Arts & Culture

All Arts & Culture

  • ‘The steam and chatter of typewriters’

    A typewriter belonging to John Ashbery now has a home in the Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard, the late poet’s alma mater.

    Hands on a typewriter.
  • A musical duo of mythic power

    Eight years in the making, the opera “Iphigenia” makes its worldwide debut in Boston.

    Esperanza Spalding and Wayne Shorter.
  • Genuine heroines

    Answering Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero with a Thousand Faces,’ Maria Tatar reveals multitudes in her new book.

    "Pandora" by John William Waterhouse.
  • How to pick a literary winner

    Maya Jasanoff, Coolidge Professor of History, spoke with the Gazette about her role as chair of the panel that crowned “The Promise” by Damon Galgut this year’s winner.

    Illustration of community building tall pile of books.
  • Women who are ambitious, powerful, in love — and in peril

    Whitney White plans musical programs, each on a different Shakespeare play, all asking: What is price of ambition for women?

    Whitney White.
  • Checking in with the local ghosts

    Folklore & Mythology course examines how tales of spirits and ghosts from the past affect the present and the future.

    Supernatural Storytelling students meeting at night.
  • In this writer’s life, the art of noticing comes first

    Rachel Kushner discussed the connection, and differences, between writing fiction and essays at an online Writers Speak event.

    Rachel Kushner.
  • Raised voices

    Tara K. Menon discusses her research and writing and how the author and cartoonist Alison Bechdel influenced her work.

    Tara Menon.
  • Tapping into magic

    Tap dancer Ayodele Casel explores communication, improvisation, culture, and history in “Chasing the Magic” at the American Repertory Theater.

    ART production with Ayodele Casel.
  • Creating art from Radcliffe archives

    Artist Tomashi Jackson’s latest work, “Brown II,” on view at Radcliffe, is inspired by the work of Civil Rights pioneers Pauli Murray and Ruth Batson, who helped drive public school desegregation efforts

    Tomashi Jackson.
  • Something darker than awe

    Professor Ellen Winner looks at what may be happening in the minds of viewers who are taking in Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s wrapped Arc de Triomphe.

    France Arc de Triomphe.
  • A look behind the scenes

    This fall, the Harvard University Committee on the Arts is supporting a series of six commissions from seven contemporary artists across various disciplines.

  • Earth’s most excellent mixtape

    Harvard music professor Alex Reading’s book turns up volume on Golden Record of sounds of our civilization sent into space.

    Fanny Peabody Professor of Music Alex Rehding speaks about a new book he co-authored on the Golden Record and a new approach to music theory. He is pictured outside the acoustically-designed archway of Sever Hall in Harvard Yard at Harvard University.
  • Giving Carrie Mae Weems her due

    New volume fills gap in scholarship on work of celebrated Black photographer Carrie Mae Weems.

    Two women and a girl in mourning.
  • Bringing ancient pottery to life

    Zoom pottery class enlists Harvard Art Museums experts to help re-create treasures from the collection.

    Woman teaching ceramics.
  • Fresh insight in familiar frames

    Horace D. Ballard, the Harvard Art Museums’ new curator of American art, wants us to engage in big questions of our time through works of another.

    Horace Ballard.
  • Spotted at Radcliffe: A brain exploding into rainbows

    While spending a year at Radcliffe working on her latest book, Lauren Groff switched gears after attending a talk by a fellowship classmate — and started a project focused on a medieval nun.

    Lauren Groff,
  • A son nearing adulthood, his mom nearing death

    Teen’s shady father moves in when his mom is diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease in new novel by Atticus Lish.

    Atticus Lish
  • Art for everyone

    Harvard’s Office for the Arts panel tackles the need for antiracism programming, allyship.

    Zoom panel.
  • Making the audience laugh — and cry

    Annie Julia Wyman studied creative writing at Stanford, got her master’s and doctoral degrees in English at Harvard, and seemed destined for a career in academia. Then Hollywood came calling.

    Annie Julia Wyman.
  • Let the music play

    The Harvard Ed Portal teamed up with Brighton Main Streets to produce 10 free outdoor performances at the Brighton Farmers Market.

    Marcos Santos.
  • A portrait of the man behind the portraits

    John Jay Cabuay explains how he strives to capture the spirit of the people he illustrates.

    John Jay Cabuay.
  • Motion picture

    Harvard Ph.D. student Kéla Jackson’s virtual talk explored the ways muralist and printmaker Louis Delsarte embraced notions of music, color, and interiority in his work.

    Gif showing layers of Louis Delsarte's "Unity."
  • Remembrance of cicada seasons past

    Cicadas emerging after 17 years of dormancy ignited a childhood memory in Joseph Koerner, Victor S. Thomas Professor of the History of Art and Architecture .

    Joseph Koerner.
  • How plants have influenced human societies

    Researchers at Dumbarton Oaks’ Plants Humanities Lab hope to shed light on the historical relationships between humans and their environments — and improve our current and future relationships with nature.

    Detail of a painting by Albert Eckhout.
  • Tuning up for a return to performing in person

    After 15 months of virtual performance and teaching, Vijay Iyer is returning to the physical stage.

    Vijay Iyer.
  • Take a bow

    Since Theater, Dance & Media launched in fall 2015 as Harvard’s 49th official concentration, almost 40 College students have graduated with a concentration in TDM and more than 90 have pursued secondary concentrations in the field.

    Dancers onstage.
  • Imagining an alternative America from a Native perspective

    “Moving Through History” is an immersive installation happening Wednesday and Thursday as part of the Creating Equal initiative.

    A.R.T. illustration for walking tour.
  • Does climate doubt have a sound? At least one composer thinks so

    Harvard professors Janine Jackson and Naomi Oreskes collaborate on music and climate change denial project.

    Naomi Oreskes and Yvette Jackson.
  • Looking to ignite questions rather than supply answers

    Harvard English professor Jesse McCarthy embraces the essay as a form for exploring art, literature, politics.

    Jesse McCarthy.