ANN ARBOR—This week’s top arts and culture at the University of Michigan:

• Innovative collaboration: Today’s emerging talents in architecture are redefining the profession with global practices that are digitally literate and operate at multiple scales of design. This liberation of scale has allowed architects to look at issues from interiors to urban planning in new and innovative ways. Nahyun Hwang and David Eugin Moon—principals of N H D M, an Ann Arbor and New York City based studio, and lecturers in architecture at the U-M Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning—are representative of this new wave of architectural thinking. An exhibit of their work, “N H D M / Nahyun Hwang + David Eugin Moon” opens July 6 at the University of Michigan Museum of Art.
• A satiric twist: Andy Kirshner, a University of Michigan Associate Professor of Music, Art, and Design has written and composed what may be the world’s first “girl meets girl” movie-musical. In the tradition of “Guys and Dolls,” but with the satirical edge of “The Colbert Report,” the new film will begin shooting in around Ann Arbor next fall.
• Towering resonance: Take a tour of the Charles Baird Carillon, a massive musical machine made up of 43,000 pounds of bells that take up the tenth floor of the Burton Tower, located on U-M central campus.
• The future of art museums: The potential impact might not be so farfetched: In a matter of several years, Google Art Project could have the type of effect on the international art museum world and cultural literacy comparable to what “Googling” has meant for Internet searchers – a greater access to information and broader understanding of the connection among cultures.

  The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) joins a list of many of the most renowned international art museums participating in the Google Art Project, an online virtual journey to a front-row seat to some of the most fascinating artworks in the world. The project, which was launched two years ago, has grown from about a dozen museums to more than 150 museums in 40 countries. More than 40,000 high-resolution objects are available to be viewed.

• Diverse perspectives: “Many Voices” project began in October 2012 when University of Michigan Museum of Art invited local filmmakers, artists, authors and arts enthusiasts to create a 2-3 minute video in response to works of art at the museum. The exhibit runs through the fall.

  On exhibit since spring, the “Many Voices” videos reflect a range of styles and the many voices of the authors. The multimedia storytelling project offers visitors a nonconventional approach to explore the museum collection. Videos include a range of topics, from intricate special effects to dramatic romance between two hermit crabs.

  Novice and experienced filmmakers—who range from 14 to 59 years old—worked with Ann Arbor filmmakers Donald Harrison and Sharad Pateland. Harrison is the former executive director of the Ann Arbor Film Festival, one of the most prestigious experimental film festivals in the country. Pateland is an adjunct instructor of film studies at Eastern Michigan University.

For more details and other arts and culture news, visit: http://montage.umich.edu