Coffeehouse Nights Kick Off At The IU Art Museum

By Milana Katic Posted September 19, 2012

Last Thursday, the Indiana University Art Museum kicked off its annual Coffeehouse Nights series which feature musical acts from all over the world in the three permanent galleries of the museum. The events will be held every Thursday night in September from 7pm-9pm.

"Coffeehouse Nights began about six years ago," Anita DeCastro, Special Events Manager, said. "It currently celebrates and introduces the museum [and] the academic year. It also highlights a specific gallery, therefore, highlighting our permanent collection. Then it features the live, in gallery music performance which allows our patrons to get a fuller experience of the cultures that we're representing."

Last week's Coffeehouse Nights featured the Middle Eastern music group Salaam in the museum's Gallery of the Arts of Asia and the Ancient World, and this week will feature the Raymond and Laura Wielgus Gallery of the Arts of Africa with a performance by Dr. Djo Bi, a West-African hand drummer. Next week, Coffeehouse Nights will feature hurdy gurdy music by Tomas Lozano in the Gallery of the Art of the Western World. As always, there will be plenty of coffee and baked good to enjoy as well.

"Music draws people in, and it's a way to connect to things that you may not feel connected to, like an ancient vase,” Salaam member Dena El Saffar said. “It’s a great idea. I'm going to come to the next one."