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Arts & Entertainment

concert

Melt brings New York indie-soul tunes to campus

What’s the best remedy for the Sunday scaries? While some swear by ibuprofen and water, Melt, a New York-based band, offered Bowdoin’s campus a unique Sunday remedy this past weekend: high energy, indie-funk pop songs about falling in and out of love, the memories we do (and don’t) keep and growing up in New York City.

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The Nickelodeon

A tale of “The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful”

In Yang Ya-che’s 2017 masterpiece “The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful” there is an impulse for meticulous perfection rarely seen in the industry. Presenting an elaborate labyrinth of a storyline sometimes just as captivating as it is enigmatic, the film’s Chinese title is more telling of its ruthlessness: “The Bloody Bodhisattva.” Unlike other films in the crime drama genre, “The Bold” eschews the ubiquitous themes of guns, exile and intimidating masculinity for a far more understated, yet just as potent, evil, presented with an appetizing elegance and style.

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For the Record

After the mic drop: Phil Elverum reckons with his musical past

Islands of black-clad fans congregated outside the steps of Portland’s First Parish Church on a Sunday evening in early March. The cool aura of cigarette smoke and septum piercings couldn’t hide their earnest anticipation. To the random passersby, the crowd might have provoked pause, as if Portland’s bygone punk scene had been shaken out of hibernation by the unseasonably warm night.

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Culture

Avant-Garb’s return celebrates campus style

Curious about the history of Doc Martens? Wondering what constitutes a “gem tone?” For answers, Avant-Garb (AVG), Bowdoin’s student-run fashion and culture publication, is returning online this week to bring awareness to contemporary fashion, film, food and more.

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The Nickelodeon

The explosive satire of ‘The Good Fight’

When Donald Trump ascended to the White House in 2017, the creators of CBS’s “The Good Fight” found themselves unable to continue its feel-good vision of an “optimistic” second season. “The current administration was infecting so much of the culture, it felt like people were tired of it,” creators Robert and Michelle King told Variety.

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The Nickelodeon

In ‘Dear Ex,’ a tortured, extraordinary tenderness

“‘A million years’ means: When he wants to be ‘normal’ one day and leaves you—after that day, every day is a million years.” — Chieh. It is almost callous to describe the central tension in “Dear Ex,” the 2018 Taiwanese film, as a “premise.” Titled (more aptly, in my opinion) in Chinese as “Who Loved Him First,” the story, unfolding in the unassuming streets of Taipei adorned with folk temples and vendors of fried chicken chop, is told with such passion and humanity that its otherwise politically-charged theme of gay romance drew widespread critical acclaim on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

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Books

H-L staff reflect on popular reads over academic year

In 1965, the College’s library moved into the space students now know as the Hawthorne-Longfellow (H-L) Library. Today, the library houses nearly one million books in its 71,000 square-foot space, ranging from contemporary best-sellers, to academic reserves, to a collection series curated by students of color at the College.

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For the Record

Dawn Richard, a master of multiple genres

“King Creole” was the name of a mythic Cajun guitarist known for his command of various styles of rock and roll, made famous by the 1958 film named after him starring Elvis Presley. It is also the name of the bouncing intro track from Dawn Richard’s encyclopedic 2021 album, “Second Line.” Like the original “King Creole,” “Second Line” boasts Richard’s mastery of multiple genres.

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arts

Weaving together identities

Native American Students’ Association (NASA) welcomed artist, activist and model Geo Soctomah Neptune to campus in conjunction with the opening of the Wabanaki basket-making exhibit at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA). Shandiin Largo ’23, a NASA leader and student curator, sees the exhibit as a display of Native American voices on campus, with special consideration to the historical relationship between Native people and museums.

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RISE

RISE: Working together to represent the female experience

With auditions for RISE, the performance of Bowdoin women’s stories, coming to a close, the leadership team looks forward to an in-person production they hope will make campus culture safer for women. Khue Anh Tran ’25, a member of the RISE leadership team, was responsible for facilitating auditions with the rest of the RISE team on Sunday.

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The Nickelodeon

‘Euphoria’ delivers glitter, but not much beyond

Content warning: The following contains discussions of sex, nudity and addiction; as well as spoilers for the season two premiere of “Euphoria.”  The premiere of the second season of “Euphoria” finally hit television over winter break, at a similarly unhinged juncture in real life—quickly depleting stocks, COVID tests, soaring case loads and declining public trust.

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For the Record

The little things

Every now and then, you’ll hear a song that feels like it’s been composed especially for you—its rhythm calibrated to your pulse, lyrics drawn from the marrow of your memory. A few months ago, I came across such a song.

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Museum

BCMA facilitates more diverse, welcoming community

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) opened its doors to the public for the first time in over a year this semester, and the staff has many plans to rekindle engagement  in the spring. There are two main initiatives set to roll out early next semester: an anti-racism strategic plan and the museum ambassador program.

