Museum to screen film by late artist

Staff report

Akron

The Akron Art Museum, 1 S. High St., will present a free screening of David Wojnarowicz’s “A Fire in My Belly” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the Charles and Jane Lehner Auditorium.

The museum is joining numerous cultural institutions across the country in screening the controversial 20-minute video in order to draw attention to censorship issues and to create a community dialogue about the roles of artists, museums and government funding for culture. A moderated audience discussion will follow, led by artist and critic Dan Tranberg.

Wojnarowicz, a widely respected gay artist who was prominent in the New York City art scene during the 1980s, died of AIDS-related complications in 1992 at age 37. His work is collected by international museums including The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

“A Fire In My Belly” was Wojnarowicz’s response to the AIDS-related death of his close friend and mentor Peter Hujar. The film is an artistic meditation on life, death, faith and suffering. For more information, call 330-376-9186, ext. 230.