Recent events have again laid bare the aggression, injustices, and inequities faced every day by African Americans. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery,—these are just three more names added to a tragically long list of unarmed black individuals whose lives have been taken by the hands of police officers empowered to protect them and through […]
In November 2018 the Block Museum of Art welcomed documentarian PJ Raval for a conversation on his award-winning feature documentary Call Her Ganda. The film following the 2014 murder of Jennifer Laude, a transgender Filipina woman killed by an American Marine, and the struggle for justice waged by her family, friends, lawyers, and investigative journalist […]
In September 2020 the Block Museum welcomed Rikki Byrd as a 2020-2021 graduate fellow. Block Museum Graduate Fellowships are offered to two graduate students annually, one from Art History and one from any department within the Graduate School. Graduate Fellows are integral members of the museum staff and support projects through exhibition and collection research, curating, writing […]
On June 18, 2020, Sepehr Vakil, Assistant Professor of Learning Sciences, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University welcomed an online audience to an unique Block Cinema program shaped by a partnership between Northwestern and Evanston Township High School. “To say that these films are deeply and acutely relevant is to state the obvious…For […]
In the heart of the South Side of Chicago, an 85-acre area abutting a railyard means different things to different people. For more than 400 African American families, it is home. For Norfolk Southern railroad company, it is space to expand its train-to-truck intermodal depot. The 2018 documentary The Area tells a story that’s well known […]
Artist: Michael Schwab (German, born 1966)Title: Die grossen Turner aus der Heidburg mit den “Bananen-Bäuchen”, Siegfried u. Kunigunde vom Lehrer gennant (The great gymnasts of Heidburg with the “banana-bellies”—called Siegfried and Kunigunde by their teacher), from the series Erinnern (Remembering)Date: 1993Medium: Gelatin silver printDimensions: 24 x 19 15/16 in.Credit line: Mary and Leigh Block Museum […]
Prem Kapoor’s 1971 Hindi film Badnam Basti (Alley of Ill Repute) is considered one of the first Indian films to explore queer relationships. Based on a novel by Hindi writer Kamleshwar Prasad Saxena, it centers on a love triangle between two men and one woman on the margins of society. The film is noted for its adventurous […]
Title: Hotei at Dusk (Higure Hotei), from the series The Seven Gods of Fortune (Toto shichi fukujin no uchi)Artist: Utagawa SadatoraNationality: Japanese, ca. flourished 1818-44Date: ca. 1820sMedium: Color Woodcut, 14 1/4 in x 9 3/4 inCredit: Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, purchase funds provided by Connie and Tom Hodson Sadatora […]
In Summer 2020, The Block Museum of Art is thrilled to be among Chicago arts and cultural organizations partnering with the Northwestern Chicago Humanities Initiative (CHI). The CHI program prepares the next generation of humanities scholars to develop community partnerships, reach diverse audiences, and become powerful civic leaders. Through an eight-week internship with an arts, […]
The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University welcomes Erin Northington as the Susan and Stephen Wilson Associate Director of Campus and Community Education and Engagement. Northington comes to The Block from Harvard University where she served as the Assistant Director of Student Programs and Campus Initiatives at the Harvard Art Museums and has held […]
In November 2019, The Block welcomed Toronto-based filmmaker Brett Story for two nights of her acclaimed documentary films and conversation on her groundbreaking practice. The Prison in Twelve Landscapes (2016) explores the criminal justice system and mass incarceration in the U.S. from a number of oblique vantage points, rather than focusing on prisons themselves. Story looks […]