InBerkeley

A clue to the evolution of modern human culture, an ancient battle that led to the rise of Germany and an examination of media coverage of the war in Iraq are just a few of the topics in this fall’s “Enduring Value of Humanities” Lecture Series, offered by UC Berkeley Extension.

Starting tomorrow at 6:30 p.m., this series of four evening lectures by distinguished academics offers new insights from the past across a range of subjects. Lectures cost $10 each. From human evolution and ancient Roman history to the changing face of journalism and the future of California, these lectures offer new perspectives on the economic, political, and cultural challenges the world faces today.

Tomorrow’s lecture, “How a Battle 2,000 Years Ago Changed Your Life,” explores how by halting Roman expansion into Northern Europe in AD 9 Germany permanently divided Europe into a Roman south and a German north, and the repercussions of that event in our daily life now.

For more information or to sign up for these events, please visit the UC Berkeley Extension web site.

Education, Events, UC Berkeley

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Photo by Ryan Greenberg from Flickr

General

Photo by Sibila Savage

When I saw an image of Fernando Botero’s Abu Ghraib 66 (above), I thought of Francisco Goya, the great Spanish painter who captured the brutality of the Napoleonic wars. You don’t, however, need to fly to Madrid’s Prado to see Botero’s work.

The Colombian artist’s Abu Ghraib series is going on show at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) this Wednesday. The 56 paintings and drawings in the series were shown to critical acclaim two years ago at the university’s Doe Library. Subsequent to the exhibition, Botero made a gift of the series to BAM/PFA, in recognition of Berkeley’s historic role in the free speech movement.

Botero painted the series after reading Sy Hersh’s expose of the Abu Ghraib abuses in the New Yorker in 2004. In an interview during the 2007 showing in Berkeley, Botero said, “What I wanted was to visualize the atmosphere described in the articles, to make visible what was invisible.” Botero will discuss his work with BAM/PFA’s Lawrence Rinder on Wednesday evening. The discussion is sold out but a recording will be available on the BAM/PFA site from Friday.

Update BAM/PFA has an exhibition, Material Witness, that uses works from its collection to show how artists have borne witness over the centuries. It includes works by Goya and Andy Warhol. Material Witness runs until December 20.

Art