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Second Sundays: Dialogues on Art, Architecture, and Design Programs take place at 3:00 pm on the second Sunday of the month, unless otherwise noted. The Noguchi Museum assembles world renowned experts in various fields of the arts, architecture, and design to create a dialogue. Monthly programs vary from panel discussions to musical performances and poetry readings. The Noguchi Museum is pleased to continue its series of contemporary artist’s walk-through tours of the museum and its collection from their perspectives. Artists will discuss how their work intersects with that of Noguchi’s as well as where it diverges. The May program will be led by Jene Highstein. American artist Jene Highstein (b. 1942) studied philosophy, painting, and drawing before turning to sculpture in the late 1960s. He began to carve stone sculptures in the 1980s, exploring new aspects of large rounded shapes, mounds, and spheres. Highstein’s abstract works are intended to provoke a range of associations regarding nature and culture, and he prefers that the viewer discovers his or her own meanings and interpretations. Highstein has solo and group shows nation-wide and in London and Barcelona, and has public works at the Musee Pleine Aire, Paris, France; University of Chicago, Illinois; Panza di Biumo, Villa Litta, Varese, Italy; and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota.	UPCOMING PROGRAM May 11, 2008: Jene Highstein
Second Sundays are supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, ConEdison, Independence Community Foundation and an anonymous foundation.
INtersections is a series of contemporary artists and/or designers walk-through tours of the Museum and its collection from their perspectives. These individuals will discuss how their work intersects with that of Noguchi’s as well as where it diverges.  Space is limited to 25 visitors and reservations are required. Sundays: March 9, 2008, April 13, 2008, May  11, 2008.
Free Gallery Talks take place at 2:00 pm, Wednesday through Sunday, and are open to all individual visitors. Reservations are not required. On First Fridays and Second Sundays the gallery talk is also available in Japanese.
All programs are free with Museum admission. Reservations are recommended, please email programs@noguchi.org or call 718.204.7088, extension 209. Programs are subject to change; please check back for updated information.

April 13th, 2008
JUDITH SHEA. Trained as a clothing designer, Judith Shea's earliest sculptures were simple forms made of pliant fabric hung on the wall. Later, she began casting fabric in metal to achieve greater strength and rigidity. The use of clothing forms has allowed her to represent the human figure using the most economical of means and to synthesize figurative art and Minimalism. In the mid-1980s, Shea began juxtaposing figures with forms and then pairing figures to give her work added psychological complexity.

March 9th, 2008
DAVID DIAO is a legendary abstract modernist who first attracted attention with his show at Paula Cooper Gallery in 1969. From his play with reductionist iconography to his wry commentary on the historical legacy of art stars such as Ad Reinhardt and Jackson Pollock to his silkscreen series, Diao’s works exhibit his painstaking attention to art theory and painterly detail. His recent solo exhibition at Postmasters Gallery in New York (2005) exhibited new works that cross into his interest in modern architecture. He has since shown all over the world, including at the Whitney Museum where he taught in the Whitney Independent Study Program for many years. He is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Grant.

February 10, 2008
Electric Kulintang: Susie Ibarra & Roberto Rodriguez
Susie Ibarra: acoustic and electric kulintang, drumset, voice, keyboard, compositions
Roberto Rodriguez: electronics, claypot, cajon la peru, drumset, percussion

The Second Sundays program for February will feature a performance of the poem, War Horses with music by Electric Kulintang. Written by Yusef Komunyakaa, War Horses will be accompanied by music that interweaves the metaphors and narrative of the poem with electronics, field recordings, kulintang, sarunay, kayo (Philippine gongs and xylophones), bass cajon drum, snare drum, and piano.

Electric Kulitang was formed in 2005 by Susie Ibarra and Roberto Rodriguez after they traveled to the Philippines to research live Kulintang music and dance. Kulintang music is named after a percussion instrument that consists of eight gongs. It is also used as the name of the music being played. The duo collaborates in the blending and creation of this "Filipino trip-hop" and has recently released their debut album, Dialects, which perfectly distills electronic, dance, and Kulintang music.

January 13, 2008
The Market for Mid-Twentieth-Century Modern Design: An Insider’s View
Join us for an insider’s look at the mid-century modern design market. This panel of mid-century experts will include Richard Wright, Director of the specialty auction house Wright in Chicago, Eames Demetrios, filmmaker, artist and Director of the Eames Office Gallery in Santa Monica, California, and Benjamin Pardo, Director of Design at Knoll. John Berry, design historian and former Vice President of Communications at Herman Miller, will moderate the discussion.

