Calendar highlights

“Big Mouth” returns
“Big Mouth,” an energetic night of spoken word performance, returns Friday, Feb. 15, to Lakefront Cafeteria, Memorial Union. The open-mic event showcases the talents of campus poets, essayists and storytellers.

To perform and participate in “Big Mouth,” sign up at 8:30 p.m. in the Lakefront Cafeteria. Performances begin at 9 p.m. The next “Big Mouth” features a weekend Poetry Slam, March 9-10, highlighted by visiting spoken word icon Saul Williams.

The Wisconsin Union Performing Arts Committee sponsors this event. Information: 262-0827, brittanyreed@hotmail.com.

Can’t tell Frankish from Romanesque?
Now on display at the Elvehjem Museum of Art are 13 objects from the Department of Medieval Art of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Several educational programs are planned this year: four slide lectures, a summer mini-course and tours. The works will remain on view through Jan. 31, 2003.

The display of these works in Brittingham Galleries I and II supplements the Elvehjem’s collection of medieval art and gives visitors the opportunity to examine the diverse artistic production of the Middle Ages. Works include metalwork for personal adornment (brooches and belts), liturgical and devotional objects, Romanesque sculpture and Gothic ivories.

The art of the Middle Ages in western Europe spans the period in history between the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine (311-337) and the advent of the Renaissance (about 1500 in northern Europe). Five objects reflect the culture of the Frankish Empire, in particular the Merovingian dynasty in the sixth and seventh centuries. And a 12th-century Romanesque stone sculpture, with monstrous basilisks and serpents, represents the stylistic boldness of the period.

Information: http://www.lvm.wisc.edu.

Wisconsin on the air
A new season of “Wisconsin Stories” is airing on Wisconsin Public Television, the results of an ongoing collaboration of the Wisconsin Historical Society and WPT. This season’s offerings include 10 new programs highlighting more of the people, places and events that define our state. The next segment, “The Great River,” airs Thursday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m. This program offers a look at life and travel along the Mississippi River. Local residents reminisce about commercial fishing, clamming and the pearl industry. Companion Web site: http://www.wisconsinstories.org. Programs air at 7 p.m. Thursdays on WPT stations.