THIS WEEK: A SELECTIVE GUIDE

PALLADIO, PEEKING, POMP AND POLENTA | September 24th 2008
Our guide to what's on around the world, compiled by Ariel Ramchandani and Jessica Gallucci

Special to MORE INTELLIGENT LIFE

PALLADIUM ARCADIUM

In an age of glass castles, "starchitects" and digital modelling, architecture pays homage to its roots in the celebration of Andrea Palladio's 500th birthday. A former stonemason, Palladio went on to become one of the most famous and influential architects in the world. His squares, domes and villas (and drawings and treatises) formed a bridge with the past, mixing the mannerist styles of the day with references to the Renaissance and ancient Greece. He thus created a new style and a new way of thinking about buildings: he's "Architecture's Virgil", writes James Gardner in the New York Sun. The results are intricate balances, geometric harmonies and the singing perfection of "rightness", as well as an amazing influence on everything that came after. I remember an art history lecture about Palladio, in which the professor showed slide after slide of buildings inspired by his. The birthday exhibition, organised by Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio, Vicenza and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, with the Royal Institute of British Architects, begins in Vicenza at the Palazzo Barbaran da Porto, before travelling on to Britain and America. Featuring influential drawings,
plans of Jefferson's Monticello, masterpieces commissioned by Catherine
the Great in Palladian style and the writings by Le Corbusier on his
old-school favourite, the show brings Palladio 500 years forward. Using contemporary (ie, digital) methods of display, it works to capture the man behind the buildings ~ A.R.

"PALLADIO CINQUECENTO ANNI", through January 6th, Vicenza

PRACTICE IS PERFECT

Just what goes on behind the scenes at the opera or the symphony is the stuff of imagination. But this weekend grants anyone in London the chance to peak backstage and take in a rehearsal (if not the intrigue). Some 300 events are planned for the fourth annual Open Rehearsal, with more than 200 organisations participating, including the BBC, the National Gallery, the Royal Ballet and the orchestra of the Royal Opera House (some of which are holding open rehearsals for the first time ever). Expect crowds for these mostly free shows (check the programme and sign up sooner rather than later). Highlights include a behind-the-scenes tour of the British Library sound archive, two live BBC London 94.9FM recordings at Rich Mix Cafe and Susan Philipsz's sound installation at the ICA. Philipsz's piece is part of "Out of Bounds", a project specially timed to coincide with Open Rehersal, in which contemporary art installations and performances are staged in "hidden, backstage and non-public sites" around the city. The event is meant to kick-off the Cultural Olympiad, London's artsy, pride-filled build-up to the 2012 Olympic games. Happy listening (and hunting) ~ A.R.

"OPEN REHEARSAL", September 26th to 28th, London

VOTE WITH YOUR EYES

Almost inevitably, America's presidential elections begin gloriously but ultimately disintegrate into pomp and spectacle, imagery, catch-phrases and slander. The show "Democracy in America" by Creative Time (an outfit responsible for David Byrne's recent "Playing the Building"), now on in New York's Armory Building, uses these tropes to illustrate their superficiality. The aim is to open a dialogue between arts and politics, and to provoke critical thinking about the issues and how they are packaged. Featuring 40 artists, the exhibition is fleeting--open for one week only, much like the frenzied party conventions--with installations such as the 'Waterboard Thrill Ride", which simulates the contested practice of waterboarding (a cartoon Spongebob Squarepants proclaims just outside: "It don't Gitmo Better!"). “Humour has long been a strategy for speaking the unspeakable”, says Ann Pasternack of Creative Time. For something lighter, try the Anarchist Ice Cream Truck, which hands out human-rights literature along with frozen dairy. Some critics complain that the show prizes 20th-century subversive art themes and tactics without being constructive. But Nato Thompson, the curator, has high hopes: "I think alternative models are always productive in New York." At the very least the show is a fine excuse for election junkies to close the paper and turn off CNN, if only for a moment.
~ A.R.

"DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA: THE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN" through September 27th, New York

BOOKWORMS UNITE

Salman Rushdie’s exclusion from the Booker prize shortlist has left literary types murmuring among themselves--how could it have happened? The British-Indian author won the prize in 1981 for “Midnight’s Children”, which was honoured again this year as the “Best of Booker”. So did seniority count against him? Was it that he has become “a shocking old windbag”? Perhaps it was his supposed misrepresentation of the historical origins of polenta. You can ask the man himself, or just get him to sign your copy of “The Enchantress of Florence”, at the Library of Congress’s book festival, where he will appear from 2-3pm this Saturday. Adding to the excitement, first lady Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna, co-authors of a children's book called “Read All About It!”, will be present. ~ J.G.

NATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL, September 27th, National Mall, Washington D.C.

Picture credit: Andrea Palladio 500