epic “The Odyssey” into English, explains her milestone achievement.

  • Retracing Du Bois’ missteps

    Radcliffe fellow Chad Williams is working on a book about what he considers one of W.E.B. Du Bois’ greatest missteps: “The Black Man and the Wounded World,” an unfinished history of the African-American experience during World War I.

  • Decoding languages in the lab

    Linguistics lab applies scientific methods to studying and understanding how people communicate.

  • How Viet Thanh Nguyen found his voice

    Onetime Radcliffe fellow Viet Thanh Nguyen shared the story behind his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Sympathizer” during a return visit.

    Viet Thanh Nguyen.
  • Remembering a jazz great

    Some of the biggest names in jazz will convene for this weekend’s festival in honor of the pianist and composer.

    Geri Allen.
  • Casting new light on ancient epics

    The exhibition “From Stone to Silicone” — the only exhibit of its kind in North America — features striking silicone replicas of millennia-old reliefs that preserve the history of present-day Iraq.

    bas-reliefs
  • A radical archive arrives at Harvard

    Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library has acquired the papers of famed activist Angela Davis.

    Angela Davis, including art,
  • Junot Díaz gets personal — and political — at Harvard conference

    Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Junot Díaz read his story “The Money” at the Harvard conference Migration and the Humanities.

    Writer Junot Diaz
  • Feminism and fairy tales

    Radcliffe film series spotlights the feminine power in many traditional fables and folk tales.

  • African-American folklore inspires meeting of the minds

    Harvard scholars Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr. and Maria Tatar discuss the collaborative effort behind “The Annotated African American Folktales.”

  • A time of change, a longing for home in Vienna

    Harvard professor’s documentary in progress traces the rise of creativity and the forces countering it in Vienna a century ago.

  • Social change from the stage

    Based on true experiences, “Hear Word!” at the American Repertory Theater weaves together music, spoken word, dance, and song to tell what Nigerian women endure in a society that puts men first, frequently turns its back on sexual assault and abuse, and values marriage above all else.

  • Seeing things Wiseman’s way

    Harvard will welcome a trio of filmmaking greats for this year’s Norton Lectures, including legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman.

  • Shifting the ‘Horizon’

    In a trip to Iceland over the summer, Joanne Cheung worked with researchers to capture 360-degree video of the changing landscape.

  • Ahead: ‘Hamilton,’ Boston Calling, and more

    It’s possible to start making concert and theater plans now, when most of the best seats are still available. This is when the year’s big-ticket events are booked and announced, the better to build a buzz around them.

    Christopher Jackson as George Washington in "Hamilton."
  • Deaf dancer feels the beat

    Deaf dancer Antoine Hunter leads a master class that provides lessons in movement and inclusion.

    Antoine Hunter,Deaf choreographer, dancer,
  • Modern opera with an old soul

    Pianist-composer Matt Aucoin ’12 is now co-artistic director of the American Modern Opera Company, set for Harvard performances Dec. 15-18.

  • Bringing out the edge in Austen’s wit

    Playwright Kate Hamill’s adaptation of “Sense & Sensibility,” at the A.R.T. through Jan. 14, accentuates Jane Austen’s gift for comedy.

    The cast of "Sense & Sensibility" rehearses.
  • The need to talk about race

    Lawyer and social activist Bryan Stevenson delivered the Tanner Lecture on Human Values, announcing the opening of a memorial to victims of lynching and a museum on the legacy of slavery next April.

  • Art and technology explored during region-wide collaboration

    This winter, a dozen cultural organizations throughout Greater Boston — including three from Harvard — are partnering to present an ambitious, region-wide exploration of art and technology.