Things to do in New York this Saturday

Celebrated Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama's expansive 2021 exhibition at the New York Botanical Garden is finally set to open this April with outdoor installations across the garden's 250-acre landscape.  Four of the projects will be making their NYC debut, the most exciting of which will surely be Infinity Mirrored Room—Illusion Inside the Heart, which will be housed in a cube-shaped structure located out in the open. Featuring mirrored sides, the exterior of the piece will reflect the changing skies while the interior will glow with a seemingly endless array of colored lights. To avoid long lines, timed tickets will be issued to get in. Elsewhere, there will be an interactive greenhouse installation, in which visitors will be invited apply stickers picturing coral-colored blossoms throughout the interior—thus taking part in one of Kusama’s signature "obliteration" pieces. Also on view will be two new outdoor monumental sculptures, the self-explanatory Dancing Pumpkin and a 13-foot high biomorphic form featuring a polka-dotted face called I Want to Fly to the Universe.  The NYBG itself will chime in with special flower bed plantings patterned on Kusama’s paintings and an allée of trees wrapped in polka-dotted fabric. Timed tickets will go on sale to the general public on March 16.

There might not have been a Sakura Matsuri festival this year, but the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is still celebrating the return of spring with "Spring Weekends," a series of more than 60 pop-up music and dance performances slated to happen over the course of four weekends, from April 17 through May 9. Visitors will get to enjoy performances from over 20 artists, including Japanese dance organization Sachiyo Ito and Company, Bombazo Dance Company, Brownstone Jazz Ensemble, and Mantra Percussion, all surrounded by gorgeous blooms. To make it an even more special experience, BBG is extending its hours until sunset during this time. All programs are included with garden admission. Saturday, April 17: Sachiyo Ito and Company, Jonathan Michel with Talie Cerin, and Djembe Drumming Ministry Sunday, April 18: Afro-Cuban Dance with Tony Domenech, Brownstone Jazz Ensemble, and Annette Phillip & Stacey Ann Douglas with Stanichka Dimitrova Saturday, April 24: Masayo Ishigure & MIYABI Koto Shamisen Ensemble, and Sakai & Rino, and the Nobuki Takamen Trio Sunday, April 25: Adam Fisher, Mia, Okai & SeeYou and Shira Kobren Saturday, April 27: West African Dance with Kotchegna Dance Company, Brownstone Jazz Ensemble and Nannies’ Fairy Tale Writers with Musical Guest Sunday, May 2: Mantra Percussion, loved, Keisha St. Joan and Her Ensemble, and Joanie Leeds Saturday, May 8: Bomba with Bombazo Dance Company, Riva Precil featuring Monvelyno Alexis & Markus Schwartz, and Nannies’ Fairy Tale Writer

The Brooklyn Flea at the Manhattan Bridge Archway is back every Sunday with 40 local vendors to shop from and the “Dumbo Station” bar located inside the Archway in a “lighthouse” (open noon-6pm). The Saturday Brooklyn Flea in Williamsburg (at 51 N. 6 St. at Kent Ave.) is also back with 30 vendors (mostly vintage and antiques plus a smattering of handmade goods) in the fenced-in lot. There will be a handful of new vendors including Mexican But Japanese Vintage, a popular Instagram personality. Both Brooklyn Flea markets are open from 10am to 5pm.

More than 40 women-owned businesses will pop-up at City Point this weekend for The Maker’s Show. It takes place over two consecutive weekends, where you'll find a showcase a unique mix of crafts and products from a roster of up-and-coming entrepreneurs, including PJs by Natchie, eclectic home scents by Perry Boyce and products beloved furry family members by Gone to the Dogs. Additionally, shoppers can discover jewelry from designer and metalsmith, Sarella Suarez, hand-made leather accessories and handbags by Alfred Stadler, an array of terracotta planters and homeware by Hola I am Back as well as handmade body and skincare products from Kimberly House. New to The Spring Makers Show are York-inspired artworks by Brooklyn Art Factory and Brooklyn-based ceramic artist Caledon Clayworks.  