December 9, 2007
Bamboo and Rattan: Innovating Tradition
Douglas De Nicola, co-curator for design, will discuss the significance of bamboo and rattan in Japanese design and how this craft tradition has been incorporated into the iconic designs of Isamu Kenmochi and Isamu Noguchi. Discussion attendees will receive a special discount on Akari Light Sculptures.

November 11, 2007
Materials and Process: Tradition and Experimentation
Join us for a discussion inspired by the intersections of tradition and experimentation and east and west in the work of Isamu Noguchi and Isamu Kenmochi. Panelists include architect and designer James Carpenter and furniture designers Mira Nakashima and Michael Puryear, who will discuss how they negotiate and balance tradition and experimentation within their creative processes and use of materials.


October 21, 2007
New York Butoh Festival Performance
In conjunction with the New York Butoh Festival, join us for the debut of a site-specific work, choreographed by celebrated dancer Nancy Zendora. The New York Times calls Nancy Zendora, “A choreographer with a special sense of ritual magic.” In a mask designed by legendary artist Ralph Lee, Zendora will perform among the elegant and serene sculpture of Isamu Noguchi – a contemporary of Butoh founders Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno. For more information on the festival, please visit www.nybf.caveartspace.org

October 7, 2007
Curator’s Talk
Noguchi Museum curator Bonnie Rychlak will lead visitors on an intimate walkthrough of Design: Isamu Noguchi and Isamu Kenmochi, discussing her curatorial process as well as highlighting the international significance of Noguchi and Kenmochi’s artistic productions.

September 9, 2007
Poetry in the Presence of Sculpture:Julio Marzan and Hal Sirowitz
The Noguchi Museum and the Queens Public Library present contemporary poets who will share their work with visitors in the Museum’s sculpture garden. This program will feature the current Queens Poet Laureate Julio Marzan and former Poet Laureate Hal Sirowitz.

August 2007
Music in the Garden: ACME-American Contemporary Music Ensemble
ACME is dedicated to the outstanding performance of contemporary masterworks for chamber ensemble, principally written by American composers. The dynamic ensemble's concerts are a unique blend of intelligent performance and vibrant energy.

July 8, 2007
Music in the Garden: Compositions of Jefferson Friedman
Compositions of Jefferson Friedman, a contemporary LIC composer, with an innovative string quartet.

June 10, 2007
Music in the Garden: Kioku Group
Based in New York City, the musical group KIOKU Group presents traditional Asian folk music within a new context of collaborative experimentation and improvisation. The trio consists of Wynn Yamami (East and Southeast Asian percussion, including Japanese taiko, Korean gongs, and Filipino kulintang), Christopher Ariza (live laptop electronics), and Ali Sakkal (saxophones, percussion). While committed to the preservation of musical traditions, KIOKU Group (Japanese for "memory") acknowledges the plasticity of tradition and freely adopts musical techniques found within improv-based and new music circles

May 13, 2007
Long Island City: Sculptural (re)Generations [POSTPONED]
In conjunction with Socrates Sculpture Park’s spring exhibition, LIC, N.Y.C., contemporary Long Island City sculptors will gather to discuss their experiences creating in this unique artists’ community and how artists were the catalyst for the development of LIC as a cultural destination.

April 15, 2007(NOTE: This is the third Sunday of the month.)
INtersections: Joel Shapiro
The Noguchi Museum inaugurates a series of contemporary artists walk-through tours of the museum and its collection from their perspectives. Artists will discuss how their work intersects with that of Noguchi’s. The inaugural tour will be led by internationally-renowned and Long Island City-based sculptor Joel Shapiro.

March 11, 2007
Alvar Aalto and Isamu Noguchi: Two Rooms
Participants in this panel discussion will explore connections between the Shin Banraisha and the recently renovated Woodberry Poetry Reading Room at Harvard University’s Lamont Library designed by Alvar Aalto in 1949. The panel will include Toshiko Mori, architect and Chair of the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, John Stubbs, Vice President of Field Projects for the World Monuments Fund, Richard Wood, President of Japan Society, and Richard Lanier, President of The Asian Cultural Council.

