A s the starter pistol is raised ahead of the spring semester, Yale revs its engine.
Monday, January 25
At 4 p.m., Martin Johnson, an assistant professor of English and Comparative Literature at UNC-Chapel Hill, discusses one of the Beinecke Library’s countless fascinating collections: the Solomon Sir Jones Films, “29 silent black and white films documenting African-American communities in Oklahoma from 1924 to 1928.” Jones, a preacher and entrepreneur, “filmed Oklahoma residents in their homes; during their social, school and church activities; in the businesses they owned; and performing various jobs,” according to the Beinecke’s website, which, if you scroll down, allows you to view the footage for yourself. Free; registration required.
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Wednesday, January 27
At 12:30 p.m., the Yale University Art Gallery virtually hosts “Playing Images: An Exploration of Music and Art”, offering visual and auditory experiences courtesy of YUAG curator Jessica Sack, Music Haven artistic director Yaira Matyakub and the Haven String Quartet. Free; registration required.
Co-presented by the Yale Film Archive (née the Yale Film Study Center), a free Indie Lens Pop-Up screening of new documentary 9to5: The Story of a Movement—“a movement that started with 9to5, a group of Boston secretaries in the early 1970s,” who were seeking “better pay, more advancement opportunities, and an end to sexual harassment”—starts at 7 p.m. The film “captures the real-life fight that inspired a hit”—two hits, if you count both the fictional movie 9 to 5 (1980) and the signature song Dolly Parton wrote and performed for it—“and changed the American workplace forever.” The virtual event also promises special remarks and a panel discussion featuring four heavyweight labor advocates and Julia Reichert, who co-directed and -produced the documentary. Registration required.
Thursday, January 28
Starting at noon, the New Haven Free Public Library’s latest installment of Books Sandwiched In features local archivist, historical researcher and former Greater New Haven Labor History Association director Joan Cavanaugh discussing her book Our Community at Winchester: The City and Its Workers at New Haven’s Gun Factory (2020). The book measures Winchester Repeating Arms Company workers’ historical efforts to unionize; the now-defunct company’s efforts to thwart them; City Hall’s relationship with the company along the way; and the direction of the city today as exemplified by the former factory site’s conversion into luxury apartments and Science Park. Free.
In a 5:30 p.m. lecture sponsored by the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, the artist, educator and conservationist Subhankar Banerjee discusses necessarily non-anthropocentric approaches to addressing “the three most consequential and existential planetary crises of our time”: “climate breakdown; biological annihilation; and the rise of zoonotic pandemics.” Via “visual analysis and storytelling,” Banerjee’s talk “will be a journey through three places: tropical India; Arctic Alaska; and the U.S.-Mexico desert borderlands,” highlighting “the significance of the ‘sacred’ in building community-engaged and culturally inclusive campaigns for multispecies justice.”
Friday, January 29
Two new exhibits hit Artspace (50 Orange St, New Haven; 203-772-2709) today. One of them, Sueños, features the riveting story and imaginative work of puppet-maker and performer Anatar Marmol-Gagné. The other, Modicum, curated by Sara Maria Salamone, features 10 artists whose diverse and decidedly flat work has been selected to join Artspace’s Flatfile program, an “ever-changing collection of 2D works by notable local and regional artists.” The gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 6.
Written by Dan Mims. Image, from Anatar Marmol-Gagné’s Sueños, courtesy of Artspace. Readers are encouraged to verify times, locations and prices before attending events.
