2008 Programs
2008 Programs
May 8, 2008. Reception 5:30pm. Program 6:30pm.
Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark Street
The Institute is a proud partner of the Chicago History Museum's OUT at CHM an annual series exploring the history of LGBT art, politics and culture in Chicago. This installment takes a look at the history of transgender activism in Chicago and across the country. Queer historian and filmmaker Susan Stryker will explore the events from the drag queen prostitutes who rioted against police in San Francisco's Tenderloin district to the collapse of the Lavendar Panthers.
IMMIGRATION AT THE MARGINS
April 30, 2008. 9am-5pm.
Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted
In partnership with the Chicago LGBTQ Immigrants Alliance (CLIA) and the Center on Halsted's Global Gay Initiative, the Institute is a co-sponsor of this community forum on immigration. Presented in complement to the May 1 rallies, this program is part of an on-going effort to integrate critical analysis into real change by working closely with the immigration rights community to inform and effect changes that take into account issues of gender and sexuality.
The forum will begin with a plenary session with speakers on the following topics: Day Laborers; Sex Work & Sex Trafficking; Media Representation on Immigration Crises and Scandals; Domestic Violence & Immigration; HIV Ban and its Effects; and more. Following the plenary will be break-out sessions focusing on and providing deeper analysis of the HIV ban, trafficking, media analysis and immigration reform.
GENDER FUSIONS 4: BUSTING UP THE BINARIES
April 25-26, 2008. 1104 S. Wabash, 1st Floor & 8th Floor
The Institute is a proud co-sponsor of Gender Fusions 4, the fourth installment of this annual performance event aimed at creating a queer cultural space and forging a strong, active and vibrant queer community at Columbia College Chicago and throughout the city. On April 25: A film screening and dialogue about trans and gender variant identity and culture (Film Row Cinema, 8th Floor, 6pm). On April 26: "Forging New Queer Geographies: Busting Up the Binaries" discussion (Conaway Center, 1st Floor, 3:30-5:30pm) and the annual Performance Spectacle featuring drag, burlesque, spoken word, theatre, dance and song from a host of performers (Conaway Center, 1st Floor, 8pm). Film screening and discussions are free. Tickets are required for the Spectacle: $5 students and senior citizens, $10 general admission. To reserve tickets: 312.344.6126, or for more information: 312.344.8594, lgbtqoffice@gmail.com.
SHE SPEAKS VOLUMES, POETRY SLAM
April 24, 2008. 6-8pm. Alhambra Palace, 1240 W. Randolph
The Institute and YWCA Metropolitan Chicago continue their partnership for a second year with the She Speaks Volumes poetry slam event engaging the community to show how art and activism can impact social change. In recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the event gives voice to the silence surrounding sexual assault, using music and the arts to encourage young people to speak out against sexual violence and become activists for change in their local communities. This year's event features d'bi young anitafrika, one of Canada's most celebrated young artists, and is hosted by V103's Troi Tyler. As part of the event, the following individuals will also be honored: e.nina jay (Artist Award), Sharon Powell (Community Impact Award), and Debra Perry (YWCA Staff Award). As a partner and co-sponsor of She Speaks Volumes, the Institute is also facilitating a special workshop with d'bi young anitafrika in collaboration with Music Theater Workshop at the Illinois Youth Center. For tickets and more information: 312.762.2743 or www.ywcachicago.org.
THE HIP-HOP GENERATION: RACE, GENDER & THE VOTE
April 5, 2008, 1-4pm
University of Chicago, Ida Noyes Hall, Max Palevsky Theatre, 1212 E. 59th Street
The Institute is proud to co-sponsor with the University of Chicago’s Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture the next installment of the popular series of townhall meetings featuring leading hip-hop activists, scholars, artists, and representatives from the Chicago community. This timely forum on hip-hop and politics will engage students in a discussion of new forms of political participation, media representations of hip-hop and politics, and youth voter mobilization. Featured panelists include: Rosa Clemente, William Upski Wimsatt, Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, Bakari Kitwana, Dr. Vijay Prashad, M1 (aka Mutulu Olugbala), AquaMoon, and Crystal Holmes.
