Upcoming Events
Art in Bloom
May 1–3
$5 Third Thursday
May 21
UNIQLO Festival of Films from Japan
May 8–29
Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
This May we’re thanking the local Bengali community’s contribution to the exhibition “Divine Color: Hindu Prints from Modern Bengal.”
In the “Prints in Use: Devotion, Storytelling, Decoration” gallery, three sound stations present recordings read by members of the local Bengali community. The gallery explores how Bengali prints are used in homes, where people engage with images of Hindu gods in many ways, most prominently through intimate expressions of devotion.
These audio experiences are paired with colorful artworks to explore how love, care, and devotion to the gods come alive through storytelling, poetry, and music. Discover the immersive audio recordings for yourself in Torf Gallery through May 31.
Jewish American Heritage Month
Havdalah spice boxes are features of the end of Shabbat—the Jewish day of rest—on Saturday afternoon or evening. Participants smell the spices during the Havdalah ritual, which aims to comfort and revive the spirit before the beginning of the new week.
These vessels can look like towers or boxes, or take on a more modern, whimsical style like artist Deborah Krupenia’s. This shallow container is made of shakudo, a combination of copper and gold. The convex oval body is composed of two parts soldered together, while a circular lid with a cone-like finial sits in a small depression at center.
The decoration consists of a field of radiating gold dots that become larger and lighter in color as they move toward the edge. The bigger dots have holes in their centers to allow the scent of spices to emerge from the vessel. See Krupenia’s work on view in “Intentional Beauty: Jewish Ritual Art from the Collection.”
