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Crushed Earth, Latin American folk music, CraftNOW, and more
The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, November 9-15, 2023
Kyle V. Hiller
Coming up in Philly this week, dance artist Eiko Otake brings her international legacy of over 40 years to the city this week that’s more than just the moves. Also, People’s Light streams a unique, immersive audio play, and TIMBALONA lights up the stage with folk music from Latin American performers. Get creative with CraftNOW and PHonk!Philly, and travel hundreds of millions of years back to a formative period on Earth at the Academy of Natural Sciences.
Be crafty, Philly!
Crushed Earth
Through Thursday, November 30, 2023
Streaming online
People’s Light teamed up with Theatre Horizon, Hedgerow Theater Company, and Vrialto, Inc., to bring this new immersive audio play by playwright Deepa Purohit and Sanjit De Silva to life. Streaming on SoundCloud now, the play takes place in present-day eastern Pennsylvania when a county is struck with a winter storm in the middle of June. As the snow threatens to put the county in disarray, the lives of its residents begin to intersect, especially spotlighting the experiences of Native, Indian, and Black American residents.
Eiko Otake: I Invited Myself, vol. III: Duets
November 9 through March 24, 2023
Fabric Workshop and Museum, 1214 Arch Street, Philadelphia
The internationally acclaimed movement artist Eiko Otake brings a new collaborative exhibition to the Fabric Workshop and Museum. Co-presented with the Asian Arts Initiative, projections, video sculptures, and more are part of this project, which is being dubbed “an evolving series of experiments and collaborations that negotiate differences of race, age, culture, ethnicity, religion, discipline, and gender, [and] each project seeks to maximize the potential of the encounter.” The opening reception is on Thursday, November 9, from 6-8pm—be sure to RSVP in advance.
Colectivo Folklórico
Friday, November 10, 8-10pm
iMPeRFeCT Gallery, 5539 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia
Percussion ensemble TIMBALONA hosts a night of song and dance at iMPeRFeCT Gallery this weekend. The ensemble focuses on folklore and popular music from the Caribbean and Latin America, and this event will showcase Latin American immigrant musicians based in the Philly area. The event is free and open to the public with donations appreciated.
CraftNOW Create
Saturday, November 11, 10am-1pm
Smith Memorial Playground, 3500 Reservoir Drive, Philadelphia
Bring the kids to this free, family-friendly morning with CraftNOW Philadelphia to catch hands-on demonstrations of unique craft projects. The Asian Arts Initiative, Clay Studio, Museum for Art in Wood, Philadelphia Guild of Handweavers, and more are all contributing to this year’s edition.
Keep Growing and Keep Going!
Saturday, November 11, 2-4pm
Hawthorne Cultural Center, 1200 Carpenter Street, Philadelphia
PHonk!Philly, Hawthorne Cultural Center, and Disability Pride PA come together for an afternoon of community workshops, conversations, food, drinks, music, and arts and crafts. The event serves as an invitation to see what PHonk!Philly has in store for 2024. PHonk!Philly, founded as a music festival utilizing the power of music, art, activism, and cultural preservation in spring 2020, looks to expand and continue its movement of healing and community through dance, music, and the arts.
Life onto Land: The Devonian
Saturday, November 11, through September 2024
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia
The Academy opens a new exhibit this weekend centered around the Devonian Period, a time 350 million years ago. Animation, murals, models, CT scans, rare fossils, specimens, maps, and more will illustrate the period that transformed Earth into what people understand it as today.
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