Auschwitz: Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.
June 14
Recent and Close Hate is on the rise. From Holocaust denial and cemetary defacement to mass shootings at synagogues in Poway and Pittsburgh, Jew hate once more spreads like a vengeful cancer. But anti-Semitism is not the only prejudice on the move. Demonization of “the other’’ is growing everywhere. An exhibit years in the making, Auschwitz: Not Long Ago. Not Far Away explores one of history’s greatest crimes through more than a thousand heart-wrenching artifacts and photographs. Its twenty thematic galleries were curated by an international panel of experts and scholars and lovingly brought to Kansas City by Union Station president and CEO George Guastello. From inception to aftermath, visitors will experience the cold-blooded murder of a million human beings in a profoundly personal way, witnessing objects like an SS helmet owned by Heinrich Himmler, a crematorium showerhead and poignant, simple items like a prisoner-made chess set. The exhibit, Guastello stressed in a phone call, is ultimately a story of hope. These victims are not statistics, symbols or martyrs. They were real human beings with dreams and foibles. Collectively, they show the perseverance of love in the face of unspeakable horror and the simple humanity that can stop it from happening again.
Open to visitors 10 am–6 pm Monday–Sunday. $15-$23.50. Recommended for ages 12 and up. unionstation.org
Dance-In at the Drive-In
June 1, 7 pm
Kansas City Young Audiences filmed dancers performing in small groups in its auditorium this spring and made a video that will be screened at the Boulevard Drive-In.
Boulevard Drive-In, 1050 Merriam Lane, KCK. $10 per car. kcya.org
Sara Morgan
June 4, 7:30 pm
Up-and-coming local Sara Morgan has the low-key, neotraditional country sound that’s reemerging thanks to acts like Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson. Her repertoire includes plenty of pedal steel and songs like “Never Been to Nashville“ and “Church in a Bar,” which explore her estrangement from mainstream southern culture. The Arkansas native and Olathe South High grad will perform solo and acoustic to celebrate the release of her new album, Another Nail.
Knuckleheads, 2715 Rochester St., KCMO. $20. knuckleheadskc.com
Testimony: African American Artists Collective
June 5-30
This show at the Nelson, which will run through next March, shares the testimonies of the Kansas City-based African American Artists Collective and “embodies the reciprocal powers of authen-tically speaking one’s truth and being called to stand in witness.” The collective began with a 2014 gathering of local artists around a table at Gates and now includes more than one hundred and fifty artists. The show features the work of three dozen local artists, including painters, sculptors, poets, photographers, performance artists and illustrators.
Gallery L8 (project space) at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak St., KCMO. Free, timed ticket reservation required.
Michael Corso Wine Dinner
June 8, 6 pm
Michael Corso is a Chicago-based importer of French wine who’s been in the business for fifty years, starting at The House of Glunz, which bills itself as Chicago’s oldest wine shop. Corso was the first boss of local legend Doug Frost. This is a return to the classic seated in-person wine dinner at 1900. Chef Linda Duerr will prepare a meal paired to wines selected by Frost and Corso.
The Restaurant at 1900, 1900 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Mission Woods. $125. therestaurantat1900.com
Pulse Topology
June 25-30 (EVEN NEWER date!)
This room-sized installation by Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer features an upside-down canopy of mountainous terrain created by thousands of suspended light bulbs, which mirror the heartbeats of the visitors below. It’s high-tech stuff, using touchless remote photoplethysmography and vision algorithms to detect your pulse.
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 4420 Warwick Blvd., KCMO. kemperart.org
Tony Hinchcliffe
June 11-12
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe has been on top of the two biggest trends in comedy: podcasts and roasts. He’s a regular on Joe Rogan’s podcast and has been a staff writer for the past six Comedy Central roasts. He’s also known for his one-hour comedy special, One Shot, which was done in a single take and distributed by Netflix.
The Comedy Club Of Kansas City, 1130 W. 103rd St., KCMO. $22-$30 Per ticket. Sold by tables of two, three, four or ten. thecomedyclubkc.com.
Kicker Country Stampede
June 24-26
Large musical festivals are slowly returning, and the country genre leads the way. This three-day music festival in Topeka has on-site camping and a track record of booking megastars-in-the-making (Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney). This year’s event is headlined by Luke Combs, Sam Hunt and Maddie and Tae.
Heartland Motorsports Park, 7530 S.W. Topeka Blvd., Topeka. countrystampede.com
