The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, October 19-25, 2023

Pariah and Eve’s Bayou
Thursdays, October 19 and 26, 7pm
BOK Auditorium, 800 Mifflin Street, Philadelphia

BlackStar Projects hosts a pair of fall screenings, starting with Pariah, a 2011 feature film that traces the story of a queer Black teenager (Adepero Oduye) in Brooklyn who risks friendships, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for self-expression. Then, on October 26, Kasi Lemmons’s 1997 classic film Eve’s Bayou comes to the screen, telling the story about a 10-year-old girl (Jurnee Smollett) in 1960s Louisiana who discovers that her family’s affluent existence masks deep and troubling secrets.

The Journey
October 19-29, 2023
Yellow Bicycle Theater, 1435 Arch Street, Philadelphia

Joshua Crone’s psychedelic comedy about a Jewish family comes to Philly this week. The Journey tells the story of Nick Landers, who wants to marry Luna Lieberman but first has to earn a blessing from her parents by joining the family on a journey—the heart-shaped chocolate Peruvian ayahuasca kind you take without leaving the living room.

Secret Chord Concerts: Songs of Love and Healing with Nefesh Mountain
Thursday, October 19, 5pm
Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, 101 South Independence Mall East, Philadelphia

The Weitzman brings a live concert featuring Nefesh Mountain, a New York-based progressive Americana band. The band has made some big moves as a Jewish roots music band, playing bluegrass, folk, and jazz at stages as prestigious as the Grand Ol’ Opry, where they were the first artists to sing on that stage in Hebrew. Now, they’ll be right around Independence Hall with a cash bar opening the doors at 5pm, the performance at 6pm, and a talkback following the concert.

Material Time
Through Sunday, January 14, 2024
Opening reception on Wednesday, October 25, 6-8pm
Park Towne Place, 2200 Benjamin Franklin Parkway

InLiquid opens a new exhibition inspired by climate systems using unexpected recycled items and natural materials. The installation features the work of five Philadelphia-area artists who evaluate and deconstruct patterns and forms found in nature. The artists featured include Jazmyn Crosby, Jessica Demcsak, Rachel J. Eng, Natalie Kuenzi, and Rebecca Shultz. The opening reception is free and open to the public, and gallery hours are by appointment only.

Confronting and Making Space for Heartbreak with Arriel Vinson
Thursday, October 19, 4pm
Streaming virtually

Thursdays on the Stoop from Blue Stoop features a talk on heartbreak with writer, poet, and essayist Arriel Vinson. The Reese’s Book Club LitUp Fellow looks at how we allow ourselves the space to be cliché and to write about the hurt and everything in between, reading multiple genres that explore the many facets of heartbreak and how it affects mental health. She draws from Camonghne Felix’s memoir Dyscalculia, which notes that Black women aren’t allowed the cliché of heartbreak.