AT THE ALLEN / SPRING 2025 / 15 HIGHLIGHT / ACADEMICS THE ALLEN AS A CATALYST FOR CRITICAL THINKING AND CREATIVITY The Allen Memorial Art Museumplays a crucial role as a teaching space at Oberlin College, offering students and faculty opportunities to engage deeply with original works of art in ways that enrich interdisciplinary learning. This was exemplified in its recent collaboration with the Oberlin College Conservatory on programming related to the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Omar. Building on recent academic engagements using artworks in the Allen’s collection to informOberlin opera performances, the Allen partnered with the conservatory on programming related to the opera Omar, written by Rhiannon Giddens (OC 2000) and Michael Abels. A concert performance of the opera in Finney Chapel on December 6 featured Giddens and other Oberlin alumni soloists backed by the Oberlin College Orchestra and choral ensembles. The opera is based on the story of Omar ibn Said, an Islamic scholar fromWest Africa enslaved for decades in the United States. Said documented his life in the only known memoir written in Arabic by an enslaved person. The first part of the collaboration was a series of museum visits in November by three opera classes taught by professors Stephanie Havey and Cara Consilvio (Opera Theatre 202, 305, and 404). Many of the students in the classes were involved in the opera performances. The classes studied artworks that engage with the opera’s themes, including two historical works related to enslavement and Islamic education inWest Africa and six contemporary works that deal with pan-African and Arab identity, translation, and enslavement. Students discussed the works, thinking about ways they resonate with the opera, questions they raise, and ways historical moments and ideals of revolution, resilience, and emancipation are interpreted and still impactful today. Two of the Allen’s Gallery Guides, AudieWilson (OC 2026) and Anka Chiorini (OC 2027), attended the classes to learn with the opera students and see what insights arose from their perspectives. The second part of the collaboration took place on December 7 as part of the college-wide “Omar Day.” Performances, panel discussions, and library exhibitions across campus created opportunities for college and community audiences to delve further into the opera. The Allen offered a pair of object talks byWilson and Chiorini on two of the artworks that the opera classes studied. Wilson and Chiorini led deeply engaging discussions with community members, college staff, and students on Kara Elizabeth Walker’s No world (2010) and Annabel Daou’s Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death (2005). Both works inspired a multitude of interpretations; Wilson and Chiorini discussed reflections from the student performers as well as their own interpretations after seeing the opera, and the Object Talk participants brought out further insights. The rich conversations are a testament to the ways in which the Allen and the conservatory have been joining forces to offer interdisciplinary frameworks for students to explore the relationships between the visual and performing arts. John Kennedy (OC 1982) conducts a live performance of Omar in Finney Chapel. Soloists pictured are (left to right) Krysty Swann, Rhiannon Giddens (OC 2000), and Limmie Pulliam (OC 1998), joined by the Oberlin Orchestra. PHOTOS: MIKE CRUPI, JOHN SEYFRIED
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTczNTM=