Disgraced

Lafayette College Department of Theater Presents Disgraced
Theater

February 23–24, March 1–3, 2018
7:30 p.m.
February 25
2:00 p.m.

Weiss Theater
Buck Hall
219 North 3rd Street (at Snyder Street)
Easton, PA

Liberal pieties clash violently with starkly conservative attitudes on the subjects of religion, national identity, terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism, immigration, racial profiling, and the state of Israel in this riveting dissection of scraping away the veneer of civilized behavior in our troubled times. Winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Written by Ayad Akhtar. Directed by Suzanne Westfall.

Photographer Lalla Essaydi

Photographer Lalla Essaydi
Lecture

Wednesday
February 28, 2018
4:10 p.m.

Oechsle Hall
Room 224
College Hill, Easton, PA

Lalla Essaydi will give an artist’s talk about her photographs on view this semester in the Williams Center Gallery. Her sumptuous explorations of the image of women in Islamic society address the complex reality of Arab female identity from the unique perspective of personal experience. As Essaydi puts it, “In my art, I wish to present myself through multiple lenses—as artist, as Moroccan, as traditionalist, as liberal, as Muslim. In short, I invite viewers to resist stereotypes.”

The talk in Oechsle Hall will be followed by a reception for the artist across the street in the Williams Center lobby (317 Hamilton Street at High Street).

Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity

Theater

Friday
February 9, 2018
8 p.m.

Williams Center for the Arts
317 Hamilton Street (at High Street)
College Hill, Easton, PA

With stark simplicity and a narrative that feels remarkably relevant to the moment, Beyond Sacred stages the personal and complex stories of young Muslim New Yorkers at a time of increasing Islamophobia. Created by Ping Chong + Company, this interview-based theater production illuminates the daily experiences of individuals who reflect a wide range of Muslim identities, yet share the commonality of coming of age after 9/11 and of being the “other” in America. A poignant new work, and “a lesson in human understanding, drawn from real lives” (The New York Times).

Tickets are available from July 1 at the Williams Center for the Arts.

Ping Chong & Amir Khafagy

Director Ping Chong
Moderated Discussion

Tuesday
February 6, 2018
Noon

Skillman Library
Gendebien Room
College Hill, Easton, PA

American theater artist Ping Chong is renowned for addressing important cultural and civic issues of our time. In Beyond Sacred, Chong uncovers the diverse experiences of young Muslim New Yorkers who share the common reality of coming of age in a post-9/11 world. In this interview-based production, the “actors” are real people—“Arab Rican” Amir Khafagy among them—who reflect a wide range of Muslim identities, and share their personal, complex stories at a time of increasing Islamophobia. Chong and Khafagy join Professor of Theater Suzanne Westfall for a lunchtime discussion.

Admission is free. Lunch will be provided while supplies last.

This talk accompanies the performance of Beyond Sacred at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, February 9 at the Williams Center for the Arts.

Islamic Calligraphy & Book Arts

Islamic Calligraphy & Book Arts

Exhibitions

Through December 2017

Skillman Library
College Hill, Easton, PA

Community, Literacy, and Activism in Islamic Africa: The Paintings of Yelimane Fall

The calligraphic art of Yelimane Fall, a Senegalese artist and community activist, whose work reflects a vibrant West African aesthetic featuring large curvilinear Arabic letters, robust forms, and bright colors.

“Breathe for Those Who Cannot”: Remembering Al-Mutanabbi, Street of Booksellers

In March 2007, a car bomb tore through the heart of Baghdad’s historic literary district. Named after a 10th-century Iraqi poet, Abu al-Tayyib Ahmad ibn al-Husayn Mutanabbi, this street on the lip of the Tigris River has been described as Baghdad’s “third lung, where the educated and students breathe.” This exhibit features recent works by book artists wishing to commemorate and celebrate the spirit of the Al-Mutanabbi Street community.

