Talk to Me, Baby
Photo of Gwen Ifill courtesy of the Newseum.
DCist's guide to lectures and discussions in the D.C. area
Besides the big speech by a certain politician scheduled for Tuesday, there are a number of other non-inauguration discussions going on this week if you are looking for something else to focus on for just a moment.
Wednesday:
>> Have brunch at the K Street Busboys with author Craigh Barboza and Oscar-nominated director John Singleton. They'll be celebrating the release of Barboza's book, John Singleton: Interviews. For more information, contact Craigh Barboza at (202) 368-5731 or Bboyeight88 [at] yahoo.com.
>> From 12 to 12:30 p.m., be at the National Museum of Women in the Arts for a gallery talk with Mieke Fay titled, Conversation Piece: What's Going on in Rosa Bonheur's Paintings?.
>> At 7 p.m., the Corcoran is holding a program about the revolutionary T-shirt inspiration Che Guevara titled, Che Guevara: How a Photograph Inspired a Movement for Change. Led by co-director and producer of Chevolution (as well as contemporary photography curator and Guggenheim fellow) Trisha Ziff, the lecture will explore the influence of "Alberto 'Korda' Díaz’s image of Che Guevara as saint, guerrilla, and fashion statement" and how it became "the most reproduced image in the history of photography." A screening of the film will precede the discussion. $18.
>> Head to the McEvoy Auditorium in the lower level of the Smithsonian American Art Museum tonight at 6 p.m. for a lecture on The Future of New Art Technologies. MoMa media conservator Dr. Glenn Wharton will be discussing their system for conserving time-based media.
Thursday:
>> The Corcoran has another event tonight at 7 p.m. titled, Reflecting on the Chicago Conspiracy Trial. The discussion focuses on the protest and riots surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the subsequent indictment of the Chicago Seven, who were photographed by Richard Avedon. Tom Hayden of the Chicago Seven and their defense attorney Leonard Weinglass will "discuss the trial and their reactions to being photographed by Avedon." $18.
>> The S. Dillon Ripley Center is hosting Marine Corps Operations in World War II: Fact and Mythology from 6:45 to 8:45 p.m. with assistant professor of history at the U.S. Naval Academy Aaron B. O’Connell. $25.
>> At 6:30 p.m. head to the 14th Street Busboys for a book signing with Iraqi artist Wafaa Bilai and his book Shoot an Iraqi: Art, Life and Resistance Under the Gun.
Saturday:
>> Head to the National Gallery today from 1 to 5 p.m. for a symposium titled Robert Frank and The Photographic Book, 1930-1960, which will include a number of illustrated lectures by scholars including NYU's Stephen Brooke and Martin Gasser from the Swiss Foundation for Photography. Free.
>> The S. Dillon Ripley Center is hosting two all day seminars today: Aging...What's It All About? from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Understanding Sacred Texts from Taoism to Christianity from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Both are $120.
>> A discussion on Highland Beach on the Chesapeake Bay: First African American Chartered Town in the State of Maryland will be at The Anacostia Community Museum today at 1 p.m., led by city commissioner Jay Langston. Free; but reservations required, call 202-633-4844.
>> At 2:30 p.m., the Newseum hosts another Inside Media lecture with Gwen Ifill titled, A Breakthrough Administration. She'll "put Barack Obama’s political rise in perspective and analyze the political landscape just days after his historic inauguration."
Sunday:
>> This week's weekend lecture at the National Gallery will feature author Michael Fried of Johns Hopkins as he and NGA curator Harry Cooper discuss Photography, Modernism, and the Importance of Not Losing Faith in the Dialectic. After the lecture will be a book signing with Fried of his book Why Photography Matters as Art as Never Before. 2 p.m. in the East Building Auditorium. Free.
>> At 5 p.m. today, Politics and Prose features storyteller Gail Rosen and her book Words that Burn Within Me: Faith, Values, Survival, which "brings together the life story of Hilda Stern Cohen and the remarkable German poetry she wrote over four years of imprisonment in the Lodz Ghetto, where she was a member of the literary circle around writer and painter Izrael Lejzerowicz." Free.
>> At 3 p.m. the Renwick hosts ceramic artist and sculptor Richard Notkin as he discusses Art and War.