This program will be broadcast the following dates and times:
Sunday, May 11, 2008 12:30pm on Channel 21
Monday, May 12, 2008 9:30am on Channel 19
Saturday, May 24, 2008 9:00pm on Channel 21
Friday, May 30, 2008 9:30am on Channel 19
A CELEBRATION OF WOMEN IN CLASSICAL MUSIC
March 31, 2008. Pre-Discussion 7pm. Performance 7:30pm. Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Avenue
The Institute is pleased to partner with Chicago Sinfonietta in paying tribute to the contributions women have made to classical music through the two-night performance, A Celebration of Women in Classical Music featuring guest conductor Tania Leon. Cuban-born Ms. Leon will conduct two of her own compositions, one of which features pianist Jade Simmons, plus other works by women from around the world, while trumpeter Alison Balsom guests on Haydyn's Concerto for Trumpet. For the March 31st performance, Institute Executive Director, Jane M. Saks will moderate a pre-discussion open to ticket-holders.
To purchase tickets or for more information please contact the Chicago Sinfonietta at 312.236.3681 ext. 2.
OUT at CHM: QUEER EXCLUSIONS: SEXUALITY AND U.S. CITIZENSHIP
March 27, 2008, Reception 5:30pm. Program 6:30pm.
Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark Street
The Institute is a proud partner of the Chicago History Museum's OUT at CHM series, an annual series exploring the history of LGBT art, politics and culture in Chicago. This installment traces how questions of sexuality and race have shaped the way the U.S. distinguishes between "citizens" and "aliens." Siobhan Somerville will discuss how lesbians and gay men have navigated U.S. immigration and citizenship laws, and how these policies have actively queered migrants, regardless of their actual sexual orientation.
"SECRETS" EXHIBITION, OPENING RECEPTION
March 19, 2008. Reception 5-7pm.
Glass Curtain Gallery, 1104 S. Wabash Avenue, 1st Floor
Open to the Public & Free of Charge
The Institute is proud to co-sponsor the opening reception for Secrets, a self-organized exhibition intiated by the 6+ women's art collective in collaboration with eight Palestinian women artists, and presented at the Glass Curtain Gallery. This project has involved a series of social exchanges, workshops and publications, as well as an art exhibition traveling to several locations in the Occupied Territories of Palestine and the US. Over the course of two years and half a dozen trips to the West Band, solidarities have developed across great distances, connecting artists, cultural producers, institutions, educators, journalists, writers and social thinkers. The project owes its existence to the mobilization of their creative energies.
QUEER IN COLOR: PERFORMANCES AND DISCUSSIONS
March 13th & 17th. Hokin Annex, 623 S. Wabash, Avenue, 1st Floor
A collaboration of the Institute, Office of Multicultural Affairs and the LGBTQ Office of Culture and Community, Queer in Color aims to embrace, support, and enhance the visibility of LGBTQ students of color by providing cultural events where artistic work reflects the life stories, voices and social issues of queer communities of color. On March 13th 6-8pm, E. Patrick Johnson presents Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their Tales, a luminous one-man show steeped in oral history, followed by a discussion moderated by Sam Park (Faculty, English Department). On March 17, 5-7pm BrownOut: Resistance Rhymes in Color presents a radiant spoken word performance and rebel rousing featuring Kay Barrett and Sarwat Rumi, followed by a discussion with the artists.
URBAN BUSH WOMEN/COMPAGNIE JANT-BI: PRE-PERFORMANCE DISCUSSION
March 7, 2008
Reception 6pm. Discussion 7pm. Performance 8pm.
The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago
1306 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
Open to the Public & Free of Charge
In collaboration with the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, the Institute will co-present a special pre-performance discussion for Les ecailles de la memoire (The Scales of Memory), a creative exchange between the all-female Urban Bush Women (U.S.) and the all-male Compagnie JANT-BI (Senegal). The discussion will feature Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (Artistic Director, Urban Bush Women) in conversation with Joan Gray (President of Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago).