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Moments in Paint

Together on the steps

Mom wasn’t moving as fast as she should’ve on the Friday morning of Family Weekend. The asphalt before us now seemed an insurmountable journey and her speed the only barrier between us and the water. For how many times I had to wait for her on the pavement, it didn’t seem she was that excited.

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band

Non-Prophets debut at Reed House’s Fall Fest

This past Saturday, The Non-Prophets established themselves in the Bowdoin student band scene with a debut performance at Reed House’s Fall Fest. The night also included performances by En Jamb and Mistaken for Strangers. The Non-Prophets’ formation comes on the heels of a campus-wide return to in-person, creative pursuits.

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birds

‘The Birds of America’ page-turning celebrates an artistic rarity

Nestled amidst the rows of books at Hawthorne-Longfellow Library is the Special Collections and Archives wing, which houses the rare collection of “The Birds of America” books by John James Audubon. Since 2016, Bowdoin Special Collections Education and Engagement Librarian Marieke Van Der Steenhoven and Bowdoin Director of Special Cllections and Archives Kat Stefko have hosted monthly page-turnings of the life-sized book.

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Moments in Paint

Magic in the water

It was the last night of my O-trip where I found myself on Merritt Island’s shore, gazing at the sky and absentmindedly tracing jewels of land and pine out of the horizon. The ocean in front of me certainly felt my presence; the galloping horse within my chest and the breath of ice at the small of my back.

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A Cappella

Recent a cappella concert marks the College’s first large indoor arts gathering since prior to the pandemic

After a twenty-month long hiatus, Bowdoin’s six a cappella groups reconvened last Friday at Kresge Auditorium for their annual recruitment concert, one of the College’s first large indoor gatherings since prior to the pandemic. “It felt amazing to finally be back in an auditorium, watching groups perform,” said Henry Jodka ’24.

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band

‘Mistaken for Strangers’ brings down the house at MacMillan

While pandemic restrictions at the College have limited the number of in-person gatherings on campus, Bowdoin’s tradition of live student bands has continued performing into the fall semester. Last Friday, student-run band Mistaken for Strangers performed for the first time in front of a live audience at MacMillan House and plans to continue performing on campus.

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Exhibitions

‘There is a Woman in Every Color: Black Women in Art’ opens at the BCMA

The newest exhibition at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA), ‘There Is a Woman in Every Color: Black Women In Art,” opened on Thursday. Elizabeth Humphrey ’14, the exhibition’s curator, and former BCMA Curatorial Assistant and Manager of Student Programs, was inspired to create the exhibition due to a lack of representation of Black women in the Museum’s collection.

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performance

Bowdoin theater department to hold two main-stage productions this fall

After more than a year of performing over Zoom, Masque & Gown, Bowdoin’s student-run theater company, will hold in-person auditions for its fall production next week, while the Bowdoin Theater Department will continue its rehearsals for “The Wolves.” Masque & Gown Board Member Sinclaire Ledahl ’23 is working with the group’s other board members to select a show for their fall production and to begin rehearsals in the coming weeks.

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arts

Bowdoin dance returns to motion on campus

Dancers at Bowdoin are getting back on their feet, in person, after a year of virtual rehearsals and Zoom classes. Along with classes and programming within the dance department, 12 student dance groups are beginning to meet in-person this semester.

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choir

Bowdoin Chamber Choir Returns After Year-Long Hiatus

After a year-long hiatus due to the pandemic, the Bowdoin Chamber Choir will resume rehearsals and performances for the 2021-2022 academic year. Lecturer in Music Jeffrey Christmas will serve as the group’s new faculty organizer following the retirement of previous organizer Professor of Music Emeritus Robert Greenlee.

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Dance

Students prepare for annual spring dance concert

On May 22, the Department of Theater and Dance will stream its annual spring dance concert, which will feature student performances from four Bowdoin dance classes. While the concert will be presented as a film, the performers have had the opportunity to dance together for the first time in over a year to record the performance.

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Gaming Moments

FromSoftware’s template for first bosses

Video game difficulty is extremely adjustable in most cases. However, developer FromSoftware has created a niche genre with strict difficulty as its core tenet. The genre, commonly referred to as “souls-like” (in reference to the game that sparked the genre, “Dark Souls”), is centered around the idea that players want a challenge.

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Delta Sigma/Delta Upsilon art competition announces five student winners

Last month, the Delta Sigma Alumni Corporation held its twenty-second annual Delta Sigma/Delta Upsilon art competition, which celebrates visual art created by Bowdoin students. Out of 29 submissions, the panel of judges selected pieces from five winning artists: Abby Wang ’23, Camille Amezcua ’22, Bradford Dudley ’23, Lily Poppen ’22, and Aadhya Ramineni ’23.

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Brunswick

Oratorio Chorale launches virtual music workshops

This spring, Oratorio Chorale—a midcoast Maine-based choral community—will continue holding music workshops in an entirely virtual format. While the Chorale traditionally holds these workshops in person, Artistic Director Emily Isaacson still sees the value in providing community members with opportunities to further or begin their education in music.

