Speaker series will deal with provocative subjects in art

The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri is kicking off a new speaker series, and it's one that is sure to catch the attention of people interested in controversial subjects pertaining to art.

The point of the series is to offer the community something different and provocative, said Joni Hand, who participated in planning the series with members of the Arts Council.

"We came up with this idea of Red Light Night, where we would have speakers come in to talk about issues in the arts, whether it was sexuality or gender or whatever," Hand said. "It grew from there."

Murielle Gaither, executive director of the Arts Council, said it is the first such series the organization has presented.

"This is the first speaker series we've done of a targeted [nature] with a specific topic," she said.

Hand, an art history professor at Southeast Missouri State University, said the schedule of speakers filled up pretty quickly, because many people expressed an interest in participating.

Some topics include sexual imagery in ancient manuscripts, gender roles in art and the way sexual images are shown on television and in print media.

Because of the sensitive subject matter of the presentations, the event organizers said they wanted to make it clear the material is not appropriate for children and is intended for mature audiences.

That is emphasized to provide a forum for more frank discussions, Gaither said.

"We don't have to worry about censorship, because people will know what they are walking into," Gaither said.

Planners are hoping the provocative subject matter will draw the interest of more young adults, Hand said, and she was the first to jump in and get the series started.

"I volunteered to be the first speaker," Hand said. "We have all these different speakers addressing these specific topics."

Hand's presentation, "Naughty Margins," will cover sexually graphic images that were discovered in the margins of medieval religious manuscripts and prayer books.

"I'm a medievalist, and I specialize in illuminated manuscripts, so I'm going to be talking about basically religious manuscripts that have sometimes pornographic imagery in the margins and things that you would never expect in religious texts," she said.

Many manuscripts have drawings depicting monkeys, Hand said.

"Sometimes monkeys are dressed up like people, like members of the clergy," Hand said. "There is a wide range of images. One of the images I'm going to show is a penis tree, and there's a woman actually harvesting penises off the tree."

The first session is Thursday, and the series will continue throughout the fall.

It is expected each talk will run 90 minutes to two hours, depending on the length of questions and answers or group discussions after the presentations.

Depending on how well the series is received, the Arts Council may continue it through the spring semester, Gaither said.

They are considering topics such as race and gender for upcoming series.

"It's a way to start a dialogue about these topics using art as an introductory tool," Gaither said.

Gaither stressed the presentations will be of an academic nature.

"We want to keep the conversation respectful and for people to keep an open mind," Gaither said.

The Red Light Night speaker series will not appeal to everyone.

"It's not for those who are easily offended," she said.

The presentations will be at 7 p.m. at the Arts Council offices, 32 N. Main St. in Cape Girardeau.

Pertinent address:

32 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.