Check out the new exhibit by multimedia artist Njaimeh Njie, "Lifting Liberty," watch the famous Verdi's "Requiem" with the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale or see "Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War" at the Frick Pittsburgh — here's what to do in Pittsburgh this weekend.
Visual art
From the Selma Burke Art Center in the 1970s to the Shadow Lounge in the ’00s, East Liberty has been home to many Black-centered cultural venues. One such creative space, the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, hosts “Lifting Liberty,” a new exhibit by multimedia artist Njaimeh Njie. In the wake of the gentrification-driven loss of Black population there, lifelong Pittsburgher Njie draws on archival and contemporary sources to create collages, photos and texts celebrating the neighborhood’s heritage and imagining its future as anchored by the arts. “Lifting Liberty” opens Thu., Feb. 27.
Theater
The 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps is occasion for Prime Stage Theatre’s new production of “I Never Saw Another Butterfly & The Terezin Promise.” Celeste Raspanti’s play depicts the efforts of the Austrian artist who taught children in the camps to create poems and drawings, and the ultimate fate of that art. The production receives seven performances Fri., Feb. 28, through March 9, at the New Hazlett Theater.
Visual art
A touring show by one of the world’s best-known contemporary artists visits the Frick Pittsburgh. In her 2005 work “Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated),” Walker overlays her signature silhouettes over enlarged illustrations from the 1866 Harper’s publication to sharply comment on race, slavery and American history. A selection of original Winslow Homer engravings from Harper’s augments the exhibit. The exhibit opens Sat., March 1, and runs through May 25.
Exhibit
“Mental Health: Mind Matters” is a new touring exhibit stopping at the Carnegie Science Center. The show — a bit of a departure for the center, whose blockbuster exhibits usually focus on technology or archaeology — includes immersive displays, personal stories and activities emphasizing the importance of mental health and seeking to remove the stigma around it. Topics in the trilingual show (English, Spanish, French) range from fostering emotional intelligence to dealing with stress and depression. It runs Sat., March 1, through Aug. 17.
Music
As musical settings of the Catholic funeral mass go, few are as famous as Verdi’s “Requiem.” Composed to commemorate the death of a writer Verdi admired, the 90-minute masterwork debuted in 1874. Pittsburgh Concert Chorale performs the work for chorus, orchestra and soloists just once, at 4 p.m. Sun., March 2, at the Carnegie Music Hall, in Oakland. The soloists are soprano Danielle Pastin, mezzo-soprano Marianne Cornetti, tenor Benjamin Werley and baritone Sebastian Catana.
Words
With her best-seller “Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution,” author Cat Bohannan ranges back in history — way back — to center women and their physiology in our discussions of everything from medical research to education. Bohannon visits Carnegie Music Hall on Mon., March 3, courtesy of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures.
