Culture

One of the joys of living in Ann Arbor for a few decades has been watching local artists try new things and play around in cool ways. I first heard of Jennifer Burd when she published a moving portrayal of the homeless...

Jazz has had a long history in Poland. Banned in the 1950s by the Communist government, it acquired a special patina of rebellion against authority, but was ironically somewhat shackled by its rigid imitation of American models....

The photography exhibit Albert Kahn: Under Construction, on display at the U-M Museum of Art, raises some unusual issues of authorship and artistry. Kahn, the Detroit-based architect of iconic structures like Detroit’s...

The audience sits blindfolded as novelist and songwriter Josh Malerman performs a scene, with live musical accompaniment, from his horror-thriller Bird Box. As one of several unconventional readings at the 2015 Midwest Literary...

The son of a bluegrass-loving academic, Robbie Fulks paid his dues at the famed folk clubs of New York City and Chicago. “I think the folk thing is so much a part of my hard drive that I’m always going to be...

The almost inconceivable magnitude of the Holocaust makes it a very daunting subject for a movie. Filmmakers have necessarily tended to focus on stories of individuals; think Schindler’s List, or the recent Son of Saul....

Time stops just before the music begins. A string quartet is preparing itself for takeoff. Four individuals sit perfectly still, bows pressed against strings. Their eyes glitter as glances are exchanged. Silence is the flint...

Many who have lived in Ann Arbor for a while still miss the downtown jazz clubs, the Bird of Paradise and the Firefly, as well as the Sunday afternoon sessions at the Del Rio. But recently there has been a small revival of jazz...