Each year, hundreds of musicians, theater artists, writers, poets, visual artists and architects visit MIT through assorted departments and programs. They're here as part of a series or in a one-time special event -- as long-term artists-in-residence or discrete recitalists -- teaching or performing or sometimes both.
Many in this fall's lineup are international artists, representing four continents and an array of cultural and artistic traditions.
"These diverse artists foster intellectual, artistic and cultural exchanges that invigorate the entire MIT community," said Maureen Costello, director of special programs in the Office of the Arts, who works closely with faculty to bring in many of MIT's visiting artists through the Artist-in-Residence Program.
Music highlights this fall include the Pacific Jazz Arts Ensemble, featuring jazz artist Harold Anderson and New Zealand Maori musician Bernard Makoare (October 7) and the Baluch Ensemble of Karachi (November 9). Now in its fourth season, the MIT Heritage of the Arts of South Asia series will present prominent South Asian performers such as Sangeet Natak, Academy Award winner and vocalist T.V. Sankranarayan (September 20), and Buddhadev DasGupta, one of the great senior instrumentalists of North India (November 15). And, for a more local flavor, every Thursday at noon, Boston-area musicians will perform in the music section's Chapel Series.
Other visiting artists include juggling artist Michael Moschen in a lunch-hour lecture demonstration (September 24), Urban Bush Women presenting this year's Abramowitz Memorial Lecture (November 7), and Wu Wei Theater Company, a German troupe who will stage Brecht's The Good Woman of Szechuan in three languages (October 21).
READING, LECTURE SERIES
MIT's various reading and lecture series feature a wide assortment of arts scholars and practitioners each semester. Highlights this fall include a reading by award-winning novelist, playwright, essayist and poet Cynthia Ozick (October 27) through the Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies' Writers Series; and a science anthology reading by 1981 Nobel laureate in chemistry Roald Hoffmann through the "poetry@mit" series.
The Architecture Lecture series features world-class architects Charles Correa (October 13) and Frank Gehry (November 10), both of whom are teaching at MIT this term. Chilean-born artist Alfredo Jaar will also speak on his "Rwanda Project" (November 3), previewing an upcoming exhibit at the List Visual Arts Center opening inJanuary.
The 1998 Wasserman Forum on Contemporary Art will bring together artists and scholars from around the world to discuss the Representation of Women in Non-Western Cultures (October 13).
Students will have special opportunities to interact with visiting artists through subjects such as Experience in Interactive Expression (MAS.879 -- Center for Advanced Visual Studies), which brings in a different artist to campus each week to discuss the process of creating specific works. Chris Janney, Myron Krueger, Laura Knott and Otto Piene are included in the lineup.
ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE
Meanwhile, a number of artists-in-residence are continuing longer-term residencies at MIT: kinetic sculptor Arthur Ganson, in his fourth year at MIT, will work with students in mechanical engineering and present three public talks in conjunction with his MIT Museum exhibition (October 15, November 19, December 3). Also in her fourth year at MIT, science photographer Felice Frankel will continue her "visualizing science" work with students and faculty.
In addition, director Tina Packer and members of Shakespeare & Company are teaching and directing in the theater arts section for their third year, holographers Susan Gamble and Michael Wenyon will continue their third year of digital photography and holography at Haystack Observatory, and ceramicist Elaine Yoneoka will begin research in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
For more information on the Artist-in-Residence Program in the Office of the Arts, contact Maureen Costello at x3-4004. For complete event listings, watch the Tech Talk arts page or see the Office of the Arts web site.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on September 16, 1998.
