Chicago Humanities Festival
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Chicago Humanities Festival is a foundation which organizes an annual series of lectures, concerts, and films in Chicago. The main festival takes place in the first and second weeks of November. In 2006, the theme of the festival was "Peace and War: Facing Human Conflict". The theme for 2007 is "The Climate of Concern."
Contents |
[edit] Mission
The Chicago Humanities Festival's mission is to create opportunities for people of all ages to support, enjoy, and explore the humanities. CHF accomplish this by creating an annual Festival of the Humanities and by presenting programs throughout the year that encourage the study and enjoyment of the humanities.
[edit] History
Under the aegis of the Illinois Humanities Council and its then-chairman Richard J. Franke, the notion of a "humanities day" was proposed, and then expanded into a "festival." The first Chicago Humanities Festival, a one-day affair, was held on November 11, 1990 at the Art Institute of Chicago and Orchestra Hall, before an audience of 3,500 people. Eight thoughtful yet accessible programs addressed the theme Expressions of Freedom, including a memorable keynote address by playwright Arthur Miller, and inaugurated one of Chicago's most culturally rich annual events. Founding co-sponsor institutions included the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the University of Chicago.
In 1997, the Festival formally separated from the Illinois Humanities Council and established itself as an independent, nonprofit organization. By 2006, the independent Festival had expanded to nearly 150 programs over 16 days, in more than 30 venues, involving nearly 40 partner institutions and several hundred site volunteers, and attracting a combined audience of nearly 50,000.
Along the way, even more beginnings, as a Children’s Humanities Festival was introduced in 2000 to great acclaim and success. In addition, a year-round slate of exemplary education programs devoted to supporting classroom teachers and students was established to meet the needs of educators looking to strengthen their classroom arts and humanities offerings. The Festival has also expanded its presence year-round, offering public lectures, readings, concerts, and special events that anticipate and build interest in the November Festival.
In 2006 Lawrence Weschler was appointed as the first artistic director of CHF, and in 2007 Stuart Flack joined as Executive Director. Festival-sponsored exhibits and commissioned artworks will add greater depth and timeliness to the Festival’s offering. Increased focus on visual culture will expand the Festival’s appeal to a new generation. Expanded partnerships with community-based cultural institutions will broaden the Festival’s reach and relevance.
[edit] Festival 18: The Climate of Concern (2007)
The 18th annual Chicago Humanities Festival, October 27 – November 11, 2007, presented “The Climate of Concern,” a timely theme about climate change, habitat degradation, species extinction, sustainability, and environmental justice. Through the disciplines of visual art, literature, music, film, philosophy/belief, cultural criticism, history, science, performance, and more, the Festival provided a broader context for the changes occurring all around us and sure to impact future generations.
Artists, scholars, poets, naturalists, and philosophers have long striven to understand and convey our relationship to the physical world around us, celebrating nature’s majesty while acknowledging our ability to both harmonize with and dominate it. As our environment responds to accelerating change and apparent disruption, the Festival challenged visionaries among us to assess The Climate of Concern and summon the will to imagine and create a more caring, respectful, and sustainable relationship between ourselves and the planet.
Notable presenters included: Wangari Maathai, E.L. Doctorow, Philip Pullman, Majora Carter, Peter Singer, Roger Payne, Terry Tempest Williams, W.S. Merwin, Edward Burtynsky, Maya Lin, Dave Eggers, Colin Quinn, Cat Chow, Greil Marcus, Amartya Sen, and the head writers of The Onion.
The Festival also commissioned original theatrical works by: Don DeLillo, Sarah Ruhl, and José Rivera along with a group of local Chicago playwrights.
[edit] Past Festivals
CHF I: Expressions of Freedom (1990)
Notable Presenters: Arthur Miller, Ed Paschke, Philip Gossett
CHF II: Culture Contact (1991)
Notable Presenters: Toni Morrison, John Edgar Wideman, Michael Ondaatje, Sandra Cisneros
CHF III: From Freedom to Equality (1992)
Notable Presenters: John Updike, Czeslaw Milosz
CHF IV: From Communication to Understanding (1993)
Notable Presenters: William Safire, David McCullough, Marlo Thomas
CHF V: Crime and Punishment (1994)
Notable Presenters: Tom Wolfe, Scott Turow, Sherman Alexie
CHF VI: Love and Marriage (1995)
Notable Presenters: Stephen Sondheim, Stevie Wonder, Diane Ackerman, Betty Friedan
CHF VII: Birth and Death (1996)
Notable Presenters: Edward Albee, Jane Urquhart, Stephen Ambrose
CHF VIII: Work & Play (1997)
Notable Presenters: Peter O’Toole, Amartya Sen, Michael Moore
CHF IX: He/She (1998)
Notable Presenters: Wendy Wasserstein , Edward Hirsch, Galway Kinnell
CHF X: New & Old (1999)
Notable Presenters: Yusef Komunyakaa, Mordecai Richler
CHF XI: NOW! (2000)
Notable Presenters: Alan Lightman, Harold Ramis, Alison Lurie
CHF XII: Words & Pictures (2001)
Notable Presenters: Leonard Nimoy, Jonathan Franzen, Witold Rybczynski, Junot Diaz
CHF XIII: Brains & Beauty (2002)
Notable Presenters: Francis Fukuyama , Joyce Carol Oates, Jeffrey Eugenides, Francine Prose, Mira Nair
CHF XIV: Saving + Spending (2003)
Notable Presenters: Roberto Benigni, Oscar Hijuelos, Tom Wolfe
CHF XV: Time (2004)
Notable Presenters: August Wilson, Maxine Hong Kingston, Clive Barker
CHF XVI: Home and Away (2005)
Notable Presenters: Margaret Atwood , Salman Rushdie, Annie Proulx, Susan Orlean
CHF XVII: Peace and War (2006)
Notable Presenters: Paul Krugman , Azar Nafisi, Joel Meyerowitz , Frank McCourt, Joan Baez, Errol Morris, Wesley Clark, Garry Trudeau
