Culture

Homer's burning basket gets built next week

The 12th annual burning basket event in Homer will get underway on Sunday as construction begins on this year's basket. Directed by organizer Mavis Muller, volunteers will weave an intricately woven basket from local, natural material and make a walking labyrinth using rocks, driftwood and other stuff from the beach at Mariner Park, at the base of Homer Spit. Construction of "Reach -- Basket of Remembrance and Unburdening" will take place daily from noon-8 p.m. through Sept. 12.

The public dedication will begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 13, with participants invited to add their own notes and embellishments to the sculpture. At sundown the basket will be set ablaze. The labyrinth will be washed away by storms at a date yet to be determined. The Sept. 13 event is free, and alcohol and dogs are prohibited.

This year's conflagration on Kachemak is funded, in part, with a grant from the Burning Man Arts Foundation of California.

First Friday rambles

Here in Anchorage, there's no shortage of art openings this week. It's possible that no one will notice the art on the walls of the International Gallery of Contemporary Art because their big event is the second annual D Street "Block pARTy." Artists, musicians, performers, food and, this year, a beer and wine garden will fill the asphalt between Fourth and Fifth avenues. The festivities occur rain or shine; last year it was rain, but that did nothing to dampen the turnout or the spirit of the revelers. This year's romp will take go until 10 p.m.

Blue.Holloman Gallery, 36th Ave. and Arctic Blvd., will show new Alaska landscape work by Tim Troll. Most of the scenes depict remote areas in Bristol Bay and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, where Troll has been surveying fish populations for the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust, often coming in by helicopter. The artist says the perspective of some of the paintings reflect that bird's eye view. The reception is 5-8 p.m.

Photographer Ellen Davis will display her study of doors in Nevada City, California, her home town. The sometimes garish, sometimes humbly utilitarian portals suggest mystery, transition and "the meaning of home." Davis' exhibit titled "Gotta Knock a Little Harder" will be shown through Sept. 30 at the Arc Gallery, in the Consortium Library on the campus of UAA. The reception takes place 5:30-7 p.m. Parking is free on campus Friday through Sunday and after 7:30 p.m. on weekdays.

Native-themed theater reprises

Jack Dalton is holding auditions for upcoming performances of his play "Assimilation." The work, which debuted in 2010 at Cyrano's and has since been reprised at Out North, will tour several Alaska communities, including an Anchorage run Oct. 12-18. The cast requires a Native elder and younger teacher and three non-Native teen boys. The auditions will take place 6-9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, in the upstairs conference room at 2207 Spenard Road. For more information, call 227-4428 or email jack@ravenfeathers.com.

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The Southcentral Foundation and Alaska Humanities Forum are cosponsoring a week of events related to Anne Hanley's play, "The Winter Bear." This show, about a troubled village kid set straight by an elder, also debuted at Cyrano's and has since toured widely. "The Winter Bear Project" includes a discussion with the playwright and poet Stephen Bolen at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 14 in room 307 of UAA/APU Consortium Library, a screening of a documentary about the play at 5:30 p.m. at the Alaska Native Heritage Center and two productions of the play at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18-19 at Alaska Pacific University's Grant Hall.

'Moose' on DVD

The long-awaited release of "Moose: The Movie" on DVD has finally happened. The all-Alaskan horror-spoof by the Carpenter Brothers debuted in April and has since been seen around the state and even in some Lower 48 venues. Fans can get copies at the Tundra booth at the Alaska State Fair, where copies of the graphic novel of the film are also available. And if you miss the fair, cartoonist Chad Carpenter will be at his customary kiosk in the Mall at Sears from Nov. 27 to Dec. 24 and you can undoubtedly pick them up there.

"Moose" will have a special screening at the Mat-Su College's sumptuous new Glenn Massay Theatre at 6 p.m. on Sept. 26. Cast and crew will be on hand. Admission is $10, $7 for Mat-Su College students, and tickets are available at moosethemovie.com.

New work from Eagle River composer

Daniel Corral, formerly of Eagle River and now working in Los Angeles, will release his debut solo album, "Diamond Pulses" (Orenda Records) with shows at 8 and 10 p.m. on September 12 at Automata, an L.A. alternative arts venue. The music, which Corral described as "an epic, experimental, electronic space soundscape combining classical minimalist influences, Balinese rhythm undercurrents, and modern production aesthetics," will be performed with video projections.

Corral will go on tour in October with confirmed dates at Seattle's Good Shepherd Chapel on Oct. 9, and San Francisco's Center for New Music on Oct. 13. Alaskans can hear the music at the Bandcamp website, orendarecords.bandcamp.com/album/diamond-pulses.

The L.A. band Timur and the Dime Museum will perform Corral's "Collapse," described as a "glam-rock requiem for the natural world," at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, one of the most alluring and historic venues in the country, Sept. 17-19. The "Collapse" performance is part of BAM's Next Wave Festival. It's the New York premiere of the piece, which debuted in L.A. on the 51st anniversary of the Great Alaska Earthquake and, Corral tells the Dispatch News, "We are super excited."

Cook exhibit sails off

"Arctic Ambitions," the Anchorage Museum's big exhibit regarding Capt. James Cook's exploration in Alaska, will come down Sept. 7, making this the last weekend to see it. Make sure you get a good look at the artifacts collected in Prince William Sound and Cook's journal; we won't encounter their like here for a while. In fact it's unlikely that the items now on display at the museum will ever be assembled in one spot again in our lifetimes. The show, or parts of it, will next be displayed in Tacoma before the various items are returned to their permanent collections scattered around the world.

Mike Dunham

Mike Dunham has been a reporter and editor at the ADN since 1994, mainly writing about culture, arts and Alaska history. He worked in radio for 20 years before switching to print.

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