Jessica Cline's blog

In celebration of the National Day of Listening, the Art and Picture Collections have been collaborating with StoryCorps to produce an all-day drop-in event to consider your art and your life.

We invited six artists to the StoryCorps booth to record the story of art in their lives. And, on the National Day of Listening (the day after Thanksgiving), we will hear excerpts from their tales as we look at images from their oeuvre. The artists will participate in a panel discussion about their StoryCorps experiences, while the audience will be invited to share what art means in their personal lives. And StoryCorps representatives will be on hand to explain how to record and document your own story.

Artists Michael Cline, Annette Cords, Anujan Ezhikode, Builder Levy, Justin Lieberman, and Charles Mingus III each traveled with a significant other to the StoryCorps booth in Foley Square to be interviewed about how art has influenced, molded, and changed their lives. Their stories were recorded by StoryCorps and will be archived in the Library of Congress, where their lives can be celebrated through the art of listening for years to come.

Excerpts from the recording session will be played throughout the day on November 27. As a bonus, join us at 2 pm for an artist panel, where they will share their stories and their recording experiences in person at NYPL for the National Day of Listening, a day to slow down and listen to the stories of the people in your life. We are also looking forward to hearing your stories in art. Whether you create doodles, mashups, crochet, or marble sculpture, we want to listen to where they come from.

When: Friday, November 27, 2009, 10 am to 5 pm
Where: South Court Auditorium, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, 42nd Street & 5th Avenue

Schedule:
10 am Artist storytelling slideshow, followed by audience interviews
12 noon Artist storytelling slideshow, followed by audience interviews
2:15 pm Artist panel (arrive at 2pm to hear the artists in person), moderated by Arezoo Moseni
3:45 pm Artist storytelling slideshow, followed by audience interviews

We are really grateful to the wonderful folks at StoryCorps for making this event possible. Please join us and listen to the stories of six contemporary artists, and tell the story of what art means to your life.

Then you are in luck!

The Mid-Manhattan Library has expanded its hours and we are celebrating by sharing donuts and coffee from Tim Horton's with everyone who comes by today! Also, stop in at 8 p.m. for a live music performance by the Bushwick Book Club, a group of songwriters who take their inspiration from literary works.

Mid-Manhattan's New Hours:
Monday - Thursday, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Friday, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Many of New York Public Library's branches are expanded their hours to keep services available for people on a variety of schedules. Check out the press release here.

As a librarian, I am a list maker, and lately I have been lucky enough to review the bibliography titles in the Mid-Manhattan Library Art Collection. Bibliographies are elaborate lists that contain citations, and sometimes abstracts, of other books, journal articles, etc., that relate to a focused subject. If you have ever written a research paper, you probably created a bibliography at the end, listing the publication information of the materials you used in your research process.

An example that I find particularly charming is a two volume work entitled Early American Book Illustrators and Wood Engravers 1670-1870 by Sinclair Hamilton. It contains a catalog of works about illustrators and engravers organized first by year, then by artist, of books and articles relating to the title. This bibliography is especially generous because it also reproduces illustrations of some of the works cited. The picture here is from The Progress of Sin, or the Travels of Ungodliness... by Benjamin Keach (click to enlarge).  read more »

A work of art has often inspired a poem, like The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh, which sparked Anne Sexton’s poem of the same name; and likewise, a poem can inspire an artwork, as with Charles Demuth’s The Figure 5 in Gold, motivated by William Carlos Williams’ poem The Great Figure.

But, it is often the case that the artist and the poet are the same person. A few artist/poets of variety include William Blake, Marsden Hartley, Francis Picabia, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Chinese painters of the Song Dynasty. Movements of Western art and literature, including the Pre-Raphaelites, Dada, and Surrealism also have embraced the artist/poet as an inspired partnering.

In this spirit of creative duality, please join the Mid-Manhattan Library Art Collection on Monday, April 27, at 6:30 PM, as we celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day with an images and poetry read by artists and poets Stephen Spretnjak, Johannes VanDerBeek, Geoffrey Young, and Bill Zavtasky.

If you enjoyed spending time with the lively and passionate characters of Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado this month, you may also find these titles interesting:

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren

Please join The Reader’s Den in April as we celebrate National Poetry Month!

Have you been enjoying Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado? Please join me in discussing this novel by considering some of the following questions, or posting your own questions, thoughts, or favorite excerpts.

The story begins with the shooting of Dona Sinházinha (the wife) and Dr. Osmundo (the lover) by Colonel Jesuino Mendonca (the husband), and with old Filomena leaving Nacib. These two elements set forth the motion of the entire story and set the main thematic element – out with old, in with the new.

• How does the past and future mix on the streets of Ilhéus?
• How does the author use gossip to drive the story?
• What actions are sparked by the murder of the lovers?

The novel touches modernist themes both social and political, while painting a colorful cultural portrait of Brazil.

• How are women’s rights addressed by the novel?
• How does the theme of transportation draw attention to political changes?
• What are some of the customs of the region that lend flavor to the novel?
• Do you think the title, Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon, is appropriate for the novel?

Juan de Onis, writes about Gabriela in 1962 on the event of the American publication of Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon.

“…an exciting and enjoyable romp of a book, rich in literary delights….For Americans, ‘Gabriela’ has additional significance, as a striking portrait of Brazilian reality and change, it may serve to bridge the ‘gap of understanding’ between two culturally and psychologically distinct areas of the New World.” New York Times Book Review

"'Bahiana' in tipical dress" Picture Collection, Postcard Files

Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon is set in the Bahia Region of Eastern Brazil. The author, Jorge Amado (1912-2001), grew up working the cacao groves of the region and became intimate with the plight of the working class. A supporter of the Communist Party, Amado's early career as a journalist and author focused on championing the rights of the under classes and he was both jailed and briefly exiled for his political views.

The publication of Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon in 1958 was a departure from his earlier writing style, becoming less politically motivated and more robust with well-developed characters, and won him popularity in Brazil and around the world. He is distinguished as one of the most prominent 20th century Brazilian writers, and continues to enjoy a celebrated status in the region of Bahia, as well as being translated into 50+ languages. For further biographical information and book reviews, visit NYPL’s Electronic Resources for databases such as Literature Resource Center and The New York Times (1851-2005).

I hope you are enjoying the book! Join The Reader's Den next week for discussion questions on Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon.

Welcome to The Reader’s Den!

Please join me in reading the book selection for March, Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon (Gabriela, cravo e canela) by Jorge Amado.

It’s 1925, and Ilhéus, a small Brazilian export town, is experiencing a disruption in its traditions, and the locals are finding that modern life is subject to comic interpretation. Join them in drinking sugarcane rum at the Vesuvius Bar courtesy of Nacib Saad, the Syrian bar owner; sharing in the gossip of the ill-fated Dona Sinházinha and her lover Dr. Osmundo; and falling in love with Gabriela, a migrant worker who cooks, flirts, and loves, while acting as an unexpected instrument of progress.

Please feel free to post comments, reviews, or questions about the novel at any time during the month of March. And check back for the next post, discussing the author and the region of Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon.

The book is available translated into English and Spanish. Please visit the Leo Catalog or your local Library branch to reserve a copy, or find a copy at your nearest library through WorldCat.