2024 Cleveland Humanities Festival "Awe"
The theme of the 2024 Cleveland Humanities Festival is AWE. Wonder. Reverence. Humility. Intensity. Fear. Awe is a complex emotional and cognitive state that can be triggered by a variety of experiences. How have diverse cultures across time harnessed the profound to create art, sculpt beliefs, and shape the course of history? Are there universal truths about awe, or is it deeply personal? What are the ways that feelings of awe have been mobilized for political purposes? Does the intricate dance of biology and ecology in nature inspire the same awe as a timeless masterpiece? How has our understanding of the evolutionary value of awe changed over time? These questions will be addressed by Cleveland area arts, cultural and educational organizations through a series of public events in the spring of 2024.
Was the “Rip Van Winkle” story an Alien Abduction Account?
May 28th, 2024
7:300 PM Cuyahoga County Public Library Parma-Powers Branch 6996 Powers Boulevard Parma, OH, 44129
Many UFO researchers have suggested that Washington Irving’s story “Rip Van Winkle” was a colonial era alien abduction account based on the “lost time” aspect. Journalist Cheryl Costa decided to conduct her own research and discovered a startling trail of facts.
Costa is an author and newspaper columnist who writes about UFOs and the paranormal. The International UFO Congress awarded her Researcher of the Year in 2018.
The Five Lakes Chinese Music: Bamboo and Silk
May 29th, 2024
7:00 PM Cuyahoga County Public Library Solon Branch 34125 Portz Parkway Solon, OH 44139
The Five Lakes Chinese Music Ensemble was established in Cleveland about 40 years ago. Members are dedicated musicians with extensive experience performing at many cultural events in Northeast Ohio.
Musicians will perform Southern China Bamboo and Silk ensemble style using different traditional Chinese instruments. Participants will delight in observing the difference in tone, scale, pitch and instrumentation from Western music.
[Awe] Mystery of the Light
June 9th, 2024
3:00 PM Harkness Chapel 11200 Bellflower Road Cleveland, OH 44106