Oct 26, 2016: Your Arts and Culture Adventure Picks

By UMS

This post is a part of a series of posts curating adventurous arts and culture experiences in Southeast Michigan. Sign up for email updates (choose “Arts & Culture Adventures” list).

Boo! It’s the spookiest season out there…election season! And in lieu of all the fright, I’ve been focusing most of my energy on the new Solange album, taking Polish classes in a bright magenta room in Hamtramck, and yapping everyone’s ears off about the ever-so important RTA Millage on the ballot. Below you’ll find some haunts that I think you should check out ASAP! Enjoy!

Ofrenda Altars at the DIA

Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a celebration of all those who have passed on, and in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful holidays on this planet. Those who celebrate honor the dead through grave visits, vigils, and ofrenda altars, where offerings including candles, sugar skulls, food + drink, personal knick-knacks and more are presented as gifts for the dead. For the fourth consecutive year, the DIA in conjunction with the Mexican Consulate of Detroit will showcase 14 ofrenda altars made by local artists, which will captivate in gorgeous, emotional and even hilarious ways. The exhibit is free with museum admission, which is free for residents of Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties. Go pay your respects from October 21 until November 6. More.

Mitski at the Magic Bag

I often tell my friends + complete strangers that I feel like I’m just hitting puberty at age 23. So it’s only natural that Puberty 2, the most recent album by hard-hitting, music-maker Mitski, has been my anthem as of late. Her sound is extremely versatile ranging from soft, melt your heart lyrics to big, bang, kick down your walls grit. She’s truly an incredible songwriter, with the raw musicianship to match, and will be bringing her spell to Ferndale for $12 a ticket on November 4. Do not miss out on Mitski. More.

VIDEO

Heidelbergology: A 30-Year Photo Retrospective at the Heidelberg Project

If you haven’t made your way to the Heidelberg Project yet, well, it’s now been 30 years of shape shifting and it’s about time for you to go. The project, started by artist Tyree Guyton on Heidelberg Street, where he grew up in Detroit, has evolved an area at one point in shambles into an international and more importantly, community creative hotspot. The exhibition features some lovely photos highlighting memories from the dynamic journey Guyton + his team have taken, and you must check it out before they begin some drastic renovations to the project. The photos are on view until January 2017 but go now before you get too cozy indoors! More.

Theo Katzman + Joey Dosik at the Blind Pig

“Thou shalt bringeth the funk” is a quote no one ever said to me. Luckily, funk-bringers Theo Katzman and Joey Dosik will be doing just that when they grace the stage at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor on November 5. It’s a homecoming of sorts for Katzman, a grad of the music school at U of M and member of Vulfpeck, an Ann Arbor-born, LA-based band who have grooved and grinded their way into thousands of hearts, including mine. A frequent Vulfpeck collaborator and LA native, Dosik is equally as funky and has a sound that is chock-full of soul. Tickets are $15 in advance so show up and show support for these two fly, funky hunks. More.

VIDEO

Leila Abdelrazaq: Drawing in the Diaspora at the Arab American National Museum

With one of the largest Arab American populations in the United States, Southeast Michigan is graced with many cultural gems like that of the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn. Starting November 12, the museum will host the illustrations, comics and printed matter of Leila Abdelrazaq, a Chicago-born, Palestinian artist and author whose work fuses art and activism. From zines about the struggles of undocumented immigrants to her debut graphic novel Baddawi, which highlights her father’s childhood in a refugee camp, the exhibition will showcase her talent as an artist who uses her medium to create meaningful work and spark dialogue about politics, identity, storytelling and so much more. The exhibition runs until April 19 and is free with museum admission. More.

Thanks for giving this a read! Which events do you have on your calendar? Have any suggestions? Feel free to shoot me an email at adamedesj@gmail.com, or comment below. I’d love to hear from you!

Photos courtesy of artists and performance spaces.

Adam DesJardinis is a UMS Blogging Fellow. Learn more about the blogging fellows program.