August/September Highlights

• Symphony of Words
  Discussion with Daniel Barenboim and University President Don Michael Randel
  8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20 at Symphony Center

  Daniel Barenboim, music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and President Randel, a noted musicologist, will engage in a wide-ranging discussion of music, education and the challenges of leading world-renowned cultural and educational institutions. Barenboim and Randel will speak to important issues that affect them both–from the need to nurture talented, creative people to the challenge of encouraging innovation in organizations known for their venerable traditions.

  Their discussion will be moderated by Rashid Khalidi, Professor in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and History, and Director of the Center for International Studies & Council for Advanced Studies in Peace & International Cooperation. The University, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Humanities Festival are sponsoring the event. Symphony Center is at 220 S. Michigan Ave. Reservations for this special event are required, and tickets are $5 in advance. For more information or to make reservations, call (312) 294-3000.

• The Invention of Love
  Wednesday, Sept. 6 – Sunday, Oct. 15 at Court Theatre

  Court Theatre begins its 2000-01 season with the Midwest premiere of Tom Stoppard’s The Invention of Love, the story of A.E. Housman, an aged poet and classics scholar. At a time when Parliament condemned acts of “gross indecency,” it was only through his poetic works that Housman could express his unrequited love for a fellow Oxford student. Performances of The Invention of Love will begin Wednesday, Sept. 6 and will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Matinees will be performed at 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23 and Saturday, Sept. 30 and at 2:30 p.m. every Sunday. All performances will take place at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. Preview prices range from $24 to $28; regular performance prices are $28 to $38. Senior, student, group and subscription discounts are available, and half-price rush tickets ($9 for students) may be available on the day of the show. For tickets and more information, call (773) 753-4472 or visit Court Theatre’s Web site at http://www.courttheatre.org

• “Martin Kippenberger: Hotel Drawings and The Happy End of Franz Kafka’s Amerika”
  Sunday, Sept. 10 – Sunday, Oct. 29 at The Renaissance Society gallery
  Sunday, Sept. 10 - Sunday, Nov. 5 at the Smart Museum of Art
  Opening reception and lecture 4 - 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10 at the Smart Museum.

  In a special collaboration, the Smart Museum of Art will join with the Renaissance Society in presenting two distinct facets of the work of Martin Kippenberger (1953-1997), who was one of the most complex and prolific German artists of his generation. In its Richard and Mary L. Gray Special Exhibition Gallery, the Smart Museum of Art will present almost 200 of Kippenberger’s
  47;hotel drawings” (1987-1997). Called an “autobiography in sketches,” this series of drawings on hotel stationery includes doodle-like drawings, highly finished compositions and sketches that relate to his paintings, sculptures and installations.

  The Renaissance Society will present “The Happy End of Franz Kafka’s Amerika” (1996). This room-sized installation refers to Kafka’s unfinished novel in which the central character navigates a vast employment office; in Kippenberger’s version, the office becomes an off-kilter playing field.

  The exhibit will open on Sunday, Sept. 10 with a reception from 4 – 7 p.m. Noted critic Diedrich Diederichsen, a frequent contributor to Artforum and a friend of Kippenberger’s, will speak on the artist’s work at 5 p.m. in Cobb Hall, Room 307.

  The Smart Museum of Art is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, and noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Free. The Renaissance Society gallery is in Room 418 in Cobb Hall, 5811 S. Ellis Ave. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Free.

• “The Future of the Queer Past: A Transnational Conference”
  Gay History Conference
  Thursday, Sept. 14-Sunday, Sept. 17.

  Call 834-4509 for more information.

• “Homosexuality in the City: A Century of Research at the University of Chicago”
  Thursday, Sept. 14-Friday, Dec. 15 at Special Collections

  Interim hours from Saturday, Aug. 26 through Sunday, Sept. 24 are Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., closed Saturday and Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4. Regular exhibition hours from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Saturday, will resume Monday, Sept. 25. Special Collections, Joseph Regenstein Library, 1110 E. 57th St. 702-8705. Free.

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