The Indicator

The University of Iowa Libraries Exhibitions Program for 1988

University Libraries/Hancher Auditorium Asian Sampler

In January and February 1988 the University Libraries featured an exhibition entitled "Modern Japanese Dance and Drama: Mirror of the Past." This display, coproduced with Hancher Auditorium, focused on theatrical presentations from Japan offered at Hancher as part of its Asian Sampler and other series. These programs served to highlight the University's increasing interests in international studies, an area that the libraries have been emphasizing over the past 15 years.

This exhibition demonstrated how Japan's past theatrical traditions have altered, yet remained in the living theater of today. Books and periodical articles from the libraries' Special Collections Department, Reference Department, Oriental Collection, Art Library, and Music Library showed the influences of local folk festivals on the Kodo drummers, Noh elements in modern Butoh choreography, Kabuki music and dance reflected in Nagoya Odori, and both Kabuki and Shingeki traditions carried on in Kabuki Macbeth. Hancher Auditorium staff provided posters illustrating this year's performances and assisted in designing the exhibition.

Modern Latin American Literature

During March and April an exhibition on modern Latin American literature features the University Libraries' collections of works by and about such major Latin American authors as Isabel Allende, Miguel Angel Asturias, Maria Louisa Bombal, Alejo Carpentier, Rosario Castellanos, Julio Cortazar, Carlos Fuentes, Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Elena Poniatowska, and Manuel Puig.

E. C. Mabie and The University of Iowa Theatre Building

E. C. Mabie came to Iowa City in 1920 to serve as acting head of the Department of Public Speaking and stayed with the University until his death in 1956. During these years he transformed that small department into an academic theater program of national prominence, served as Midwest regional director of the New Deal's Federal Theatre Project, and— during the depths of the depression—headed a successful drive to build a state-of-the-art performance center on the west side of the Iowa River. During May and June an exhibition featuring production photos, letters, and other papers from University Archives; artifacts and information from the Department of Theatre Arts (including professors and students who knew and worked with Mabie); and other library materials on the building of the center and the Federal Theatre Project will present some of Mabie's contributions to the theater worlds of Iowa and beyond.

Iowa Elderhostel

Predicated on the belief that there is no age limit on intellectual vitality and learning, Elderhostel is an international network of college-level courses for persons over the age of 60. Beginning as a one-state operation in New Hampshire in 1975, Elderhostel now includes programs in all 50 states and 30 foreign countries. Since joining in 1977, Iowa has become one of the most active participants, offering a wide variety of courses at more than 20 universities and colleges. Coordinated by The University of Iowa's Division of Continuing Education, Iowa Elderhostel sponsors such courses as Primitive Pottery, Chemistry for the Eighties, and Current Issues in American Foreign Policy. A major focus at The University of Iowa is a writing program with classes for poets, novelists, and short story writers. Displaying materials from University Archives, the libraries' holdings, and contributions from Iowa Elderhostel, this exhibition, scheduled for July and August to coincide with the Elderhostel program on campus, will illustrate the depth and diversity of these educational experiences.

Iowa City Fiction

To welcome the University community back to town in the fall, the libraries will feature an exhibition of fiction with an Iowa City setting. Such well-known authors as Vance Bourjaily, Max Allan Collins, Elizabeth Hardwick, John Irving, W. P. Kinsella, John Leggett, Larry McMurtry, Philip Roth, and Wallace Stegner will be represented.

Festival of Books for Young People

During October and November the libraries will highlight the twentieth anniversary of the Festival of Books for Young People, coordinating our exhibition with the Festival's theme, "A Celebration of Story."