LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A dramatic look at Kentucky from Jewish immigrants’ perspectives plus bluegrass-flavored klezmer music are highlights of an April 6 University of Louisville program “Kentoki: Kentucky Through Jewish Eyes, 1925.”
The theatrical reading of immigrant I. J. Schwartz’s epic poem “Kentoki,” a Yiddish work about Jewish family pioneers in the state, will include commentary by Jewish an’ Germanic studies scholar Dov-Ber Kerler, Indiana University’s Alice Field Cohn chair in Yiddish studies. Louisville-based klezmer band Lost Tribe also will perform a blend of Jewish, Eastern European, Balkan and bluegrass music.The 2 p.m.-4 p.m. program hosted by the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, 715 W. Main St., is the 2014 UofL Naamani Memorial Lecture. The lecture series honors the memory of former UofL political scientist Israel Naamani and highlights prominent scholars involved in Jewish, Middle East and Islamic studies.
The Sunday event is free and public but reservations are recommended at kentoki-tickets.eventbrite.com. The museum exhibits contemporary art, craft, applied arts and design and is hosting the Naamani event in conjunction with its &I#8220;Press: Artist & Machine” exhibition.
For more information, check www.kmacmuseum.org or contact Julie Gross at 502-589-0102 or julieg@kmacmuseum.org.