Visions of migration

A new exhibition of contemporary art engaging with themes of global migration, immigration, displacement and exile, titled “how the light gets in,” will be on display Sept. 7 to Dec. 8 at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.

An international group of 58 artists, and artist teams and collectives, is featured, ranging in age from their 20s to their 90s and representing 29 countries. The work addresses the movement of people across the globe and the welcome cracks that develop in our notions of borders and nation states. The title comes from Leonard Cohen’s 1992 song “Anthem”: “There is a crack in everything/That’s how the light gets in.”

Drawing, photography, painting, sculpture and video in the museum-wide exhibition address conditions of mobility, vulnerability, and the loss of and yearning for home. The featured works aim to restore the dignity of people who migrate, while placing a parallel spotlight on the refugee crisis in Europe and the human consequences of U.S. immigration policy, especially along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Programs accompanying the exhibition include a panel series starting Sept. 19 with Cornell faculty and community leaders; an ongoing film series at Cornell Cinema, “Human Flow – Stories of Global Migration”; and two participatory projects: Aram Han Sifuentes’s Protest Banner Lending Library in the Gussman Entrance Hall in the museum wing and artist-in-residence Elisabeth Masé’s “Das Kleid (The Dress).”

Visitors are invited to observe the creation of Masé’s installation (consisting of painting, embroidery, photography, a participatory performance and a film) Sept. 13-16 in the Appel Lobby, as women from different cultural backgrounds embroider a linen dress together with abstract and figurative designs.

Jazz café

Members of Cornell’s jazz faculty will perform original compositions and standards, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Carriage House Café Loft, 305 Stewart Ave., Ithaca. Presented by the Department of Music, the event is free.

James Spinazzola (saxophones), Paul Merrill (trumpet), Dave Solazzo (piano), Peter Chwazik (bass) and Greg Evans (drums) will perform music by Spinazzola, Jimmy Van Huesen, Paul Simon, Pat Metheny and James Moody.

Lessons of Rome

Professor Barry Strauss will discuss Roman emperors and what we can learn from them in a Chats in the Stacks book talk, Sept. 11 at 4:30 p.m. in 107 Olin Library. Presented by Cornell University Library, the talk is free and open to the public.

In his new book, “Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine,” Strauss also profiles influential women – such as Augustus’ wife, Livia, and Constantine’s mother, Helena – and traces the dramatic shifts in geographic boundaries, religion, ethnicity and culture during the Roman Empire’s 350-year span.

Strauss is the Bryce and Edith M. Bowmar Professor in Humanistic Studies in the Departments of History and Classics. He is the author of seven books on ancient history and hosts the podcast “Antiquitas: Leaders and Legends of the Ancient World” in collaboration with the Cornell Broadcast Studios.

In her own words

Toni Morrison, M.A. ’55, tells her own story and that of America in “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am,” presented by Cornell Cinema Sept. 12 at 6:45 p.m.and Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre.

The Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning novelist faces the camera and speaks candidly, relating her emblematic journey from the Jim Crow South to the industrial North and the upper echelons of academia and publishing.

Director Timothy Greenfield-Sandersuses Morrison’s writing as a lens to explore race, American history and the human condition as the film, completed before her death Aug. 5, shows her protesting with Angela Davis and on book tours with Muhammad Ali. Oprah Winfrey and Hilton Als are among the peers, critics and colleagues interviewed about “the most significant black author of the last half-century.”

Fanclub shows

Cornell’s Fanclub Collective presents its first two shows of the semester this week.

Experimental rock band Luge from Toronto joins Ithaca punk band Sonic Reducers and Cornell indie-postpunk outfit The Laurens, Sept. 6, 9-11:30 p.m. at Watermargin Co-op, 103 McGraw Place, Ithaca. Admission is $5; enter through the kitchen door by the parking lot.

The Cayuga Lodge Cooperative, 630 Stewart Ave., hosts an electronic dance show of punk, techno and performance art, Friday, Sept. 13, 8-11:30 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m.; cover is $6. The performers are No Eyes (Atlanta), W00dy (Philadelphia), Eel Tank (New York City) and Glitter Skulls(Ithaca).

Music for humanity

Grammy Award-winning producer and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington brings her latest project, Social Science, to campus Sept. 13 for an 8 p.m. concert in Bailey Hall, to open the 2019-20 Cornell Concert Series.

Tickets are $29, $33 and $36 general, $19 for students, available at the concert series website. Free evening parking is available at the Forest Home and Schoellkopf Field garages.

The group – with Aaron Parks on keyboards, Matthew Stevens on guitar and Morgan Guerin on bass and saxophone – plays an eclectic mix of jazz, indie rock and hip-hop.

Their music explores critical themes impacting society, and seeks to inspire and elevate a deep regard for humanity and freedom. Social Science takes on topics including social justice, racial equality, gender and sexuality, mass incarceration and ongoing sociopolitical concerns.

The next Cornell Concert Series event features pianists Daniil Trifonov and Sergei Babayan, Sept. 30 in Bailey Hall.

An evening with Spike Lee

The Cornell University Program Board will present filmmaker Spike Lee, Sept. 20 in Bailey Hall.

Tickets are on sale to the Cornell community Sept. 6 at 10 a.m., at CornellTickets.com. The event is cosponsored by the Multicultural Concert Funding Advisory Board.