New York multimedia artist leads Iowa City Witching Hour festival lineup

IOWA CITY - The Witching Hour is returning Oct. 20 and 21, but this event has nothing to do with Halloween and everything to do with creativity.

The program brings together creators pushing the boundaries of their craft for a weekend of discovery, discussion and inspiration. International and locally-sourced, the lineup features a cross-section of disciplines and perspectives, with live concerts, standup comedy, readings, presentations, panels, workshops, public art and film screenings.

Schedules and venues have yet to be finalized, but a festival highlight will be the Oct. 20 world premiere of 'Explorer Remix I,” a work from New York composer and experimental trip-hop musician DJ Spooky (Paul D. Miller). In collaboration with the University of Iowa Libraries Digital Scholarship & Publishing Studio, Miller's multimedia piece will combine electronic and chamber performance, recordings from space collected by the Van Allen Probes, and video projection. He has collaborated with a variety of recording artists, including Metallica and Yoko Ono, and was the first Artist in Residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he premiered his work 'A Civil War Symphony” in 2013.

l Other performers: violist Nadia Sirota, Brooklyn-based indie rock band Beach Fossils (in collaboration with SCOPE Productions), Dadaist provocateurs Talibam! and experimentalist Yves Tumor.

l Comedians: Hari Kondabolu, co-host of podcast 'Politically Re-Active” with W. Kamau Bell; Aparna Nancherla ('Crashing,” 'Master of None,” 'Love” and 'Inside Amy Schumer”), and rising comedian Jak Knight.

l Readings of new works: 'Welcome to Night Vale” co-creators Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, poet Danez Smith, writer and editor Kiese Laymon, and two editions of the ongoing local Writers of Color Reading Series.

l Workshops: Danez Smith on harnessing obsession in writing and Saffron Henke and Kristy Hartsgrove Mooers on creative expression and the authentic self.

l Panels and research presentations: Biologist Paulina Mena travels abroad studying the social and sex lives of bees, and will present rare samples and research from around the world. Susan Patterson Plank, executive director of the Iowa Newspaper Association, will discuss readership and new possibilities for journalism in rural areas. 3D Essayist Will Hunt will explore the mystery of compulsive tunneling, from a London man who spent 40 years excavating a labyrinth beneath his home for reasons he cannot describe, to a biologist who creates sprawling metal sculptures of ant nests with poured molten lead.

l Iowa film premieres: dystopian video opera 'Adam's Run” and 'Brimstone & Glory,” a film documenting the National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, Mexico.

l Discussions: Broad Perspectives II, exploring the success of the Sankofa Outreach Connection, a local nonprofit connecting women of color through events and services; and education and community leaders Janet Hilary and Chuck Peters on the Future of Education: The Fall & Rise of the Elementary School System.

l Details: The program will continue to develop and will feature additional events, public art and more. For the most recent schedule and lineup, go to Witchinghourfestival.com

l Tickets: two-day pass, $60 until Sept. 12, then $65; one-day pass, $40 available Sept. 12; individual show tickets vary in price; Englert Box Office or Witchinghourfestival.com