Watch some international arthouse classics at the Harris Theater, check out an exhibit of "New Vantages of American Arts" in Sewickley or enjoy beloved classics by Debussy and Sibelius by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra — here's what to do in Pittsburgh this weekend.
Film
Downtown’s Harris Theater begins a week-long series of international arthouse classics. It opens Thu., Jan. 9, with a rare 35 mm screening of “Harakiri,” Masaki Kobayashi’s acclaimed 1962 period samurai drama (which screens again Jan. 15). The series also features multiple screenings of two favorites from director Pedro Almodóvar, “All About My Mother” (1999) and “Talk to Her” (2002), and of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s all-time thriller “The Wages of Fear” (1953).
Visual Art
The Sewickley-based O’Brien Art Foundation was founded in 2019 and has loaned works to galleries in New York and elsewhere. Now it’s going more fully public with “New Vantages of American Art,” a sampling of its eclectic 1,200-piece collection of works from 1890 to 1985 at Bellevue’s intimate Hermann Memorial Art Museum. The foundation focuses on “American art beyond the accepted canon”; this debut includes pieces by artists ranging from Francis Celentano, Sally Cook and Ralph Iwamoto to well-known names like Jackson Pollock. The opening reception is Fri., Jan. 10.
Visual Art
Two collectives that elevate artists of color team up for an exhibit at Artists Image Resource. Pittsburgh’s #notwhite collective collaborated on the show with Los Fantasmas, a Denver, Colo.-based group consisting of four indigenous, Chicano and Raza-identifying artists. The exhibit, “Collective Dreaming #2,” opens with a reception Sat., Jan. 10 at AIR’s North Side venue.
Music
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra celebrates the ocean with two PSO premieres and a beloved classic by Debussy. The premieres are Sibelius’ “The Oceanides” and “Oceans,” by contemporary composer María Huld Markan Sifgúsdóttir. The program, which also features guest violinist Vadim Gluzman on Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, concludes with Debussy’s “La Mer.” There are two performances at Heinz Hall, Fri., Jan. 10, and Sun., Jan. 12.
Words
With Pittsburgh Public Theater’s forthcoming production of “Trouble in Mind,” Justin Emeka concludes his tenure as the troupe’s first resident director. Emeka, known for such recent Public shows as “A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Harlem” and “Sweat,” visits the Public Artists Centerstage series to discuss his career in theater and more recent success as an award-winning filmmaker. The talk is Sun., Jan. 12.
Dance
Malpaso Dance Company is gaining fans around the world, far outside its home base in Cuba. The troupe, which stages works by choreographers from Cuba and beyond, visits Pittsburgh with a mixed-repertory program featuring pieces by Ronald K. Brown, Osnel Delgado and Aszure Barton. The Pittsburgh Dance Council show hits the Byham Theater on Wed., Jan. 15.
