Making rugs in Afghanistan is almost like a form of journalism. Many rug weavers recreate the devastation their country has seen for decades in textiles that include scenes of war and destruction. An exhibit that includes a large selection of these rugs opens today at the Penn Museum (3260 South St.).
Battleground: War Rugs of Afghanistan runs through July 31. Today’s opening includes a ribbon cutting at 1 p.m., a special lecture by Brian Spooner, the curator of the museum’s Near East Section and a “make your own rug” craft activity from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The museum will also screen the film Painted Trucks, a 1972 documentary that shows the Afghan tradition of painting trucks. The film, made by two Fulbright scholars, shows the country in a more peaceful time and has become a favorite of the Afghani community. The filmmakers will be present for a discussion after the screening.
Below is a short video narrated by Brian Rose, an archaeology professor at Penn, that shows the rugs in detail.
Photo from the West Philadelphia Cooperative School website.
A reminder that the West Philadelphia Cooperative School (4625 Baltimore Ave.) is hosting an open house this Saturday, April 30, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tours will be from 11-12 and an information session will follow.
The school offers a Kindergarten Class (ages 4-6), a Preschool Class (ages 3-4) and a Toddler Class (age 2).
With its classic tiled roof and soaring, arched windows, The Rotunda (4014 Walnut St.) sticks out amid the polished metal and stone that has become the west side of the intersection of 40th and Walnut Streets.
Built in 1911, the one-time Christian Science church turned neighborhood arts and culture venue is 100 years old this year. It’s celebrating with three days of performances by the wonderful Anne-Marie Mulgrew & Dancers Co., which has designed a production specifically for The Rotunda’s sanctuary space.
Most events at The Rotunda are held in a black-box theater in the rear part of the building that once served as a Sunday school when the building was a church. Occasionally, a performance warrants opening the much bigger sanctuary space, which sits under the buildings distinctive round roof.
This description of the performance comes from the dance company’s website:
The program consists of a dozen short theatrical vignettes, dances and art installations inspired by the architecture of the space and the festival theme, Paris in 1911 moving towards 2011. Highlights include video projections on walls juxtaposed with live performance, a 2011 installation inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s notorious Etant Donnes, dancers clinging to doorways and walls, a pew dance, characters such as the lighted-hat lady who drops Kleenexs from the choir loft, a re-imagined version of Mulgrew’s 1992’s Earthborne featuring a woman on a ladder watching a stick dance, carousel like-dances using the fallen chandelier as a
sculpture, unexpected scenarios and audience interaction.
Le Dada explores every nook and cranny of the glorious but decaying cathedral-like space. Le Dada aims to bring new awareness to the building’s architecture and history. The performance commences outside in the courtyard area at the front of the building. The audience is invited to follow the performers around the perimeters of the inside space guided by a MC/Narrator leading to more conventional seating in the round in the 100-year old pews.
Performances on Friday and Saturday begin at 7:11 p.m. Sunday’s performance begins at 3:11 p.m. If you arrive 11 minutes before the show, you can watch a “pre-show” performance outside The Rotunda. There will also be refreshments and discussion in the black-box theater following the show.
Tickets are $15 General Admission, $10 Students/Seniors/DancePass holders. Tickets can be purchased on the PIFA website www.pifa.org, in person at the Kimmel Center Box Office, or by phone at 215-546-PIFA or 215-790-5800.
Below is an interview with The Rotunda’s director, Gina Renzi, about the building and this weekend’s performance.
Students at the Henry C. Lea School kicked of the Philadelphia Science Festival recently with a schoolwide jump out on the playground in an attempt to see if their movement would register on a seismograph.
We haven’t received word yet if the jump actually worked, but it’s fun to watch.
(click to enlarge) Overview of budget cuts. See the “budget in brief” document below for full details.
Full-day kindergarten, thousands of jobs and after-school programs are just a few of the items in serious jeopardy as The School District of Philadelphia looks for cuts to meet a massive budget shortfall.
The district released a preliminary budget yesterday (see the “budget in brief” below) that includes a $22 million cut to kindergarten funding, which if passed would eliminate full-day kindergarten at every school in the district. Remedial and summer reading programs, after-school programs will also be eliminated under the draft budget. Special education liaisons will be cut 77 percent. Students transportation and gifted programs will also be drastically reduced.
School class sizes will revert to the maximum allowed in union contracts, which is 30 for elementary school and 33 for higher grades. The district, which serves 155,000 students, estimates that this will lead to an increase of three or four students per class.
The budget shortfall is the result of a $292 million cut in state funds earmarked for the district.
Presented to the School Reform Commission yesterday, the preliminary budget has sparked outcry from politicians, parents and teacher organizations.
The Inquirer reports today that Third District Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, who represents much of West Philadelphia, joined Councilmen Bill Green and Curtis Jones Jr. in adopting a resolution calling on Gov. Tom Corbett to continue to fund full-day kindergarten.
“You think we’re in trouble now…it would hurt families everywhere,” Blackwell said. “People won’t be able to work. It affects socialization and education of children.”
Full-day kindergarten began in Philadelphia in 1996 under then-Superintendent David Hornbeck. Hornbeck told the Inquirer that cuts to full-day kindergarten should not be under consideration.
“Based on evidence in Philadelphia and across the country, I can’t think of any decision that would be more ill-advised for Philadelphia’s children,” Hornbeck said. “I would probably approach the challenges they face by saying, ‘What’s the first thing I’m not going to cut,’ and it would be full-day kindergarten.”
The School Reform Commission has until May 31 to pass the budget.
Here is the “budget in brief,” which includes a summary of the cuts.
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