No Need to Leave Home this Winter to Experience Art with Zimmerli's Free Virtual Programs

The Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers invites art lovers to come together this winter during a variety of free virtual programs on Zimmerli at Home. Plus, visit the site to experience the museum - wherever you are, whenever you want. Explore eMuseum, Make Art at Home, Art + Music, Virtual Backgrounds, Online Exhibitions, Artist Interviews, Virtual Events, Staff Favorites, and Videos, including recordings of events you may have missed live. Please note that the museum building remains closed to the public and in-person programs are suspended until further notice.

Two free film series are being offered in conjunction with the recent Zimmerli exhibition Everyday Soviet: Soviet Industrial Design and Nonconformist Art (1959-1989), which was co-curated with the Moscow Design Museum.

Start a new holiday tradition with The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath! This 1976 Soviet screwball romantic comedy streams for free on Zimmerli at Home, from December 26 through January 3. One of the most successful Soviet television productions of all time, it has become a New Year's Eve tradition in Russia. An undertone of social criticism about the drab uniformity of Brezhnev-era architecture, furniture, and everyday items reveals the particularities of Soviet daily life, as the characters find themselves in curious and absurd situations shaped by their living environments. The film also addresses universal themes of love, betrayal, and friendship within the unique setting of the Soviet Union in the 1970s.

Directed by Eldar Ryazanov, The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath! is in Russian with English subtitles and presented in two parts (a total of three hours). It is screened with permission from Mosfilm. In addition to the opportunity of streaming the film throughout the week, two live programs are offered with the co-curators, Julia Tulovsky, Curator of Russian and Soviet Nonconformist Art at the Zimmerli, and Alexandra Sankova, Director of the Moscow Design Museum, and special guests. They are joined by Thymen Kouwenaar, political counsellor at the Dutch Embassy in Moscow, for an introduction to the film on December 26 at 4:00 p.m. (ET); and by Russian actor and director Evgeniy Tsymbal for a Q&A on December 30 at 4:00 p.m. (ET). Please visit go.rutgers.edu/irony for details and registration information.

On Thursdays in January, view the film series The History of Russian Design. Beginning at 4:00 p.m. (ET) on January 7, 14, 21, and 28, each 20-minute episode of the documentary is followed by a live Q&A with Everyday Soviet co-curators Julia Tulovsky, Curator of Russian and Soviet Nonconformist Art at the Zimmerli, and Alexandra Sankova, Director of the Moscow Design Museum. Details and registration information will be posted on go.rutgers.edu/zimmerlievents in late December.

Art Together offers free family art activities either live on Zoom or recorded, to view at your convenience, on Zimmerli at Home. Join upcoming sessions on January 2 and February 6. Plus, invite friends and extended family to log on from their locations. Register (up to the program start time) at go.rutgers.edu/arttogether. Artists of all ages are welcome, but sessions are best suited for ages 5 to 13, joined by their grown-ups. Recorded sessions are posted on Zimmerli at Home, including projects inspired by still life and collage works in the museum's collection, as well as the exhibition Mood Books: The Children's Stories of Alvin Tresselt and Roger Duvoisin.

Please note that first Tuesday programming for Art Before/After Hours takes a break in January and returns on February 2, 2021. Recordings of previous events are available on Zimmerli at Home Videos, including programming that marked Day With(out) Art/World AIDS Day on December 1. The Zimmerli hosted a Zoom panel discussion about the historical and contemporary intersections of HIV/AIDS advocacy and the arts, with a special emphasis on the role the museum's late director Thomas Sokolowski played. In addition, a new documentary short about Sokolowski, One Singular Sensation created by Rutgers alumnus Samuel Vladimirsky, is available.

The Zimmerli Art Museum remains closed to the public and in-person programs are suspended until further notice. News regarding operations will be posted on the museum's home page. For Rutgers updates, please visit Universitywide COVID-19 Information.

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