In 2004, these two world-renowned companies were in overlapping residencies at The Dance Center. During that time, the companies shared their work in studio, and their artistic directors agreed in the moment to collaborate on a new piece. Les ecailles de la memoire is the result of this collaboration and twelve weeks of creative development periods in Senegal and the United States. Acogny and Zollar explore themes of memory, resistance and love while highlighting the visceral link between African-Americans and Africans. It also inherently considers gender difference, as well as delves into predominately Christian tradition, dancers linked by common ancestry but separated by history and geography, and dancers who study both concert and vernacular dance forms.
GENDER, HUMAN RIGHTS AND MEDIA
March 6, 2008
Reception 5:30pm. Program 6:00pm.
Film Row Cinema, 1104 S. Wabash, 8th Floor
Open to the Public & Free of Charge
In recognition of International Women's Day, the Institute presents the 2nd annual panel program on gender and media, with this year's focus on human rights. Gender, Human Rights and Media brings together five leading writers, filmmakers, journalists, and scholars whose work ranges from broadcast reporting on Hurricane Katrina and South Africa's post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to a film on Argentina's state terrorism in the 1970s. Through individual presentations, media clips and discussion, the panelists will engage in personal and scholarly interpretations of the complicated role that media can play in reflecting, influencing and broadening our understanding of human rights.
Introduced by Jane M. Saks (Executive Director, Institute) and moderated by Laura S. Washington (Ida B. Wells-Barnett University Professor in Journalism, DePaul University), the panel discussion will feature Cheryl Corley (reporter, National Public Radio), Antjie Krog (poet, writer and journalist), Silvia Malagrino (visual artist and filmmaker), and Joe Richman (independent producer, National Public Radio's Radio Diaries).
FILM SCREENING: BURNT ORANGES WITH SILVIA MALAGRINO
March 5, 2008, 6pm
Columbia College Chicago, Hokin Annex, 623 S. Wabash, 1st FL
Open to the Public & Free of Charge
Winner of the CINE Golden Eagle award and the Aurora Platinum Best of the Show, Burnt Oranges is a poetic documentary by Chicago filmmaker Silvia Malagrino that explores the history of political violence in her native Argentina. Malagrino examines the long-term effects and repercussions of Argentina's 1970s state terrorism through a combination of intimate witness narration, interviews, documentary, and re-created footage. The film is a personal and artistic portrayal of a country's struggles to confront its painful past, and a reminder of the ongoing necessity to defend human rights and democratic values.
POETRY READING: ANTJIE KROG
March 4, 2008, 6pm
Columbia College Chicago, Hokin Annex, 623 S. Wabash, 1st FL
Open to the Public & Free of Charge
Institute Visiting Artist Antjie Krog is a poet, writer, journalist and Extraordinary Professor at the University of the Western Cape. She has published several volumes of poetry and two nonfiction books: Country of My Skull on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission; and A Change of Tongue about the transformation in South Africa after ten years. She has been awarded many prestigious awards for non-fiction, translation and poetry in both Afrikaans and English.
THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED, production by About Face Theatre
January 9-February 17, 2008
Hoover-Leppen Theatre, Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted
The Institute and About Face Theatre continue their collaboration as educational partners. As part of this collaboration, the Institute hosts groups of Columbia College students and other individuals for special performances and participates in pre- and post-discussions.
The Little Dog Laughed, a fast-paced and hilarious look at the world of celebrity, tells the story of a hot Hollywood actor who may be about to win the role of the century, if he can keep his sexuality under wraps. Add to the equation a rent-boy looking for love, his "girlfriend" looking for a home, and a scheming talent agent out to make the deal of a lifetime, this outrageous and steamy comedy is the perfect way to warm up a cold winter night. Written by Douglas Carter Beane and directed by Eric Rosen.