February 11, 2007
Poetry in the Presence of Sculpture: Brenda Iijima, Jill Magi, Sawako Nakayasu & Srikanth Reddy
Poetry in the Presence of Sculpture
Brenda Iijima, Jill Magi, Sawako Nakayasu & Srikanth Reddy
Co-sponsored by Poets House

January 14, 2007
Taiyo Na
An intimate afternoon of poetry reading in The Noguchi Museum’s galleries.
Father of Isamu Noguchi, Yonejiro (Yone) Noguchi was the first Japanese national to publish poetry in English. Yone Noguchi was born near Nagoya in 1875, and traveled to the United States in 1893. He soon established a reputation among the Imagist poets of San Francisco, and his first book of poetry was published there in 1897, Seen and Unseen or, Monologues of a Homeless Snail. In addition to his long career as a poet and Professor of English at Keio University in Tokyo, Yone Noguchi published a number of books on Japanese art. He died in Tokyo in July 1947. One of Isamu Noguchi's first projects on visiting Japan in 1950 was the Shin Banraisha at Keio University in honor of his father.

Taiyo Na, poet/musician/actor and native New Yorker, is a founder of the feedback poets collective (1999-2003), the legendary (re)collection open mics (2000-2003), Mauritius a.k.a Time Machine: the band (2003-2005), and is Artistic Director of the Sulu Series at Galapagos Arts Space and a host for the 2006 NAMIC Vision Award-winning Cinema AZN show (AZN TV). He's been featured in many recordings, publications and films including The Whole Heart Mixtape (2004/5), The Quotable Rebel Anthology edited by Teishan Latner (2005) and the lauded Purity Soundtrack by NaRhee Ahn (2006). Throughout the U.S., he has graced the stage with the best of them, including Maya Angelou, Helen Zia, The X-ecutioners and more.

December 10, 2006
Akari: An Enduring Legacy
Douglas De Nicola, co-curator of design at The Noguchi Museum, will discuss the unique process of making Noguchi’s legendary Akari Light Sculptures and why after 50 years they remain highly desired objects.

November 12, 2006
Construction/Reconstruction: The Story of Shin Banraisha
A conversation on the destruction of the Shin Banraisha and how this incident relates to larger issues of the preservation of modern art and architecture both in Japan and The United States.  Panelists include Mark Davidson, Cultural Affairs Officer with the US Embassy in Tokyo, architect Hugh Hardy and Marc Keane, former Chairman of the International Society to Save Kyoto.  Journalist and urban critic Roberta Gratz, who also serves on the New York Landmarks Preservation Committee, will moderate.

October 8, 2006
Petr Kotik and the S.E.M. Ensemble
Join us for an intimate and rare performance of Spheres and Attraction (2005), a special piece created by the internationally-acclaimed composer Petr Kotik for voice, strings and percussion with texts by R. Buckminster Fuller.  This work premiers in its revised form at The Noguchi Museum.

September 10, 2006
Noguchi/Fuller and Their Imprint
In what ways have Noguchi and Fuller impacted the respective worlds of art and architecture and how is their presence still felt in the work of today? Panelists will include architectural theorists Kenneth Frampton and K. Michael Hays and architect and guest curator Shoji Sadao.  Journalist Amei Wallach will moderate.

August 13, 2006
Music in the Garden: American Contemporary Music Ensemble
The American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) is dedicated to the outstanding performance of contemporary masterworks for chamber ensemble, principally written by American composers. The dynamic ensemble's concerts are a unique blend of intelligent performance and vibrant energy. ACME’s selections for its appearance at The Noguchi Museum are designed to highlight the open-air acoustics of the Museum’s sculpture garden, as well as connections to Isamu Noguchi’s life and work.

July 9, 2006
Music in the Garden: Marta Topferova
Marta Topferova (voice & cuatro), Jenny Scheinman (violin), Pedro Giraudo (bass) 
Marta Topferova and her trio perform new and original fusions of contemporary and folk music traditions of Latin America.

Marta began her current musical trajectory at age fifteen, when she started developing as a soloist, exploring her own style and direction as a singer.  She was completely drawn to music from Spain, Cuba and South America, and was particularly inspired by artists such as Camaron De La Isla, Mercedes Sosa, Benny More, Los Compadres and Simon Diaz.  Her love and dedication to Latin American music as well as the folklore of Czechoslovakia, makes her a unique artist who sings in, and is fluent in, both Czech and Spanish.  Marta settled in New York City in 1996 and since then has been actively composing, arranging and performing her original songs as well as collaborating with other groups including Lucia Pulido and Fiesta De Tambores, Los Acustilocos, and Flamenco Latino among others.

