A multi-media presentation exploring the way ordinary objects are transformed into irreplaceable carriers of experience, aspiration, and identity will be offered Saturday, May 30 at 3:30 p.m. at the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, 778 Cemetery Rd., Margaretville.
This free program by filmmaker and historian Jonathan Fein is made possible by a grant from the NYS Council for the Humanities and the NYS Legislature.
Historical objects excite the imagination as they illustrate the past, demonstrating that we are living through history this very day. Shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, Fein saw that historians and curators were working as history was unfolding, and he started filming their thoughts and actions. Fein will share excerpts from and material captured in the making of his award-winning documentary, Objects and Memory, and the book he is currently writing about it.
This program is part of Headwaters History Days, two weekends of exhibits, programs, open houses and activities spotlighting local history from Andes to Olive. www.headwatershistorydays.org
The program is sure to stimulate questions about contemporary history, material culture, heirlooms and memory and help attendees approach the question, ‘How do we preserve the past and speak to the future?,’ and to see their world with deeper perspective.
Jonathan Fein has long been interested in the interrelationships of the tangible and the intangible. As a sculptor (University of Pennsylvania MFA ’78), his work has evolved from the manipulation of physical material to sculpting in time: filmmaking.
His filmmaking credits include the award-winning documentary Journeys to Peace and Understanding; the Emmy Award-winning series 4Stories; documentaries The Competition, Death Row Diaries and A Change of Heart; the PBS series The Fred Friendly Seminars; the Broadway musical Nunsense 2; and the Wisdom Channel series Innerviews.
