Museum Nights features Oscar-nominated documentary

July 21, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Harn Museum of Art will be open until 10 p.m. on Thursday for Museum Nights, featuring the Oscar-nominated documentary ”Buena Vista Social Club” at 7 p.m.

The critically acclaimed film tells the tale of a group of legendary Cuban musicians brought together in 1997 by Ry Cooder to record an album as a means of recapturing the “lost” music of pre-revolutionary Havana. This documentary allows viewers to see and hear some of the songs recorded in Havana, and also view footage from concerts in Amsterdam and New York City’s Carnegie Hall.

In addition to the film, Harn visitors will enjoy after-hours access to the Harn’s five permanent collection galleries and its three temporary exhibitions, “Cuba Avant-Garde: Contemporary Cuban Art from the Farber Collection,” “Refined Radiance: Chinese Glass of the Qing Dynasty” and its newest exhibit, “From Dürer to Renoir: European Prints from the Harn Museum Collection.” The Camellia Court Café will be open late offering free wireless Internet access. Students with a Gator1 card also receive 20 percent off purchases at the Museum Store.

The Museum Nights mission is to make available the rich artistic, scientific and cultural heritage of the Harn Museum of Art and Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida Cultural Plaza. Dedicated to education and enhancing the visitor experience, Museum Nights provides programming to increase awareness and appreciation of the arts and natural sciences.

Student Government has allotted more than $50,000 in FY 2007-08 to increasing student awareness and appreciation of the arts and natural sciences through the Museum Nights program.

For more information visit www.sg.ufl.edu, call 352-392-1665, ext. 415, or e-mail museumnights@sg.ufl.edu.