Northwestern Learning, Staff Stories

Meet Block Curatorial Fellow Madison Brown

The Block welcomes Madison Brown, a doctoral student in the Department of Screen Cultures, as the museum’s 2023-2024 graduate interdisciplinary fellow. Madison Brown’s research explores the politics of amateur media cultures through theories of memory, domesticity, and everyday life. Madison holds an MA in Cinema Studies from the University of Toronto. We took a moment to sit down […]

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Block Cinema

The Oil is Ours: Filmmaker Joana Pimenta on portraying national narratives [Video]

Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós’ visionary hybrid of documentary and science-fiction, Dry Ground Burning (2022) envisions an alternate present, in which a daring group of outlaw women pirates, refines and distributes petrol in the working-class neighborhoods of Bolsonaro’s Brazil. Between run-ins with inept security forces and tense negotiations with motorcycle-riding couriers, gang leader Chitara (Joana […]

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Staff Stories

Meet Tristen Ives, Head of Projection

In October 2022, The Block welcomed Tristen Ives as Head Projectionist, an integral role in the Block Cinema program. We sat down with Tristen to learn more about their work and background, and the skill, technique, and care behind a projectionist’s craft. Can you tell us a bit about your background? How did you find […]

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Global Perspectives, Programs & Events

“Here is Where I am Now”: A conversation with Samia Halaby [Video]

The exhibitionTaking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s on view at The Block in Fall 2022 explores mid-20th-century abstract art from North Africa, West Asia, and the Arab diaspora—a vast geographic expanse that encompasses diverse cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds. Comprising nearly 90 works by artists from countries including Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, […]

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Staff Stories

Meet Isabella Ko, Engagement Coordinator 

Early in 2022 The Block welcomed Isabella Ko (WCAS BA ’20) back to The Block as our Engagement Coordinator. We were thrilled to work with Isabella in a new professional capacity, after her contributions to the museum as an intern and a docent during her time as a Northwestern undergraduate. We sat down with her […]

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Block Cinema

The Joy and Chaos of Collectivity: Penny Allen in Conversation [Video]

In November 2021, Block Cinema screened Property (1978) by filmmaker Penny Allen. In Property, Penny Allen turns her lens to the eccentric residents of a bohemian neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. The film, a critically under-seen gem of 1970s independent filmmaking, delivers an economic critique of urban renewal to warm, satirical effect. Property revels in the joy and […]

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Collection News, Staff Stories

Art, Access, and Agency: Melanie Garcia Sympson talks with Gallery Systems about The Block’s online collection

Interview reprinted with permission from Gallery Systems – View original. Northwestern University’s The Block Museum of Art is placing a stronger focus on its digital initiatives in a resounding response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a teaching and learning museum, the institution is upholding its mission statement of “presenting art across time, cultures, and media” by pursuing […]

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Block Cinema

“Art is between us”: Mania Akbari on capturing poetry, collaboration, and transformation on film [Audio]

At age 30, Iranian filmmaker Mania Akbari was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy. A Moon For My Father (2019), an essay film made in collaboration with her partner, the British sculptor Douglas White, positions Akbari’s illness within layers of personal and national history. Rich in texture and astonishingly intimate, Akbari’s film […]

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