The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, March 19-25, 2026

This week, Theatre Exile kicks off Philly GRIT with The Dangers of Tobacco, a reinterpretation of a Chekhovian one act. Then, Rennie Harris puts on a show with Penn Live Arts, the Barnes opens a new exhibition featuring Indigenous photography, Penn Museum celebrates Holi, and a horror book fair returns to Delco.

The Dangers of Tobacco
March 18-29
Theatre Exile, 1340 South 13th Street

This classic lecture on tobacco transforms into a comedic unraveling on identity, family, and what could have been. The lecture is given by a dusty old professor about the harms of smoking. When he’s forced to give this lesson by his wife, it becomes the revelation of a life lived. Justin Jain puts his own lens on the story, telling it through the perspective of a familial tale of a first-generation queer Filipino-American.

Tools of the Trades
March 19-20, 9am-4:30pm
NextFab, 1800 North American Street; virtual

The fifth annual hybrid conference returns this weekend, hosted by CraftNOW and NextFab. Connecting artisans, makers, and creative entrepreneurs to business resources in Philadelphia and beyond, the conference features experienced makers, business experts, and community leaders providing creative professionals with real-world business tools, shared knowledge, and a supportive peer network. The first day is virtual on Zoom on March 19, with March 20 hosted in-person.

Rennie Harris Puremovement: Losing My Religion
March 19-21
Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut Street

Penn Live Arts hosts Rennie Harris to the stage. Harris is a nationally recognized hip-hop choreographer, and in Losing My Religion, Harris explores the world’s constant social, economic, and political turmoil through the lens of street dance and hip hop.

The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late
Friday, March 20, 6:30pm
Head House Books, 619 South 2nd Street

The Problem with Plastic challenges the illusion that recycling alone can save us, and equips readers with practical tools, policy guides, and inspiring stories of frontline resistance from Louisiana, Texas, and Appalachia. Co-author Judith Enck will visit Head House Books this Friday for a conversation with WHYY’s senior climate, energy, and environment reporter Susan Phillips.

Creative Processing: Art in Therapy
Opens Saturday, March 21
Mütter Museum, 19 South 22nd Street

This exhibition focuses on the therapeutic use of creative arts within and beyond the clinical setting, and visitors can learn about the history of art as therapy, the various techniques and mediums of art used in healing practices, and ways we can all engage in art as a therapeutic outlet.

Sky Hopinka: Red Metal Dust
March 21-January 18, 2027
The Barnes Foundation, 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway

A new installation opens at the Barnes this weekend, featuring meditative photographic landscapes by multidisciplinary Native American artist Sky Hopinka (of the Ho-Chunk Nation/Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians). Referencing the Ho-Chunk tribe’s name for copper, the installation interrogates American histories and Indigenous homelands through the layering of photography and copper sheets.

Third annual Delco Horror Haven Book Fair
Saturday, March 21, 12-6pm
Media Community Center, 301 North Jackson Street, Media

The Delco Horror Haven Book Fair returns, showcasing acclaimed and emerging independent horror authors. This year’s fair will feature over 30 local and regional authors with live readings, meet-and-greets, a kids’ corner, and more.

CultureFest! Holi, the Festival of Colors
Saturday, March 21, 11am-4pm
Penn Museum, 3260 South Street

Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, is a Hindu tradition observed in India, Nepal, and in many communities around the world. Typically spanning over two days in early March, it symbolizes the triumph of good over evil, the arrival of spring, and the end of winter. There will be Katha storytelling, an Indian youth music ensemble showcase, and a performance from Three Aksha Ensemble Dance.

The Travels of Ibn Jubayr
Wednesday, March 25, 7-9pm
Lightbox Film Center at the Bok Building, 1901 South 9th Street

Tuesday, March 31, 7-9pm
The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street

This film, produced by Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture, reinterprets the journey of the 12th-century explorer Ibn Jubayr, a Muslim pilgrim from medieval Spain who made a religious pilgrimage to Mecca between 1183 and 1185. “His travel chronicle is so detailed it might very well be the first travel blog,” says a press release, and it features a score by contemporary experimental and Arab music composer Maurice Louca—who will be in attendance at each screening to perform the soundtrack with local musicians.