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Movies

The Oscars’ work is far from over

A little over a year ago, Bong Joon-Ho’s “Parasite” won the Oscar for Best Picture. 2019 was undoubtedly a great year for films—from Taika Waititi’s “Jojo Rabbit” to Sam Mendes’s “1917”—and yet, “Parasite” was still the clear choice for recognition.

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Museum

Museum of Art reopens its doors

On April 9, The Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) reopened with limited hours, allowing students living on campus and in residence an opportunity to explore the exhibitions on view. Up until this point in the semester, the Museum has only offered limited engagement opportunities for classes and individual research projects.

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Alumni

Alumni Association and Arctic Museum hold collaborative panel on solutions for Arctic’s challenges

On Thursday evening, the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum welcomed Andrew Hartsig ’95, director of the Arctic Program at Ocean Conservatory; Susan Kaplan, professor of anthropology and director of the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum and Arctic Studies Center and Laura Henry, professor of government, to discuss the most prominent difficulties and environmental challenges in the Arctic region today.

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Performance Art

Department of Theater and Dance performs first in-person stage play “Cows of War”

Last Friday evening, the Bowdoin Department of Theater and Dance traded in vocal warm-ups and a house packed full of Bowdoin students for rapid pre-performance COVID-19 testing and cameras placed in an empty Pickard Theater for a staged production of the “Cows of War.” The play, written by Department of Theater and Dance Coordinator Callie Kimball and directed by Associate Professor of Theater Abigail Killeen, marks the Department’s first production since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

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Dance

Bowdoin dance groups find creative ways to keep moving

In response to the challenges posed by social distancing and remote learning, several dance groups at Bowdoin—including Polar Bear Swing Dance, VAGUE and Arabesque—have adapted their structures to keep their members socially connected and active. Polar Bear Swing Dance, led by Sydney Cox ’23 and Zachary Kaplan ’21, has been meeting exclusively over Zoom since last semester.

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Quarantine Cinema

Please stop asking for director’s cuts

After watching six hours of footage expanded from what was previously one two-hour movie, I can say that “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” is vastly better than the original theatrical release of “Justice League.” A film that was meant to make millions was fumbled so badly by those involved that it took four years before the intended cut was seen by fans.

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Arctic Studies

Rhea Banker shares the value of the Greenlandic qamutit

For photographer Rhea Banker, qamutits, or Greenlandic ice sleds, are more than just a vehicle for traversing an  unforgiving arctic landscape—they are objects that tell unique cultural stories. In her virtual lecture, “Qamutit: Portraits in the Landscape,” hosted by the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum on Wednesday night, Banker spoke about her work in the Arctic, where she photographed Greenland and the ice sleds that dot its terrain.

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Film

Bowdoin Film Society plans programming and Journal of Cinema release

The Bowdoin Film Society looks forward to re-engaging the College community with cinema through the inaugural launch of Bowdoin Journal of Cinema in May. The Journal is an extension of the Bowdoin Film Society, and came about after Society member Kate McKee ’22 reached out to Finn McGannon ’23, one of the Society’s officers late last fall.

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Faculty

Killeen stars in Smithsonian television episode

When Associate Professor of Theater Abigail Killeen first heard about the opportunity to act in an episode of the Smithsonian’s “America’s Hidden Stories,” she did not realize that she was auditioning for a starring role. Earlier this month—almost a year after that audition—she made her debut as Elizabeth Van Lew, a Union spy who fought for the abolition of slavery during the Civil War.

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Alumni

Sally Rose Zuckert ’19 explores making theater in the current moment with virtual show

In the current near-cessation of live theater due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sally Rose Zuckert ’19 believes that there is a chance for a reckoning: the invitation to reimagine the institution and question its history. Through her performance in the University of Chicago production of Diana Oh’s “My H8 Letter to the Gr8 American Theater,” Zuckert challenges theater as a cultural reflection and explores inequities that have always existed in the theater industry.

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Brunswick

Brunswick-based artists and galleries recount triumphs and struggles of past year

What is art worth without people to experience it? In what has been close to a 12-month period where Brunswick-based art galleries and local independent artists have been forced to curtail and restructure their operations, those in the industry have grappled with just that question—and found creative solutions to operate their businesses and safely bring their work to the world, even during the pandemic.

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Quarantine Cinema

The importance of Black stage-to screen adaptations

It’s safe to say that the majority of present-day moviegoers steer clear of stage-to-screen adaptations. There are films in this subgenre that would be considered classics, like Elia Kazan’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” and Milos Forman’s “Amadeus” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” but there is something about the intimacy of watching the film version of a work originally performed as a stage play that turns many audiences off.

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Student Activities

WBOR prepares for the spring semester

Despite the obstacles of running a radio station amid pandemic restrictions, WBOR, Bowdoin’s radio station, has found inventive ways to keep the College community connected to music. When Bowdoin transitioned to remote learning in the spring 2020 semester, the radio station’s setup did not function anymore.

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