Contemporary Artists’ Books Inspired by Islamic Cultures

Works from Lafayette’s rare book collection selected because of the ways they connect with Islamic cultures. Included are the work of photographers Peter Bogardus, Steve McCurry, and Steven Verona documenting people and events in Senegal, Afghanistan, and Egypt respectively. Egyptian book artist Islam Aly is represented by four small, but highly dramatic works and Senegalese artist Abdoulaye Ndoye by a remarkable, unique volume filled with his invented calligraphy. Other works look at the Muslim immigrant experience in America and the effects of war on Iraqi women.

A Thin Wall

A Thin Wall

Film and Q&A with the Filmmaker

Monday
November 13, 2017
7 p.m.

Landis Cinema at Buck Hall
219 North 3rd Street (at Snyder Street)
Easton, PA

A Thin Wall is a documentary that focuses on the partition of India in 1947 but derives lessons that are urgently relevant today. Writer and director Mara Ahmed shot the film on both sides of the border, in India and Pakistan, and infused original animation, music, and literary writing to tell a story about the memory, history, and possibility of reconciliation.

Filmmaker Mara Ahmed will join us for a Q&A session immediately after the screening.

Admission is free.

Presented by the Departments of History and Film and Media Studies.

Calligrapher Sultan Ali Mashhadi

The Life and Times of Calligrapher Sultan Ali Mashhadi: Arts of the Book and Literature in Late 15th-Century Herat

LECTURE

Monday
November 13, 2017
4:30 p.m.

Skillman Library
Gendebien Room
College Hill, Easton, PA

David J. Roxburgh, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Professor of Islamic Art History, Department of the History of Art & Architecture, Harvard University, speaks about the noted calligrapher of Lafayette College’s Persian Manuscript, which was produced in the city of Herat in 1515.

2017 Schlueter Lecture in the Art and History of the Book

The Sachal Jazz Ensemble

CONCERT

Thursday
November 2, 2017
8 p.m.

Williams Center for the Arts
317 Hamilton Street (at High Street)
College Hill, Easton, PA

In defiance of years-long Taliban influence on local culture, Pakistan’s classical masters preserved their music and improvisational techniques underground, emerging in 2011 with an ambitious recording covering Western jazz standards on traditional instruments. The Sachal Jazz Ensemble’s angle on Paul Desmond’s “Take Five” went viral, earning them world-wide recognition and an invitation from Wynton Marsalis to perform at Lincoln Center. In this cross-cultural, genre-bending concert, works by Mancini, Brubeck, and Grusin converse with practices from a cradle of civilization on sitar, flute, sarangi, and tablas—truly the quintessence of “world music.”

Visiting Artist Iman Raad

Lecture

Thursday
November 2, 2017
4:00 p.m.

Williams Center for the Arts
Room 108
317 Hamilton Street (at High Street)
College Hill, Easton, PA

Iranian artist Iman Raad’s highly contemporary aesthetic marries influences as diverse as traditional Persian miniatures and digital glitch art. As part of his residency at Lafayette’s Experimental Printmaking Institute, he will discuss his work and influences in this public lecture.

Image courtesy of Iman Raad, detail of Untitled (Birds), 2016. See more of Raad’s work in the Vice article “Psychedelic Paintings Cast a Colorful Eye on Food Trucks and Persian Miniatures.”

 

Song of Lahore

Film and Q&A with the artists

Wednesday
November 1, 2017
7 p.m.

Landis Cinema at Buck Hall
219 North 3rd Street (at Snyder Street)
Easton, PA

An award-winning documentary about The Sachal Jazz Ensemble that traces the group’s journey from Pakistan to New York’s Lincoln Center and asks whether there is still room for musicians in a society roiled by conflict. Watch the trailer here.

Members of The Sachal Jazz Ensemble will join us for a Q&A session immediately after the screening.

Tickets are free but should be obtained in advance. They will be available beginning in September through the Williams Center for the Arts.