Rarely Captured
dal 10/12/2002 al 22/12/2002
Segnalato da
10/12/2002
Rarely Captured
Zeitgeist Gallery, Cambridge
The Bread and Puppet Theater as depicted in Film by Tamar Schumann and DeeDee Halleck. The Bread and Puppet Theater represents a source of hope and vision for people all over the world. Nothing can match the magic of this dynamic theater to mobilize the revolutionary potential that lies in the hearts of many of us.
The Bread and Puppet Theater as depicted in Film by Tamar Schumann and DeeDee Halleck, Photography by Portia Brockway and Cheap Art by The Bread and Puppet Theater
(Cambridge) The Bread and Puppet Theater represents a source of hope and vision for people all over the world. As the specter of terrorism haunts the world and the possibility of nuclear war looms once again, it is more important than ever to keep a spirit of hope alive. Nothing can match the magic of this dynamic theater to mobilize the revolutionary potential that lies in the hearts of many of us. Bread and Puppet has shown that we can create new worlds, starting with very humble and accessible tools such as cardboard and cloth. When experienced live, Bread and Puppet events defy description. Their spectacular images and powerful socio/political dramas leave the jaw-dropped audience begging for more. Much to everyone's chagrin, the opportunities to experience Bread and Puppet live in Boston are few and far between. Also rare is a chance to appreciate the theater's extraordinary power through other visual media. Now is the time for that chance!
"Ah! The Hopeful Pageantry of Bread and Puppet," a film created by Tamar Schumann and DeeDee Halleck, is more like a Bread and Puppet art movie than a documentary film about Bread and Puppet. Fresh from the Woodstock Film Festival, "Ah!" is drawn from over 200 hours of video material shot by Halleck from 1990-98 and is an expression of the liberatory vision that Bread and Puppet represents. Film editor Schumann, a playwright, choreographer and daughter of Bread and Puppet founder Peter Schumann, and filmmaker Halleck, founder of Paper Tiger Television (in NYC), have logged and organized a vast archive of visual footage. The film includes scenes from performances, Bread and Puppet graphics, puppeteers working and building puppets and props, weeding the garden, peeling the garlic and kneading the bread - accompanied throughout by the unique Bread and Puppet musical combination of marching band, rumba and sacred harp singing. The collective spirit of the theater company and the magnitude of their vision makes their work an important model for the future. That spirit is captured by this film.
"Bread and Puppet Museum" photographs by Portia Brockway were taken during a rare eight-hour photo session held in the theater's museum in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The photographs, available for purchase, capture the exquisite sense of Bread and Puppet's inimitable power to arouse social conscience. As founder and director of Yoga in Harvard Square since 1993, Brockway uses her skills of "balance" to provide depth to her photography, drawing and writing. A published poet, essayist and short story writer, Brockway shows her visual art and performs her poetry regularly throughout the Cambridge/Boston area.
Bread and Puppet's "Why Cheap Art? Manifesto" decrees: "PEOPLE have been THINKING too long that ART is a PRIVILEGE of the MUSEUMS & the RICH. ART IS NOT BUSINESS! It does not belong to banks & fancy investors. ART IS FOOD. You can't EAT it BUT it FEEDS you. ART has to be CHEAP & available to EVERYBODY. It needs to be EVERYWHERE because it is the INSIDE of the WORLD. ART SOOTHES PAIN! Art wakes up sleepers! ART FIGHTS AGAINST WAR & STUPIDITY! ART SINGS HALLELUJA! ART IS FOR KITCHENS! ART IS LIKE GOOD BREAD! Art is like green trees! Art is like white clouds in blue sky! ART IS CHEAP! HURRAH!" The Cheap Art that will be available (for cheap!) at the exhibit will run the gamut of breathtaking banners, posters and calendars to cards, books and broadsides, mostly generated by the Bread & Puppet Press. Perfect for holy/holiday gift giving.
The Bread and Puppet Theater was founded in 1963 on New York City's Lower East Side by Silesian-born sculptor and choreographer, Peter Schumann. In 1969, a nine-month tour of Europe won recognition and critical acclaim for Bread and Puppet. In 1970, the Theater moved to Vermont as theater in residence at Goddard College, letting itself be influenced by living in the countryside. Four years later the Theater moved to a farm in Glover in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The 100-year-old hay barn was transformed into a museum for veteran puppets. Bread and Puppet Theater does massive spectacles in the U.S., Europe and Latin America. Their pageants have a broad theme-oriented appeal to large non-elite audiences. They address social, political and environmental issues or simply the common urgencies of our lives. Some of the awards received by Peter Schumann and Bread and Puppet are the Obie Award, the Erasmus Award from Amsterdam, the Vermont Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, and the Puppeteers of America Award. Bread and Puppet is one of the oldest, nonprofit, self-supporting theater companies in the United States.
Opening reception, Wednesday, December 11, 6-10 pm; with Photography and Cheap Art Sale, puppet shows, sneak preview of film, presentation by local "zine"/cheap art champion Rich Mackin, and more.
Wednesday-Sunday, December 11-22; gallery hours, including Photography and Cheap Art Sale, Tues.-Sun., 1-7 pm.
Film screening times: Fri., Dec. 13 (6 pm & 8 pm); Sat.-Sun., Dec. 14-15 (4 pm, 6 pm & 8 pm); Mon.-Tues., Dec. 16-17 (6 pm & 8 pm)
Donation for film viewing:
$6/$3 for children under 10/free for children under 2.
Where:
Zeitgeist Gallery, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Sq., Cambridge.
phone 617-876-6060