Although people typically employ masks as a means of concealment, that doesn’t mean they can’t be revealing. Rather than hiding their possessors’ true nature, the latest collection of African masks at the Fowler Museum promises instead to shed light on an intriguing African culture. “Makishi: Mask Characters of Zambia,” located in the Fowler’s Focus Gallery, […]
Author Archives: Laura Picklesimer
Japanese floral arrangement takes root at UCLA Extension
Students gather in a classroom around their teacher, but rather than hand out a test or begin a lecture, UCLA Extension instructor Kyoko Kassarjian surveys students as they delicately piece together flowers into complex Japanese floral arrangements called Ikebana. This ancient art of flower arrangement, in which the slightest angle of a flower or line […]
Weekend Review: “Speed-the-Plow”
With Oscar buzz filling the air and moviegoers recounting the year’s most thought-provoking films, the play “Speed-the-Plow” focuses its audience instead on the more unscrupulous pursuits underlying the film business. These pursuits, namely money and power, define the lives of Hollywood producers Charlie Fox (Greg Germann) and Bobby Gould (Jon Tenney). Both men gain the […]
Rahim & Juliet
A young woman once mused after falling in love with a forbidden man, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.” “Jules” proves these classic lines from Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” to be true, as this modern retelling of the timeworn play features Rahim and […]
South Asia Out Loud
Rather than take an exhausting journey across foreign lands, a short stroll to the Fowler Museum at UCLA tonight can transport students to South Asia. As part of the Fowler Out Loud series, tonight’s South Asian Classical Music and Dance event offers a blend of dance, music, song and storytelling from India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, […]
Into the Wilder
In the iconic Billy Wilder film “Sunset Boulevard,” Gloria Swanson plays an aging starlet of the 1920s fading in the new era of the 1950s. The new Billy Wilder Theater will also pair the past and present together, but it will successfully assimilate the two, bringing a legacy of films from now and before together […]
Giving thanks for new traditions
The United States has a number of timeworn culinary traditions: baseball games and peanuts, the Fourth of July with its barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs, and Thanksgiving, laden with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and pumpkin pie in a holiday centered entirely around paying homage to one meal. This year, while many people will continue this […]