Marta has performed in many venues in New York City including Joe's Pub, The United Nations, Sweet Rhythm and The Duke Theater on 42nd Street, and across the United States in cities including Boston, Miami and San Francisco.  She's also participated in festivals such as The World Music Festival in Chicago, and has been featured on television and radio programs in the US, the Czech Republic and Mexico, including BBC's "The World" and NPR's "Around Noon".

June 11, 2006, 12:00-5:00 pm
Music in the Garden: Joe Diebes and Musicians "Breath Machine No. 7 for The Noguchi Museum Garden"
To kick off The Noguchi Museum's Music in the Garden series--the Museum's Second Sundays programming for the summer--Joe Diebes will debut Breath Machine No. 7, an all-day music installation created specifically for the Museum's sculpture garden. Five shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) players will perform at intervals in various locations throughout the garden, surrounding listeners with melodic fragments inspired by Isamu Noguchi's sculptures. The work is structured according to the duration of each shakuhachi player's breathing, rather than being a synchronized score, resulting in a spatial music that unfolds unpredictably with no beginning, middle, or end. The short phrases will overlap and merge, finding a balance between the individual gesture and the environmental whole. Visitors to the garden will be free to come and go, experience the work from different vantage points, and explore the shifting relations between sound and sculpture.

May 21, 2006
Curator's Talk: Shoji Sadao
Shoji Sadao, guest curator of Best of Friends: Buckminster Fuller and Isamu Noguchi, discusses the process of creating this unique exhibition. Mr. Sadao was a colleague and friend of both Fuller and Noguchi.

April 9, 2006
Chess and Art: An Interplay of Disciplines
Inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s famous statement, “Not all artists are chess players, but all chess players are artists,” The Noguchi Museum will host a discussion on the interplay between the disciplines of art and chess. Guest curator Larry List will serve as moderator. Panelists include Francis Naumann, Wendy Grossman, and Ingrid Schaffner.

March 12, 2006
INterpret
Join us for INterpret and get to know The Noguchi Museum at this first-ever event created by teens for teens. Make your own artwork or contribute to a communally created installation piece, participate in conversations centered on works in the Museum's permanent collection and special exhibition, The Imagery of Chess Revisited, or listen to music spun by one of Long Island City's own local dj's.

January 8, 2006
Curator’s Talk: Larry List
Larry List, guest curator of The Imagery of Chess Revisited, will discuss the exhibition, and will also explore the significance of undertaking the reconstruction of the exhibition and the influence that the 1944 exhibition had on the respective worlds of art and chess.

December 11, 2005
Reading Chess
Moderator Paul Hoffman will lead a panel discussion with noted writers, J. C. Hallman, author of The Chess Artist: Genius and Madness in the World’s Oldest Game and Jennifer Shahade, author of Chess Bitch: A History of Women in Chess.

November 13, 2005
Chess Sets: Modernist Art & Design (and Beyond)
Robert Rabinovitz will moderate a discussion on design evolution as reflected in chess set design.  Panelists will include Michael Graves and Douglas Polumbaum among others.  After the discussion, guests will be able to view the chess set finalists from the Museum’s collegiate design competition and the winning design will be recognized

October 9, 2005
LIC: Connecting the Arts
Nina Rappaport, fellow of the Design Trust for Public Space, discusses the collaboration of the Long Island City Cultural Alliance (LICCA), The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) and the Department of City Planning (DCP) to investigate the unique character of LIC and develop an expression of this identity through an innovative urban design to serve as a blueprint for cultural development.  This panel is part of the 3rd annual Open House New York weekend.

September 11, 2005
Contemporary Urban Gardens
Marie Stella, landscape architect and historian who specializes in historic landscapes and thematic gardens, will lead a discussion on contemporary urban gardens and an exploration of the Museum’s sculpture garden.

August 14th, 2005
Music in the Garden: Classic and New Jazz
Dominick Farinacci, Trumpet
Adam Birnbaum, Piano

July 10th, 2005
Music in the Garden: Music for Sitar and Tabla
Ravi Rao, Sitar

June 12th, 2005
Music in the Garden: New Latin American Music
Marta Topferova, Vocals and Cuatro
With Colombian Harp and Percussion

May 15th, 2005
Music in the Garden: Music for Shakuhachi and Koto
Ralph Samuelson, Shakuhachi
Masayo Ishigure, Koto

April 10, 2005
Curator’s Talk: Bonnie Rychlak
Noguchi Museum Curator and Director of Collections, Bonnie Rychlak, discusses the exhibition Noguchi and Graham: Selected Works for Dance and the relationship between the artist’s works in the studio and for the stage.

