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The Bard Music Festival breaks new ground this August, turning for the first time to Latin America with a two-week, in-depth exploration of “Carlos Chávez and His World.” In eleven themed concert programs, complemented by pre-concert lectures, panel discussions, special events, and expert commentary, Bard examines Carlos Chávez (1899–1978), the central figure in 20th-century Mexican music. Weekend One considers his achievement in helping create The Musical Voice of Mexico (August 7–9), and Weekend Two offers an immersion in Mexico, Latin America, and Modernism (August 14–16).

The 2015 Faculty Dance Concert features choreography and performance by Bard Dance Faculty with special guest choreographer Zvi Gotheiner. Gotheiner, Artistic Director of ZviDance, a New York City-based contemporary dance company, will stage excerpts from his 1991 seminal work, “Chairs,” for 10 students from the Bard Dance Program. An athletic and lyrical dance set to a diverse soundscape of music from movie soundtracks to Sergei Rachmaninoff, “Chairs” has been called “flawless,” “visually stunning,” and “beautifully shaped.” The solos, duets, and group work reveal the full spectrum of human emotion in a fierce and haunting piece that explores the relationship of individuals to each other and their environments.

Join author Neil Gaiman on Friday, April 3, for a dialogue with legendary musician and composer Laurie Anderson in this third edition of an ongoing series of public conversations at the Fisher Center hosted by Professor Gaiman. The discussion will center on the topics of “Story Structure” and “Fiction vs. Autobiography.” Presented by Live Arts Bard, the program takes place on April 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Sosnoff Theater of The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College.

In the late 1960s, Arthur Tress began creating staged photos of children's dreams and nightmares, producing a haunting series that went against the photojournalistic conventions of the time.

Multiple Grammy Award–winning musician Rubén Blades will speak to Bard High School Early College students in Manhattan and Queens this month. The iconic Panamanian singer, songwriter, composer, actor, activist and politician visited the Manhattan campus on March 11 and will visit the Queens campus this coming Wednesday, March 25, to talk about his remarkable career. A prolific musician who is known for bringing lyrical sophistication to his salsa compositions, Blades is also an acclaimed film and television actor. He ran for the presidency of Panama in 1994, winning 18 percent of the vote. He served a five year-term as the Panamanian minister of tourism and has been an activist and humanitarian. Blades holds law degrees from the University of Panama and Harvard University. He told the BHSEC–Manhattan students that "education was instrumental" in his life, and "I think the fact that I was educated helped me tremendously, not only in terms of my appreciation of the opportunity but in my capacity to sustain it."
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Aaron Glass and colleagues have restored In the Land of the Head Hunters, the earliest surviving motion picture made in Canada and the first ever to feature an entirely indigenous cast.

Beginning on March 29, The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (CCS Bard) presents 11 exhibitions and projects curated by second-year students in its graduate program in curatorial studies and contemporary art with 10 individual exhibitions curated by each student, along with a student-curated Marieluise Hessel Collection show. Moves & Countermoves will be on view through May 3, 2015, with the opening reception taking place on Sunday, March 29 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Josephine Sacabo's haunting photographs, on view at the New Orleans Museum of Art, are created using a wet collodion on metal process that dates back to the 19th century.

Bard artist in residence Medrie MacPhee, alumnus Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford '06, and former visiting artists James Clark and Jane Rosen have been selected for the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters Annual Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts. The exhibition features paintings, sculptures, photographs, and works on paper by 40 contemporary artists and will be on view at the galleries of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City from March 12 through April 12. Participating artists were chosen from a pool of over 200 nominees submitted by the members of the Academy.

"Gaiman’s attention to craft, passion for language and profound respect for the mythological roots of what is now called 'speculative fiction' come through" in this new collection.

The personal writings of graffitist, painter, actor, and poet Jean-Michel Basquiat provide insight into 1980s New York City and Basquiat's artistic vision.

Professor Ahwesh's new solo exhibition, Kissing Point, brings together works she created during her time filming and teaching at Al-Quds Bard College.

Art History Professor Tom Wolf is co-curating the first comprehensive exhibition about early American modernist Yasuo Kuniyoshi in a U.S. museum since 1948.

The International Center of Photography (ICP) has announced the honorees of the 2015 Infinity Awards. Larry Fink, Bard College professor of photography, won the award for art. Larry Fink has been a professional photographer for more than 55 years. Fink has been awarded two John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships, two National Endowment for the Arts grants, and two Individual Photography Fellowships. He has been teaching for more than 52 years. The Infinity Awards are widely respected as the leading honor for excellence in photography. The Awards will be presented at a gala on Thursday, April 30, at Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers, in New York City.