"Cheap Thrills: The Highs and Lows of Cabaret Culture in Paris, 1881-1939" (Perkins Library) and "Night in the City of Light: Paris- Cabaret 1881-1914" (Nasher Museum of Art)

This semester, PhD students from the department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies and the department of Music invite you to relive turn-of-the century Parisian cabaret through exhibits at both the Perkins and the Nasher, and a host of special performances and screenings. The two exhibitions -which feature rare sheet music, posters, and illustrated periodicals held in Duke's collections at the Nasher Museum of Art and the Rubenstein Library- stress the circulation of printed ephemera to the emergence of cabaret culture in the Parisian neighborhood of Montmartre. Featuring newly rearranged recordings of Cabaret songs by Duke Music graduate students in Duke's New Music Ensemble ([dnme]), the exhibitions also reanimate the auditory experience of the cabaret, exploring how cabaret music served as an important pretext for creative exchange between visual artists, poets, dancers, musicians, and theatre performers. Location: Perkins Gallery.This music will be presented live in a series of three [dnme] performances in Von der Heyden Pavilion (February 21), Fullsteam Brewery (April 6), and Baldwin Auditorium (April 13).