3RD ANNUAL WOMEN IN HIP-HOP
February 7, 2008 6-8pm
Conaway Center, 1104 S. Wabash, 1st Floor
Open to the Public & Free of Charge
This program is part of the Institute's multi-year Gender and Hip-Hop Initiative engaging in critical analysis and public discourse about issues of masculinity, feminism and gender as they are being defined, shaped and applied through this powerful genre.
Celebrating hip-hop performance and activism, the Institute will present the 3rd Annual Women in Hip-Hop program on February 7, 2008. Building upon the success of previous years, the program will feature dynamic performances by socially-conscious female artists, followed by an audience discussion about women, race and gender issues in hip-hop. Headliners include Miami-based Soulflower, Detroit-based Invincible, and Chicago-based AquaMoon & Tha Crew. The discussion will be moderated Jane M. Saks (Executive Director, Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media) and Stephanie Shonekan (Director, Black World Studies Program, Columbia College Chicago).
BLACK CREATIVITY 2008 FAMILY DAY
February 2, 2008. 10am-3:30pm.
Museum of Science and Industry, 57th Street & Lakeshore Drive.
The Institute is pleased to be program partner in presenting Black Creativity 2008 Family Day. The year's exhibit, The Magic and Science of Cinema and Television, explores the past, present and future contributions of African Americans in film and television, and the science and technology that make telling their stories possible.
Events & Activities Include:
For Teens:
ANNUAL BLACK CREATIVITY CAREER BOWL, 10am
Combining aspects of Jeopardy! and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, the Black Creativity Career Bowls are fun and educational games designed to introduce students to the variety of occupations available to them. Students learn about different career fields, while answering trivia questions and competing for prizes.
For Children:
"The Adventures of Teddy P. Brains: Journey into the Rain Forest" 12pm
A new family oriented 3-D animation is aimed at children ages 5-8 and parents who want to expose their children to positive, ethnically diverse images. This colorfully illustrated, 60-minute film tells the story of Teddy P. Brains, his cousin Tempest Wits and his dog D'Artagnan as they go on an adventurous journey of discovery and exploration.
Open to all:
Daughters of the Dust. 11am
Daughters of the Dust is a film written and directed by Julie Dash. It tells the story of a family of African-Americans who have lived for many years on a Southern offshore island, and of how they come together one day in 1902 to celebrate their ancestors before some of them leave for the North. Featuring Cora Lee Day, Kaycee Moore, and Cheryl Lynn Bruce. With the debut of Daughters of the Dust in January 1992, Julie Dash became the first African-American woman to have a full-length general theatrical release in the USA. "O" Magazine included Daughters of the Dust among its 50 Greatest Chick Flicks and in 1999, the Newark Black Film Festival called the film one of the most important cinematic achievements in Black Cinema in the 20th century. Join us for a discussion with Julie Dash at 2pm.
Open to all:
SYMPOSIUM: THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING US: BLACK WOMEN IN FILM AND TELEVISION. 2pm.
This interactive panel discussion traces the historical depiction of Black women in film and television, as well as the century-long battle against objectification and marginalization waged by early and contemporary Black feminists, actresses, and film makers. Speakers: Julie Dash (Daughters of the Dust), and Yvonne Welbon (Sisters In Cinema). Moderated by Lisa Brock (Columbia College Chicago).
The Black Creativity program, which began in 1971, presents exhibits and related programming that recognize African-American achievement.
Visit www.msichicago.org for information on other activities.
OUT AT CHM: SEXUAL POLITICS: FROM THE LAVENDER SCARE TO LARRY CRAIG
January 31, 2008. Reception 5:30pm. Program 6:30pm.
Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark Street
The Institute is a yearly program partner and co-sponsor of the Chicago History Museum's OUT at CHM, an annual series exploring the history of LGBT art, politics and culture in Chicago. This installment explores how the sexuality of gay men repeatedly finds its way to the center of the nation's political attention and how things have changed for gay men and lesbians in the last 50 years. Gay historians David Johnson and Lane Fenreich will give a presentation about a half century of gay men in the public eye.