Nora Chipaumire: Miriam
Friday and Saturday, October 5 and 6

The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) will present renowned choreographer and dancer Nora Chipaumire on Friday and Saturday, October 5 and 6. Chipaumire creates her first character-driven work—a deeply personal dance-theater performance with Okwui Okpokwasili that looks closely at the tensions women face between public expectations and private desires; between selflessness and ambition; and between the perfection and sacrifice of the feminine ideal.

Born in Zimbabwe, New York City-based Nora Chipaumire has been challenging stereotypes of Africa and the black performing body, art, and aesthetic for the past decade. She has studied dance in many parts of the world. A graduate of the University of Zimbabwe’s School of Law, she also holds an M.A. in dance and MFA in choreography and performance from Mills College (Calif.).

The performances begin at 8 p.m. in EMPAC Studio 1/Goodman. Tickets are $18 general admission; $13 non-Rensselaer students, seniors, and Rensselaer faculty and staff; $6 Rensselaer students. To read more, go to empac.rpi.edu/events/2012/fall/Miriam.

Peter Matthaes’ “Art Fraud: Recognizing Authenticity in Art” Wednesday, October 10

The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) will present a lecture by Peter Matthaes, director of the Museo D’Arte e Scienza, on Wednesday, Oct. 10. Matthaes will present a dynamic discussion on art fraud, and the use of science and the senses to recognize authenticity in art.

Recognizing the authenticity of an art object is both fascinating and complex. The classic approach is supported by new methods of scientific investigation and by the ability to use sight, touch, smell, hearing, and our “sixth sense.”

This lecture will discuss the methods used by the Museo d’Arte e Scienza of Milan to ascertain authenticity, and will demonstrate how investigations are based on intuition, logic, and the results of rigorous scientific and sensorial analyses.
Matthaes holds a master’s degree in chemistry with a dissertation dedicated to art.

The lecture begins at 6 p.m. in the EMPAC Theater. Admission is free.