Leo Vayn
Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie will present two public programs as part of its exhibition “Cultural Connections: Eastern European Artists of Greater Trenton,” which is on view through June 8.
An afternoon with photographer and filmmaker Leo Vayn will screen and discuss Vayn’s documentary The Road to Krasnostav on Sunday, May 4, at 2 p.m. Produced by the Soviet Russia-born Vayn, the film examines one family’s personal journey through the former Jewish shtetl in Krasnostav, Ukraine, to reconnect with a past that saw the town’s Jewish population executed by the Nazis in 1941. Vayn, of Princeton, is a businessperson and entrepreneur who has dedicated himself to photography and the Tsal Kaplun Foundation, created to preserve Jewish culture and heritage in the former Soviet Union. He is among the 10 area artists with artwork showcased in “Cultural Connections.” Admission is $5 at the door (free for museum members).
“Sorrow & Joy: Ukrainian Art Songs” is planned for Saturday, May 17, at 2 p.m. This exploration of Ukrainian classical music will include works by Mykola Lysenko, who is considered the father of Ukrainian classical music; Kyrylo Stetsenko, one of Ukraine’s most prolific and important 20th century artists; Vasyl Barvinsky, Ukraine’s first internationally known composer; and Stefania Turkewich, Ukraine’s first female composer. Admission is a suggested donation of $5. more
Born April 9, 1806, British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel once claimed that the “most wonderful feat” he ever performed was producing “unanimity among 15 men who were all quarrelling about that most ticklish subject — taste.” He was referring to the panel of experts that approved his ambitious design for the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, the longest in the world at the time of its construction in 1831.
