Watch, Read, Listen

Contemporary artist Tang Qingnian 唐慶年 demonstrates his calligraphy, which enlivens past traditions with a modern aesthetic sensibility. The art of ink and brush calligraphy has long been prized in China as a form of creative expression and an embodiment of scholarly culture. Originally from Beijing, Tang was at the forefront of China’s “New Wave” art movement in the 1980s before relocating to the United States.

Sara Karloff, daughter of the screen legend whose iconic performance as the Frankenstein Monster set the standard, shares his more human side.

Joel A. Klein, the Molina Curator for the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences at The Huntington, explores the work of Daniel Sennert (1572–1637), professor of medicine at Wittenberg University, who sought to reform 17th-century medicine through alchemy, atomism, and experimentation. Sennert’s reform led to clashes with traditionalists as well as profiteering charlatans, and ultimately resulted in charges of heresy and blasphemy. This lecture is sponsored by the Dock Society for the History of Medicine.

Gregory Nobles, professor emeritus of history at Georgia Institute of Technology, explores the role of ordinary observers in scientific developments from Audubon’s era in the 19th century to the present day. This program is a Ritchie Distinguished Fellow Lecture.

Hiroki Ohara, fifth-generation headmaster of the Ohara School of Ikebana, presents a lecture-demonstration of the Japanese art of ikebana flower arranging in celebration of the school’s 50th anniversary in Los Angeles. Hiroki Ohara is a practicing contemporary artist, whose large-scale, site-specific works have blurred the boundaries of ikebana, land art, and performance art.