Literati is pleased to be the bookseller for the Author’s Forum’s presentationof “Contemporary Korean Art: Tansaekhwa and the Urgency of Method,” a conversation with Joan Kee and David Chung.
A crucial artistic movement of twentieth-century Korea, Tansaekhwa (monochromatic painting) also became one of its most famous and successful. In this full-color, richly illustrated account—the first of its kind in English—Joan Kee provides a fresh interpretation of the movement’s emergence and meaning that sheds new light on the history of abstraction, twentieth-century Asian art, and contemporary art in general. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the most controversial and influential artistic movement in contemporary Korean art. With detailed formal analysis on the important artworks and locating them within the broader historical and intellectual framework, Joan Kee vividly portrays how Korean artists responded to the international art world and positioned Tansaekhwa as an alternative to Euro-American art. Contemporary Korean Art makes essential reading for anyone interested in the non-Western artists’ negotiations to global art in the twentieth century.
This event will be recorded
Join us for a special mystery-lovers evening as historical mystery writers Maureen Jennings and Nancy Herriman discuss their work and the history/mystery genre. This event, cosponsored by Aunt Agatha’s Mystery Bookstore, includes a book signing and books will be for sale. Note: mystery writer Tasha Alexander, also scheduled to present, is unfortunately unable to attend this event.
Born in England, Maureen Jennings emigrated to Canada as a teenager. The first acclaimed Detective Murdoch mystery was published in 1997. Six more followed, all to enthusiastic reviews.
In 2003, Shaftesbury Films adapted three of the novels into movies of the week, and four years later the Murdoch Mysteries TV series was created. It is now shown around the world.
The Detective Inspector Tom Tyler series, set in World War II-era England, got off to a spectacular start with 2011’s Season of Darkness, followed by Beware This Boyin 2012.
Her newest book, “Dead Ground in Between,” is the haunting fourth novel in the DI Tom Tyler series. Set in Britain during the darkest days of World War II, this is a must-read especially for those interested in wartime dramas.
Nancy Herriman abandoned a career in Engineering to chase around two small children and take up the pen. She hasn’t looked back. A multi-published author, she is also a former winner of the Romance Writers of America’s Daphne du Maurier award for Best Unpublished Mystery/Romantic Suspense.
Oct. 26: Readings by Kalamazoo Valley Community College English teacher Robert Haight, the author of 3 poetry collections, and Joy Gaines-Friedler, a widely published Detroit-area poet who has released 2 collections, Followed by a poetry and short fiction open mike.
This bestselling children’s writer and illustrator-author of many pop-up books, including America the Beautiful and A Winter’s Tale: An Original Pop-Up Journey-discusses his work and leads a hands-on pop-up book-making activity for adults.
7 p.m., Concordia University Kreft Center Black Box Theater, 4090 Geddes at Earhart. Free, but reservations required. 995-7537.
Literati is delighted to be the bookseller for the DISC Distinguished Lecture, “Gender and Sexuality in the Islamic Culture,” delivered by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Shirin Ebadi. This event is hosted by the Islamic Studies Program and co-sponosored by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, International Institute, Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies, Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies, Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia, and Law School.
Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer, former judge, and human rights activist. On October 10, 2003, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights – especially women’s, children’s, and refugee rights. She was the first Iranian to ever receive the prize. Ebadi became Iran’s first female judge when she was just 23 years old. She also became the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to be awarded the Nobel peace prize. Despite initially supporting the Iranian revolution like many Iranians, Ebadi soon became its scourge. Although described as “the worst nightmare of Iran’s hardline clerics,” her fight for human rights, particularly those for women, is not anti-religion. “I am against patriarchy, not Islam,” she says.
Demoted to a secretary in her own court by the regime, which considered women unsuitable to be judges, she set up her own pro-bono law practice to focus on injustices in the legal system, acting for political dissidents and on child-abuse cases. Despite being put on a death list by the regime, Dr. Ebadi became the country’s most high-profile human rights activist, founding the Human Rights Defenders Centre and helping to found the One Million Signatures Campaign. This grassroots campaign collected 1 million signatures from women in support of changing discriminatory laws. The campaign has won numerous international prizes (including the 2009 Reach All Women in War Anna Politkovskaya Award), but its members have also been harassed and even jailed.
Shirin Ebadi lived in Tehran, but she has been in exile in the UK since June 2009 due to the increase in persecution of Iranian citizens who are critical of the current regime. In 2004, she was listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the “100 most powerful women in the world.” She is also included in a published list of the “100 most influential women of all time.”
Ebadi will be introduced by Bridgette Carr, clinical professor of law at the University of Michigan.
Elizabeth Diller is a founding partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), an interdisciplinary design studio that works at the intersection of architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. With Ricardo Scofidio, Diller was the first in the field of architecture to receive the “genius” award from the MacArthur Foundation, which stated “their work explores how space functions in our culture and illustrates that architecture, when understood as the physical manifestation of social relationships, is everywhere, not just in buildings.”
DS+R established its identity through independent, theoretical, and self-generated projects before coming to international prominence with two of the most important planning initiatives in New York: the High Line, and the redesign of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts campus. In addition to the recently openend Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center at Columbia University, and The Broad museum in downtown Los Angeles, Diller is Principal-in-Charge of The Shed, a new center for artistic invention, and the renovation and expansion of MoMA, both in New York. Diller graduated from the Cooper Union School of Architecture in 1979, and taught at the school from 1981-1990. She is a Professor of Architecture at Princeton University.
Diller is a recipient of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Design Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Design, and the Brunner Prize from the American Academy of the Arts and Letters. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 2013, Diller was awarded the Barnard Medal of Distinction, and DS+R was presented a Centennial Medal of Honor from the American Academy in Rome. Diller was selected by Time magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.”
The John Dinkeloo Memorial Lecture was established to recognize John Dinkeloo’s extraordinary contributions to architecture, to honor his distinguished professional work and to pay tribute to this highly respected alumnus of the Architecture Program at the University of Michigan.
All adults and teens in grade 6 & up invited to learn about this nonprofit promotion (also known as NaNoWriMo) encouraging teens and adults to tackle the challenge of writing a 50,000-word novel by the end of November. Refreshments.
3-5 p.m., AADL Traverwood Branch, 3333 Traverwood at Huron Pkwy.
FAILURE:LAB is an event where storytellers and entertainers recounting their most memorable brush with failure. The audience is encouraged to share their thoughts on Twitter using the hashtag #failurelab during the performances between stories. Ticketed.
November 3 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (reception will follow)
– Amy Emberling, Partner at Zingerman’s Bakehouse
– Jason De Leon, Assistant Professor of Anthropology
– Arianna Carley, Entrepreneur and Engineering Student
– Tim McKay, Professor of Physics, Astronomy, and Education
– Nadine Jawad, Public Policy Major
All writers welcome to share and discuss their poetry and short fiction. Sign up for new participants begins at 6:45 p.m.
Lecture by this nationally recognized advocate for people with disabilities, author ofWhat Matters: Reflections on Disability, Community and Love.
Noon, 100 Hatcher Grad Library Gallery, enter from the Diag. Free.