March 13, 2005
Writer’s Talk: Robert Tracy
Robert Tracy, author of Spaces of the Mind: Isamu Noguchi’s Dance Designs and Goddess: Martha Graham’s Dancers Remember, will discuss his books on Noguchi and Graham and the history of the collaboration between the two artists. The author will sign copies of his books following the discussion.

February 13, 2005
The Stage as Sculptural Space
Architect Hugh Hardy leads a distinguished panel of producers, scenic designers and architects in a discussion on the stage as sculptural space and the architecture of venues designed specifically for the performing arts.


January 9, 2005
Projections of the Imagination
In a discussion moderated by Harvey Lichtenstein, choreographers Bill T. Jones, Molissa Fenley, and Ralph Lemon, sculptors Bjorn Amelan and Nari Ward, and painter Roy Fowler, talk about the collaborative process of bringing together the visual and performing arts to produce the dance.

December 5, 2004
Noguchi & Graham: The Art of the Dance
Generations of dancers from The Martha Graham Dance Company share their experiences and remembrances of the Isamu Noguchi and Martha Graham collaboration, the dances and the sets.

February 20, 2008, 6:00 pm
Discovering Japanese Modern
held at The Center for Architecture

The Noguchi Museum and the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects' Cultural Facilities Committee present a dialogue on the development of "Japanese Modern" with artists and designers as it relates to their production. Panelists include Tim Culbert, architect and principal of Imrey Culbert; Mimi Oka, multi-disciplinary artist; and Ayako Takase, designer and principal of Kaiju Studios. Design critic Phil Patton will serve as moderator.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006, 6:30 pm
Up Close and Personal: Buckminster Fuller and Isamu Noguchi
Held at The Museum of Television & Radio

Buckminster Fuller and Isamu Noguchi were two of the most visionary artists of the twentieth century. In conjunction with The Noguchi Museum’s exhibition, Best of Friends: R. Buckminster Fuller and Isamu Noguchi, the Museum of Television & Radio presents two rare profiles of these innovative artist/philosophers. In the 1971 documentary film Buckminster Fuller on Spaceship Earth, the architect comments upon many of his most groundbreaking creations, including his early Dymaxion tower house and the U.S. Pavilion Dome at Expo ’67. In the 1973 documentary on Isamu Noguchi, the sculptor discusses his work and career, as well as friendships with Martha Graham, Constantin Brancusi, and Fuller. The director of the Noguchi film, Michael Blackwood, will introduce his work.

Co-sponsored by the Museum of Television & Radio and the Architectural League of New York.

Thursday, July 20, 2006, 6:30 pm
Lessons from Fuller and Noguchi for Contemporary Art and Design
Held at The Urban Center

What is the influence and relevance of Isamu Noguchi and Buckminster Fuller's work for this generation of artists, architects, engineers and designers? Scheduled panelists include structural engineer Guy Nordenson, architect Reinhold Martin, and artist Josiah McIlheny. William Menking, Editor The Architects Newspaper will moderate. 

Co-sponsored by the Architectural League of New York.

Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Movement in Uncommon Spaces
Held at The Whitney Museum of American Art

A joint program with The Whitney Museum, links Noguchi’s set designs for Martha Graham’s company to the sculptures on view in the Whitney’s Isamu Noguchi: Master Sculptor exhibition. Choreographer Noemie LaFrance, performance artist Julia Mandle and Debra Singer, executive director and chief curator of The Kitchen, discuss how performance space is transformed through the use of sculpture, fashion and location.


Sunday, December 12, 2004
Emerging Artists: Fresh Takes on Art and Collaboration
Held at Topaz Arts

A joint program with Topaz Arts looks at how contemporary, emerging artists create synergy between dance, visual arts, sound and media. The program includes: Steffany George’s Gone By; Paz Danz Productions’ Thunder Against 1…2…3…, and Displaced Garden; and Christalyn Wright’s Dreamscapes: Where Womb Powers Supersede. Accompanied by TOPAZ ARTS’ gallery echibition Set Design and Dance featuring noted contemporary chorographers in a collections of photos, sketches and works with visual collaborations.