jlf is back

Globally renowned cultural festival returns to Houston with top stars of food, literature, politics, and more

JLF Houston Ussama Makdisi Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Mira Jacob

Ussama Makdisi at JLF Houston in conversation with Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Mira Jacob.

Photo by Chris Dunn/Asia Society Texas

A cutting-edge and star-studded arts and cultural festival is making a triumphant in-person comeback.

JLF Houston, the local iteration of the global Jaipur Literature Festival (held annually in Jaipur in India’s Rajasthan state) returns to Asia Society on Friday, September 9 and Saturday, September 10 with tasty events, provocative panel discussions, and even debates surrounding today’s most pressing issues.

This is the first in-person celebration — organized by Asia Society, literary nonprofit Inprint, and Indian arts nonprofit Teamwork Arts — after two years of virtual offerings due to the pandemic.

Standout guests include former ambassador Michael Pelletier, award-winning author and professor Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, FotoFest executive director Steven Evans, celebrated poet Arundhathi Subramaniam, New York Times bestselling author Varsha Bajaj, James Beard Award-nominated local chef/restaurateur Anita Jaisinghani, and a host of other American and Indian top talent.

Ticket options for the affair include a Weekend Pass ($50), Saturday Day Pass ($20), and general and student admission ($5) and are available online.

Attendees can look forward to fun events such as the opening day pane “Masala: Recipes From India, the Land of Spices,” hosted by Jaisinghani Pondicheri Bake Lab, which centers on food and culture.

Later that night, “Geopolitics: The Tipping Edge” offers thoughts as world teeters on the edge of economic and environmental collapse, geopolitical compulsions, and political hubris, featuring Pelletier, Zachary Zwald, and Seema Sirohi in conversation with Sanjoy K. Roy.

Other notable events include “Points of View: An Archival Gaze of Photography in India,” a showcase of photography in colonial and post-colonial India hosted by Gayatri Sinha and Evans in conversation.

Consider this not only a who’s-who of figures from India and the world, but as a Houston cultural festival with global reach.

-----

JLF Houston runs Friday, September 9 and Saturday, September 10 at Asia Society (1370 Southmore Blvd.). For tickets and full schedule and roster of featured participants, visit the official site.

politics trends festivals books literature inspiration celebrities

MFAH expands

Houston museum acquires historic Masonic lodge property for new greenspace

Holland Lodge No. 1, A.F. & A.M./Facebook

The building at 4911 will be torn down for the new greenspace.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has acquired a prime parcel to expand its campus in the Museum District. On Tuesday, December 23, the museum announced it has purchased a two-acre parcel of land at 4911 Montrose Blvd that will bring its total footprint to 16 acres.

Located just north of the Glassel School of Art, the property will be developed as a greenspace that will serve as a community lawn as well as be utilized for future museum events and parking. MFAH has retained landscape architects Nelson Byrd Woltz — the firm responsible for work at Memorial Park and the recently-opened Ismaili Center — to create the design for the new greenspace.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston greenspace rendering A rendering offers a bird's-eye preview of the new greenspace.Image by by Cong Nie/Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

At this time, the museum does not have plans to build anything on the property, according to a press release.

To make way for the greenspace, the property’s existing building, Holland Lodge No. 1, will be torn down. Built in 1954 as a home for the oldest Masonic lodge chapter in Texas, the building features a sandstone mural facade. It has been for sale since at least 2005, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle.

Demolition on the site is expected to begin in spring 2026 with the greenspace opening in approximately two years, according to press materials. In addition to the Glassell School, the museum’s campus includes the Audrey Jones Beck Building, the Caroline Wiess Law Building, the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden, and the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building.

“We are delighted to contribute to Houston’s greenspace access with this new initiative, which will expand the museum’s 14-acre campus to a thoroughly walkable 16 acres,” Gary Tinterow, director and Margaret Alkek Williams chair of the MFAH, said in a statement. “While the primary objective for the purchase of this property is to secure land for any potential future expansion of the museum, our priority now is to create a welcoming community lawn. Thoughtfully designed by Nelson Byrd Woltz, one of the leading firms in sustainable landscape practice, the site will serve as public greenspace and provide additional parking for museum visitors.”

museums museum of fine arts houston openings