April Museum Nights at the Harn to feature European connections

April 5, 2010

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Harn Museum of Art is hosting Museum Nights from 6 to 9 p.m. on April 8. The event, which relates to “Project Europa: Imagining the (Im)Possible,” will feature live music and dance performances, art-making activities, poetry readings, presentations by University of Florida doctoral students, movie screenings and free food.

Many of the activities relate to “Project Europa: Imagining the (Im)Possible”, on display at the Harn Museum until May 9. The exhibition questions the promise and potential of Europe’s democratic dream just past the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Works in the exhibition include large-scale wall paintings, photography and video by 19 international artists.

Live music will be provided by classical guitarist Michael Patilla. Patilla has performed as concerto soloist with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Eastman Chamber Orchestra, the Masterworks Festival Orchestra, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Honduras, the Red Mountain Chamber Orchestra and the Starkville Symphony Orchestra. A 2007-2008 Fulbright Scholar, Patilla is currently the assistant professor of music at Mississippi State University.

The musical group TAKATA will play a mixture of jazz, blues and classic Brazilian Bossa Nova styles.

Other performances include contemporary Greek dances by the Greek-American Student Association and a selection of traditional European dances by the Gainesville-based International Folk Dance Group.

In addition to dancing, there will be other opportunities for visitors to participate in the evening’s activities. There will be a Facebook live update, where visitors will be able to comment on their Museum Nights experience. Updates will be projected onto a wall in the Galleria. Additionally, in a reference to the Berlin Wall, there will be a graffiti wall where visitors will express their reactions to Project Europa.

Collaborations with the University of Florida will showcase student involvement. Undergraduate students from Dr. Sidney Wade’s advanced poetry writing class will be reading poems inspired by works from the Harn Museum’s collection. Doctoral candidates Claudia Hoffmann, Heather Bigley and Asli Baysal will give presentations about their research and how it relates to the six themes of Project Europa. Subjects include the contributions of undocumented immigrants in Europe, women’s roles in migration, and the role of public opinion in European policy decisions.

Throughout the event, the museum will be screening several short films, including “Bhai Bhai,” “Ata,” “Alena’s Strawberry Farm,” “Lives for Sale,” and the “Journeys to Europe” series. The international films explore issues such as immigration and cultural understanding.

Museum Nights is an ongoing program made possible by the generous support of the University of Florida Honors Program and Student Government. Additional support for this evening is provided by the Center for European Studies.

Images from the exhibition are available for download at www.harn.ufl.edu/projecteuropa.html.

For more information, visit www.harn.ufl.edu or call 352-392-9826.