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SUMMARY:Book + Banisadr Book Club | Mythology + History
DESCRIPTION:Book + Banisadr Book Club | Mythology + History\nIn conjunction with Ali Banisadr: The Alchemist\, the MFA is proud to introduce the Book + Banisadr Book Club\, a three-part literary program that invites participants to immerse themselves into the complex\, turbulent worlds of Banisadr’s works through the lens of contemporary fiction that mimic the artist’s practice in both chaos and composure. \nHeld in partnership with Book + Bottle\, a beloved local independent bookstore and wine bar\, each session will focus on a thoughtfully selected book that echoes the figurative illusions rooted in autobiographical narratives\, sonic recollection\, invented stories\, world history\, collective memory\, and mythology embedded in the imagery of Ali Banisadr’s work. Through this one-of-a-kind pairing of literature and art\, historical themes will be reexamined against the dreadful\, real\, and unreal stories we tell ourselves. \nEach session will feature a specially paired wine and will be carefully facilitated to bridge the artworks in the exhibition to the relevant and resonant conversations shaping our society today. This month’s selection\, Black Leopard\, Red Wolf by Marlon James\, is an award-winning\, genre-defying novel that blends myth\, fantasy\, and African history in an epic quest to find a missing child—exploring truth\, power\, and the stories we choose to believe. \n\nDriving Banisadr’s practice is an encyclopedic knowledge of art history\, literature\, and philosophy\, references of which can be read in each work. His sprawling\, light-filled studio is filled with books and research material. Lining floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are tomes on everything from miniature painting to Bruegel and the Renaissance painter Hieronymus Bosch\, who has always been a huge influence\, as well as Dante Alighieri\, Rumi\, and Andrei Tarkovsky. “I have a group that I circle around and I always go back to\,” Banisadr says. “For example\, Dante’s Inferno or Homer’s Odyssey. I could keep reading and rereading these epic poems. To me they are so full of visual things.” \nBook + Banisadr Book Club | Mythology + History \nThursday\, June 4\, 2026\n6:00 PM–8:00 PM\nMuseum of Fine Arts\, St. Petersburg\n255 Beach Drive NE\, St. Petersburg FL 33701 \n$25 for Members; $35 for Not-Yet-Members \nTICKETS \nTickets include program and 1 glass of wine. Additional wine available for purchase. \nNot yet a member?\nBecome a member today and enjoy all the benefits membership at the MFA offers! \nMFA Members enjoy free admission for an entire year\, early access to special exhibitions\, discounts at the MFA Shop and Café Clementine\, special member-only exclusive events\, and more. Bring the whole family! \nBECOME A MEMBER \n\nAbout Book + Bottle\n \nBook + 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. \nThey’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. \nAbout Black Leopard\, Red Wolf by Marlon James\n \nOne of TIME’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time / Winner of the L.A. Times Ray Bradbury Prize / Finalist for the 2019 National Book Award / The New York Times Bestseller \nNamed a Best Book of 2019 by The Wall Street Journal\, TIME\, NPR\, GQ\, Vogue\, and The Washington Post \n“Gripping\, action-packed….The literary equivalent of a Marvel Comics universe.” –Michiko Kakutani\, The New York Times \nIn the stunning first novel in Marlon James’s Dark Star trilogy\, myth\, fantasy\, and history come together to explore what happens when a mercenary is hired to find a missing child. \nTracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter: “He has a nose\,” people say. Engaged to track down a mysterious boy who disappeared three years earlier\, Tracker breaks his own rule of always working alone when he finds himself part of a group that comes together to search for the boy. The band is a hodgepodge\, full of unusual characters with secrets of their own\, including a shape-shifting man-animal known as Leopard. \nAs Tracker follows the boy’s scent–from one ancient city to another; into dense forests and across deep rivers–he and the band are set upon by creatures intent on destroying them. As he struggles to survive\, Tracker starts to wonder: Who\, really\, is this boy? Why has he been missing for so long? Why do so many people want to keep Tracker from finding him? And perhaps the most important questions of all: Who is telling the truth\, and who is lying? \nDrawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination\, Marlon James has written a novel unlike anything that’s come before it: a saga of breathtaking adventure that’s also an ambitious\, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters\, Black Leopard\, Red Wolf is both surprising and profound as it explores the fundamentals of truth\, the limits of power\, and our need to understand them both. \nSee ALL Book + Banisadr Book Club Dates and Times: \n\nMay 7\, 2026 @ 6 pm: Book + Banisadr Book Club | War + Apocalypse\nJune 4\, 2026 @ 6 pm: Book + Banisadr Book Club | Mythology + History\nJuly 2\, 2026 @ 6 pm: Book + Banisadr Book Club | Sound + Composition
URL:https://mfastpete.org/event/book-banisadr-book-club-2/
LOCATION:Museum of Fine Arts\, St. Petersburg\, 255 Beach Drive NE\, St. Petersburg\, FL\, 33701\, United States
CATEGORIES:Adult Program,Educational Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://mfastpete.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Ali-Banisadr-Book-Club.jpg
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