(Above: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Municipal Stadium (1959–66), Ahmedabad, by Charles Correa and Mahendra Raj. Photo courtesy of MoMA)
WHERE TO GO
The Project of Independence
Architectures of Decolonization in South Asia, 1947–1985
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Through July 2, 2022
This exhibition examines what happens when territories emerge from colonial rule and reclaim their autonomy. It specifically features architecture in the territories of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lankaas regional architects, designers, and planners embraced their own visions, creating a language for the design of place and space by weaving together modernism with traditional cultural craft. Highlighting the work of Indian architect Balkrishna V. Doshi, the only South Asian to win the Pritzker Prize for Architecture; Sri Lankan architect Minnette de Silva and Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari, the first women architects in their countries; and many others through film, photographs, projects sketches, project plans, and more.
(Below Right: National Cooperative Development Corporation office building (1978–80), New Delhi, by Kuldip Singh and Mahendra Raj. Image courtesy of MoMA.)
(Below: Madam or Green Nana with Black Bag (1968), Niki de Saint Phalle, © Niki Charitable Art Foundation. All rights reserved. Photo: André Morain)
Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla
Through July 17, 2022
This is the first exhibition focusing on French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle’s transformative decade of the 1960s, and includes major paintings, assemblages, and sculptures that have not been viewed in the U.S, as well as photos and documentation of her life and work during this time. De Saint Phalle is widely known for her monumental sculptural works and performative modes of production, as in the creation of Pirodactyl over New York (1962) in which she used a gun to shoot paint at her canvas. After the 1960s expanded her practice to include immersive environments and architecture, sculpture gardens, books, films, perfume, jewelry, and more.
(Below: Pirodactyl over New York (1962), Niki de Saint Phalle, image courtesy of MCASD)
WHAT TO EXPERIENCE
What’s Out There Olmsted
The Cultural Landscape Foundation
Drawing from The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s extensive "What’s Out There" database, this interactive digital guide has launched in time to celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. Considered the “father of landscape architecture,” Olmsted left a legacy of iconic national historic landmarks, parks, and gardens, both public and private spaces. The archive includes a searchable database of North American landscapes and 100 biographical entries about this family, employees of the firm, consultants, and collaborators.
WHAT TO READ
Odesa by Yelena Yemchuk
(GOST, 2022)
Poems by Ilya Kaminsky
Ukrainian-American photographer Yelena Yemchuck documents Odesa, Ukraine, a city that has fascinated her since childhood. Odesa’s reputation as a free, bohemian, and defiant place during Soviet rule still occupies a sense of complex and unique cultural identity. The work spans the period directly following the region's annexation by Russia (2015-2019). Originally setting out to photograph the teenagers attending the Odesa Military Academy,Yemchuck found herself absorbed by their lives, their families, and the city itself.
WHAT TO WATCH
"The Great Pottery Throw Down, Season 5"
HBOmax
The latest in the genre of soothing, low-drama competition shows,The Great Pottery Throw Down is back for season five. British home potters compete over a series of projects and tests, measuring a range of skills and techniques filmed at the historic Middleport Pottery. Watch these amateur artists learn from the judges, cheer each other on, and create charming projects culminating in picnic with families and friends to announce the winner.