Since 2008, the Library of Congress has hosted a “Conversations with African Poets and Writers Series,” bringing award-winning writers such as Chimamanda Adichie or Abdulrazak Gurnah from across the continent and diaspora to share their work. The latest guest is University of Virginia religious studies professor Oludamini Ogunnaike. A Nigerian American academic and poet, he published his poetry collection, “The Book of Clouds,” in 2024.
This week, thousands of American college students will descend upon beaches across the country, donning swim trunks and bikinis for what has become an annual tradition: spring break. It’s no surprise that today’s swimwear is a far cry from styles of decades past, even if tankinis are making a comeback. UVA Today went to the University of Virginia’s Historic Clothing Collection to explore a century of swim fashion with the collection’s manager, Marcy Linton.
You’re listening to WTJU Charlottesville. For Arts This Week, we spoke with Viviane Silvera about her upcoming film See Memory. See Memory is premiering at the Violet Crown on the Downtown Mall this Wednesday, February 25 at 7pm as part of the Fralin Downtown Film Series.
The University of Virginia Library has six locations, an array of cozy study spaces, millions of items available for checkout or browsing, and new resources arriving each day. And did you know we also offer events throughout the year ranging from exhibitions to concerts for UVA and the Charlottesville community? Join us at the Library this spring for craft workshops, writing and editing support, zine tutorials, and live music. All Library events are free. For a full listing of Library events, check out our public calendar.
The University of Virginia’s oldest collegiate a capella group, the Virginia Gentlemen, traveled to Mexico for five days in January, introducing their music to new audiences. Recognizable in their navy blazers and UVA bow ties, the group regularly engages in cultural exchanges with performances on Grounds and outside of Virginia. In San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, they headlined a performance with the Chorale San Miguel and sang at Centro Educativo Naciones Unidas, an international school.
When she’s not creating new pathways for University of Virginia students to train abroad, Awar Biong is writing poetry and creating embroidery at the New City Arts Initiative in downtown Charlottesville, where she is the fall artist-in-residence. Alongside her full-time role as a coordinator for global health training at UVA’s Center for Global Health Equity, her research residency includes organizing a series of events that examine past and present conflicts in the Sudans and hosting a mending circle for refugee women in Charlottesville.
The idea for the art exhibition first occurred to professor Lise Dobrin in December 2024, after she received an email message from a French anthropologist in Papua New Guinea. Dobrin met Nicolas Garnier, who has lived and worked in the Pacific island nation for over 30 years, during her research trips there. Now Garnier was emailing Dobrin to let her know about a collection of drawings that his villager friends were making. Something special was going on, Dobrin recalled Garnier writing, and he wanted her help sharing these vividly drawn scrolls of artwork with the world.
The bardo, a newly opened gallery-café nestled Downtown, took its first step into Charlottesville’s arts scene and welcomed visitors seeking an afternoon of calm reflection Jan. 31 during its grand opening. The space bridges the line between art and community as its patrons can enjoy coffee, baked goods and carefully curated artwork all at once as they peruse the brightly lit two-story establishment.
The vault and the stacks at the University of Virginia’s Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library hold romantic accoutrements that put chocolate-covered strawberries and a bottle of champagne to shame. In celebration of Valentine’s Day, UVA Today took a look at love letters, lithographs, poetry and first edition books, among other items, that document love that was sometimes hidden.
On Saturday, February 21, join Second Street Gallery for their annual Gallery Rally fundraiser event with a roaring 20s twist. For Arts This Week, we spoke with CM Turner from the gallery. My name is CM Turner. I work with Second Street Gallery downtown, right off the downtown mall on Water Street at the corner of second and water, and we are gearing up for one of our largest fundraising events and one of the most exciting events on our programming calendar throughout the year, which is our annual Gallery Rally.
When Priyanka Shetty arrived in Charlottesville from India in 2016, she came with a clear goal: to launch her career as an actor. She enrolled in the University of Virginia’s MFA in Acting program seeking strong foundational training that would support a life in theater, film and television. What she discovered, however, was something much bigger than that. Working alongside her peers and visiting artists and exploring a wealth of opportunities beyond the classroom, Shetty began to imagine herself not only as an actor, but as a creator of original theatrical works.
Local cinephiles know that every October, Charlottesville’s Virginia Film Festival offers five days of riveting cinematic programming, from exclusive looks at upcoming releases to throwback screenings. However, they may be unaware that VAFF’s program continues well past its annual main event. From January to August, VAFF’s Year Round program showcases films that are not a part of the festival’s official lineup, but still offer valuable artistic and social contributions. Summer releases, documentaries and foreign films are presented — each only once in the evening — throughout the eight months in the Violet Crown theater on the Downtown Mall. Free previews of A24’s newest films are also screened, with “Materialists,” “Eddington” and “The Legend of Ochi” exciting crowds in 2025.
