For the ARTS record
Documentary Film: "The Future of Food" Sustainable Nantucket has pursued a wide variety of ventures since its inception - including founding the Nantucket Housing Office and the Nantucket Shellfish Association. But public programming is new for the organization, which is bringing documentaries to the island this winter in consort with the Atheneum and the Nantucket Historical Association.

The documentaries "have themes in line with Sustainable Nantucket's mission, which is economic sustainability - a downtown that's not just for the tourists - as well as agricultural and fishery sustainability. They also take into account environmental issues dealing with beach erosion and climate control," said Atheneum Programming Director Amy Jenness.

This week's film is "The Future of Food" (www.thefutureoffood.com), and it details the global implications of patenting genetically modified food. "From the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada to the fields of Oaxaca, Mexico, this film gives a voice to farmers whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by this new technology," according to the Atheneum. Shot on location in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, "The Future of Food" examines "the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat as huge multinational corporations seek to control the world's food system." Stick around after the film for a discussion. When: Wednesday, Feb. 7, 7-9 p.m. Where: Nantucket Atheneum (Great Hall),

Billy Sherry and Art Cabinet owner Doerte Neuderte are showing two of his sculptures to the New York Design Fair this week, February 8-11.

1 India Street Cost: Free For more information, call 228-1110.

Taste of "The Sweet Life" Winner of the James Beard Foundation's 2004 San Pellegrino Outstanding Restaurant Award, Manhattan's Chanterelle has enjoyed a long and robust career. (Our resident foodie, Maribeth Maloney, lived around the corner from Chanterelle for years and "loved it.")

Chanterelle's pastry chef Kate Zuckerman is partly to credit for this success. Author of the cookbook, "The Sweet Life: Desserts From C h a n t e r e l l e , " Zuckerman is taking her secrets to the streets of Nantucket - to the Atheneum, actually - and she's bringing food. It's a talk and tasting, with Goat Cheesecake with Roasted Medjool Dates stuffed with Cashews, Currents and Candied Citrus and Pecan Honey Caramel Chews.

This is a tremendous opportunity to sample not only the fabulous after-dinner fare in "The Sweet Life" but also the in-depth explanations about baking methods, fascinating histories and descriptions of key ingredients found in the book. A book signing will follow the talk. When: Saturday, Feb. 10, 7-8 p.m. Where: Nantucket Atheneum (Great Hall) Cost: Free, but sign up required For more information, call 228-1110. Will you be mime? Robert Rivest is the 21st century of miming, one in which mimes don't wear face paint and suspenders anymore, but rather tie-dyed Tshirts, sunglasses and sneakers.

Having trained in Paris and New York City, Rivest has presented over 4,000 shows worldwide and, in 2001, founded the Rivest School of Mime Theater. Rivest offers six shows, including "Laughter is the Best Medicine," which he will be performing at the Atheneum for audiences of all ages this Friday. It's kind of his "greatest hits" performance, and he prescribes it specifically for "long winter months."

We tried to get Rivest on record, but, as you might imagine, it's quite hard to make out articulate facial expressions and gesturing over the phone. When: Friday, Feb. 9, 7-8 p.m. Where: Nantucket Atheneum (Great Hall),

1 India Street Cost: Free tickets available at the Weezie Library. For more information, call 228-1110.

Edwards on Afghan Culture In conjunction with this year's One Book, One Island Middle Eastern theme, the Nantucket Atheneum is bringing David Edwards, professor of anthropology at Williams College, on island to present a lecture on Afghani culture and politics.

Dr. Edwards' most recent book, "Before Taliban: Genealogies of the Afghan Jihad," chronicles the attempts of three progressive, 20th century Afghan leaders to improve their country's democratic prospects, before being thwarted by civil war, political conflict, foreign invasion and Islamic fundamentalism.

Also the author of "Heroes of the Age: Moral Fault Lines on the Afghan Frontier," Edwards also released a film last year. "Kabul Transit" is a documentary (co-directed by Edwards) on the ways in which residents of Kabul - everyone form native Afghanis to North American peace workers - persist and rebuild in the "shattered society."

Edwards first visited Kabul in the 1970s. Enamored of the country, he dedicated his career to its study, which has recently followed the Iraq war's influenced on the Afghani Taliban, as well as the country's opium cultivation.

The goal of the One Book, One Island program is to "encourage as many islanders as possible to read a selected title and then participate in discussions and events concerned with the book's theme. This year, the Atheneum has selected three books - for adult, young teen and grade school readers, respectively: "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini; "The Breadwinner" by Deborah Ellis; and "The Librarian of Basra." The books are free and available at the Atheneum and other participating locations. When: Saturday, Feb. 10, 3-5 p.m. Where: Coffin School, 4 Winter Street Cost: Free admission with sign up in advance. For more information and for sign up,

call 228-1110.

Billy Sherry at Design Fair This week, island sculptor Billy Sherry and Art Cabinet owner Doerte Neudert, who represents Sherry's work, are on their way to New York for their second year showing at the 7th Annual New York Design Fair (www.newyorkdesignfair. com), presented by Town and Country magazine.

The fair intends to showcase the worthwhile contrast of the classic and the contemporary in design, art and antiques - an endeavor Neudert believes is the creative zeitgeist of our time.

"It's about how you can hang an abstract painting over a cupboard from 1698. You can do it, because art is contrast - like day and night, like sun and rain. Contrast makes life," Neudert said, citing Kandinsky's "Point and Line" as a seminal explanation of how this works.

Sherry's pieces are on the contemporary side of the contrast. He is taking with him to New York two steel sculptures, which will be on display in the fair's public promenade, where everyone attending the fair will see them.

The first is a colorful steel sculpture, which, Sherry said, is the signature piece for his early '90s work. He calls it a "self-portrait."

"In the early '90s, I used to do a bunch of steel sculptures every year, and, for some reason, one would stand out for me personally. I would call that piece my self-portrait for that year," explained Sherry, who said that this sculpture (the first of his " s e l f - p o r t r a i t " series) was important to him personally because it significantly elevated his confidence as a sculptor. It also signified his shift from wood to steel. "This piece was the beginning of confidence," said Sherry, who is also taking a new piece, entitled "explanation." It's a subtle, free-standing, abstract piece with five elements. "It's not as exciting or as exuberant as the other one. This one's kind of quiet," Sherry said. "But it's successful in many ways, especially

in three dimensions. It pulls 360 degrees, and it you around itself totally in 360 degrees, and it almost seems as though a little conversation is happening inside it."

Sherry, who was one of the co-founders of the now-closed X Gallery, had his largest sale at last year's fair. He said it was "very encouraging, as an artist, to be down in New York City and have people connect with your work."

"Billy is an exceptional talent as a sculptor and a poet," Neudert said. "He is an expressionist, a pure artist needing to express his inner voice."

Neudert, who said she struggled as an island gallery owner early on for steering clear of sentimental Nantucket art, sees inclusion in the design fair as further incentive to persevere in representing "art that does not reproduce the visible, but makes things visible."

"If you need a guaranteed investment, don't come to me. I sell energy, the kind of art you need to see with emotional eyes," Neudert said. "My whole concept is to be the bridge between the artist and the client and explain, in the spirit of Kandinsky, what spiritual art has to have. ... It has to be the work of a truthful man who is not copying anyone else, who recognizes what time he lives in and what place. Billy is

really a wonderful example of this." I