While they take on the global research that keeps them at the world-class fore, it's also great to see that institutions in the region also aren't skimping on the attention to materials and topics that are distinctly LA and worth a lot of attention just for that reason. Here's a trio of developments that prove the point:
In Westwood at 7 tonight, in a free, public screening for which space is limited and reservations are required, the Bruins will keep highlighting the 40th anniversary of their ethnic studies programs by displaying films by students in the Center for EthnoCommuncations. The works delve into the lives of: multi-ethnic skateboarders in Long Beach; bus riders, their union and their elder organizer Granny Kim; and the struggles of South Asian motel owners in South Central and Latino truck drivers at the Port of LA.
On the Westside, there will be a curators' talk and the opening of an exhibition that tracked through musty garages, dusty attics and little plumbed archives in search of rare contemporary artifacts that speak in sometimes scratchy but powerful fashion about the lives of Jews in America, circa 1940 to 1980. Trojan scholar Josh Kun and cyber music expert Courtney Holt on Tuesday night will describe how they collected and curated the materials that make up 'Jews on Vinyl,' an exhibit that opens to the public on Wednesday. The exhibit features a 1950s-style living room with listening stations where audience members can take in Jewish recordings, many no longer available in any format, that provide a soundtrack of changing lives and sounds, from sacred music to the pop triumvirate of Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow. And check out the accompanying album art, such as for the 1962 Roulette recording by the Barry Sisters (shown at left).
In San Marino, lots more attention will be paid to it when the exhibit actually goes up. But the mere mention that this fall there will be a big display on author Charles Bukowski already has no doubt stirred the denizens of not just cloistered libraries but also those who frequent dark, noisy bars late into the LA night. His fans will have plenty of time to howl at the moon and otherwise carry on while waiting for this October show of his papers, first editions of his works, archival photographs and memorabilia, as well as copies of magazines and other publications that carried his words. Items to be displayed will be provided by Linda Lee Bukowski as well as the library's collection of Bukowski papers, donated by Mrs. B.
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