August Book Club Performance + Participation

In conjunction with New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations, the MFA is proud to introduce Book + Belonging, a four-part book club that encourages participants to ponder the widely held ideas of the anonymous African artist and assumptions that masquerade is an unchanging, static art form solely rooted in the distant past. This month's book club pick, Open Water, is a stunning first novel by literary virtuoso and finalist for the BBC Short Story Award, Caleb Azumah Nelson. In a crowded London pub, two young fall in love. Both are Black British, both are artists, and both are trying to make their mark in a world that by turns celebrates and rejects them. But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence. Each session will feature a specially paired wine, unlimited popcorn, a carefully facilitated book club discussion, and a gallery talk to bridge the artworks in the exhibition to the relevant and resonant conversations shaping our society today. Held in partnership with Book + Bottle. Books can be purchased at the MFA Shop and Book + Bottle. Thu, Sept 3, 6 PM - 8 PM $25 for Members $35 for Not-Yet-Members Ticket includes program and one glass of wine. Additional wine available for purchase. TICKETS Not yet a member? Become a member today and enjoy all the benefits membership at the MFA offers! Enjoy free admission, special access, discounts at the MFA Shop and Café Clementine, and more. BECOME A MEMBER More about Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson Paperback - Published in 2021 - 176 pgs WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD A NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION 5 UNDER 35 WINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION Open Water is tender poetry, a love song to Black art and thought, an exploration of intimacy and vulnerability between two young artists learning to be soft with each other in a world that hardens against Black people.--Yaa Gyasi, author of Homegoing In a crowded London pub, two young people meet. Both are Black British, both won scholarships to private schools where they struggled to belong, both are now artists--he a photographer, she a dancer--and both are trying to make their mark in a world that by turns celebrates and rejects them. Tentatively, tenderly, they fall in love. But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence, and over the course of a year they find their relationship tested by forces beyond their control. Narrated with deep intimacy, Open Water is at once an achingly beautiful love story and a potent insight into race and masculinity that asks what it means to be a person in a world that sees you only as a Black body; to be vulnerable when you are only respected for strength; to find safety in love, only to lose it. With gorgeous, soulful intensity, and blistering emotional intelligence, Caleb Azumah Nelson gives a profoundly sensitive portrait of romantic love in all its feverish waves and comforting beauty. About Book + Bottle Book + Bottle is a bottle shop, an independent bookstore, a coffee café, and a wine bar all rolled into one exquisite little package. They have the most passionate, friendly, and helpful team in town to help you choose a book or a bottle or to take care of you and your friends on your night off. They're an independent, woman-owned, values-driven, sustainably run, local-first business that believes little kindnesses can make our community--and the world--a better place. bookandbottlestpete.com Sponsored in part by the State of Florida through the Division of Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts.