Some of the most interesting things happening across the region from Thursday, March 21st to Thursday, March 28th. Share your event by tweeting us @citywidestories or tagging us on Facebook.
Science on Screen: Space is the Place
Thursday, March 21st
7 – 10pm
Philadelphia Film Society
1412 Chestnut St.
Cost: Free
Mind-bending, visually dazzling, and infused with electrifying music, ‘SPACE IS THE PLACE’ is a landmark early work of Afrofuturist cinema. A companion to his legendary album of the same name, ‘SPACE IS THE PLACE’ features jazz iconoclast Sun Ra as an intergalactic traveler intent on resettling a distant planet with African Americans. Traveling back to 1940s Chicago and to 1970s Oakland, Sun Ra faces off against the nefarious Overseer and a team of evil NASA scientists.
Author and founder of the Afrofuturist Affair, Rasheedah Phillips discusses the foundations and future of Afrofuturism, a philosophy that challenges traditional notions of space, time, and technology to see alternative pasts and futures for the African Diaspora.
Jasjyot Singh Hans & Charles Clary Exhibition Opening
Friday, March 22nd
5:30 – 10:00pm
Paradigm Gallery + Studio
746 S 4th St.
Cost: Free
Baltimore-based Indian artist, Jasjyot Singh Hans has created a series of large-scale monochromatic paintings on canvas called “Women in Monochrome,” which challenge the normative ideas of female beauty.
“Double Diddle Phlebotomy,” Charles Clary’s latest body of work, is a deeply personal series. Dealing with his mother’s battle with terminal lung cancer, Clary’s hand-cut, pen and ink illustrations revolve thematically around the helplessness he felt during her fight, which he desperately wanted to cure. His work is meticulously cut by hand from paper, then layered and laminated beneath illustration board to create a structural “tumor.”
Opening weekend at Shofuso Japanese House and Garden
March 23 – 24
11:00 am
Horticultural and Landsdowne Drs.
Cost: $2 – $12
Take in the spring blossoms, enjoy complimentary tours of the house and garden, and feed koi. Admission to Shofuso is $12 for adults, $8 for youth 6-17, seniors, and students with college ID, and $2 for ACCESS card holders with up to four guests. Members, youth under 5, and military with ID and up to five guests are free. Tickets may be purchased at the door the day of admission!
Erotic Islands: Art and Activism in the Queer Caribbean
Saturday, March 23rd
The African American Museum of Art
701 Arch St.
Cost: Free
A conversation and signing with Lyndon K. Gill, Ph.D., author of ‘Erotic Islands: Art and Activism in the Queer Caribbean’. Gill will be joined in conversation by Deborah A. Thomas, Ph.D., the R. Jean Brownlee Professor of Anthropology, and the Director of the Center for Experimental Ethnography at the University of Pennsylvania. ‘Erotic Islands’ maps a long queer presence at a crossroads of the Caribbean. This transdisciplinary book foregrounds the queer histories of Carnival, calypso, and HIV/AIDS in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. At its heart is an extension of Afro-Caribbean American lesbian feminist Audre Lorde’s use of the erotic as theory and methodology.
A wine and cheese reception will kick off the event starting at 4:30pm.
Brewery Yoga with Rescue Dogs
Sunday, March 24th
10:30 am
Stable 12 Brewing Company
368 Bridge St.. Phoenixville
Cost: $30
Rescue Dogs, Yoga and Beer! Try and perfect your downward facing dog while lots of adoptable dogs roam around. After class grab a beer and hang out with even more pups!
Philadelphia Youth Dance Fest
Sunday, March 24th
12 – 1:30 pm
Mandell Theater Drexel University
3220 Chestnut St
Cost: $22
Love dance? Come out for the Philadelphia Youth Dance Fest, featuring 36 youth dance companies from across the nation!
West Philadelphia Orchestra
Tuesday, March 26th
Franky Bradley’s
1320 Chancellor St.
Cost: $10
Come out and listen to West Philly’s own orchestra! “As a village band, we aim to uplift, inspire, and unify the Philadelphia community by playing music that renders boundaries obsolete and represents excellence.” Join the West Philadelphia Orchestra for a musical experience you won’t forget.
Science After Hours: Speakeasy
Tuesday, March 26th
7 – 10 pm
The Franklin Institute
222 N 20th St.
Cost: $25
Revisit the roaring 20s at the uber-popular annual event throwback to the decade famous for bootleg boozeand fancy flappers. Delve into the science and mastery behind gambling, smuggling, propaganda and other Prohibition-era mischiefs—and learn the simple dance steps of the legendary Lindy Hop and Charleston. Dress in your finest 1920s-inspired attire and shimmy over to the Speakeasy Science event of the year. This event is for Adults 21+.
Film Essentials: Rashomon on 35mm
Wednesday, March 27th
7 – 10 pm
Philadelphia Film Society
1412 Chestnut St.
Cost: $9
The breakthrough that brought legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa to worldwide attention, ‘RASHOMON’ has proven to be one of the most influential films of all time. Though set in feudal Japan, the film’s use of multiple, contradictory narrators left a direct imprint on the modern-day courtroom drama. A samurai has died at the hands of a notorious bandit, yet the circumstances of the murder are anything but clear-cut. Through flashbacks, we see the events as described by each of the four witnesses: the bandit, the samurai’s wife, a passing woodcutter, and (with the help of a medium) the deceased samurai himself. Each one’s version of events differs in significant ways, often shifting to best suit the interests and ego of the speaker.
Chanticleer Opening Day
Wednesday, March 27th
10 am – 5 pm
Chanticleer Garden
786 Church Rd
Cost: Free
Chanticleer opens for the season and is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm until November 3rd. Plan your visit this spring to find trees, ephemeral plants, and bulbs in bloom!
Art, History, Experience: A Panel on Displacement
Thursday, March 28th
4:30 – 7 pm
Lang Performing Arts Center- Swarthmore College
500 College Ave.
Cost: Free
How can academic, artistic, and situated knowledges work together to address issues of displacement? Hear four esteemed panelists—each with different types of expertise on the topic of displacement—discuss the potential of a multifaceted approach to addressing this pressing issue.