Exploring the themes and techniques involved in the use of fiber art, "UNRAVELED: Confronting the Fabric of Fiber Art" is a new group exhibit at The Untitled Space featuring the works of 40 contemporary women artists.  "The exhibition presents figurative and abstract works that address our lived experience and history through the lens of women weaving, knotting, twining, plaiting, coiling, pleating, lashing and interlacing," reads the show's official press release.  The featured pieces—by artists the likes of Lisa Federici, Ruta Naujalyte, Sphanie Eche, Victoria Selbach and Winnie van der Rijn, among others—are visually striking and will have you wonder about the artistic power behind a usually looked-over fabric like fiber. 

You can now play a little Pétanque with your pals at Industry City thanks to Carreau Club in Courtyard 5/6. It's just $20 per hour for a maximum of six people per game. For those of you who don't know, the game dates back to ancient Rome and is popular in France. It's often the game played on the streets during Bastille Day. You can reserve a court on a first-come, first-served basis or ahead of time here. Carreau Club will also coordinate a league beginning in May, players can sign up here. 

Throughout the month of May, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, Resy is teaming up with NYC chefs—Chinese Tuxedo, The Tyger, Wildair, Wayla, Lotus + Cleaver, Kimika, Jeepney, Bessou, Gabriel Kreuther, Nami Nori, Fish Cheeks, Wayan, Rule Of Thirds, Mokbar, Nom Wah, Golden Diner, Tita’s Baby, Di An Di, Llama San, Saigon Social, Cha-An—to fight against anti-Asian hate crimes and xenophobic attacks on the AAPI community through a five-course meal series.  All you need to do is purchase tickets for the featured weekly meal on Resy.com, which are all priced at $165. The meals include a “mystery” bottle of sake courtesy of Joy Of Sake and feed two adults. Chefs will be reimbursed for their dish and additional revenue will be donated to local AAPI-led organizations Heart of Dinner, Apex for Youth and Rise.  Tickets for week one, week two and week three are now available for purchase on Resy.com, where guests can select pick-up times; tickets for weeks 4 and 5 will go on sale at the beginning of May. You can check out each week's menu here. “I'm participating to amplify the voices in my community who are combatting a very serious sickness that has been spreading across the country. My hope is that this series sows some seeds of awareness and empathy. This is clearly a fight that has a long road ahead and it's crucial we participate in whatever way we can,” says Sam Yoo, Chef-Owner of Golden Diner.  

An art show by DA SPOT is aiming to amplify the amazing talents of the local creative community by transforming a retail space into a showroom for seven local and talented artists: 5 AM, Catalyst, Laura, Tyler Jordan/C.A.N.V.A.S, Frantz Face, Mr.John Wright and Betty Rubble NYC. It'll happen over the next two weekends. "Flowers to the People" means give people their flowers while they are still alive to smell them. It's inspired by a custom collection created by DA SPOT NYC co-founder and the face of Frantzy Face Clothing that began with just twelve unique pieces of clothing featuring flowered patchwork. Each garment was sold with a fabric rose. The hope was that the garment owner would gift the rose to someone and it will continue to be gifted until it eventually circles back to where it originated, with Face.

Brooklyn Museum's biggest exhibit this spring is opening on Friday. You may have seen KAWS' giant cartoon-y characters with X's for eyes around the city, but this is the first time Brooklyn-based artist (Brian Donnelly) has had a major New York survey of his work, which includes rarely seen graffiti drawings, paintings, smaller collectibles, furniture, and his popular "Companion" figures.

Get your zen on at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden which has launched a new series of winter nature walks and sound works in the Garden—site-specific original compositions and audio walks for visitors to experience at their own pace.As part of the Art in the Garden series, BBG is showcasing three works from January through May: Gelsey Bell and Joseph White’s "Meander," Ben Rubin and Brian House’s "Terminal Moraine," and a reprisal of Michael Gordon’s "loved." "Each work takes its inspiration from the garden and the temporal sensations one experiences among its natural features, both ancient and fleeting," according to BBG.  On right now, Gelsey Bell and Joseph White's "Meander" is a sound walk that guides listeners on a meditative stroll into the natural landscape. It encourages listeners to watch, listen, and reset their clocks to pastoral temporality, inviting them to sink into the complex patterns and fine details of the natural environment. From February 26 to April 25, Ben Rubin and Brian House's "Terminal Moraine" will be presented in the Elizabeth Scholtz Woodland Garden. The installation uses algorithmic sound to represent tree growth and glacial ice recession. Then, from March 13 to May 9, "loved" will be on in the Cherry Esplanade. Composer Michael Gordon created the installation for BBG to honor those we've lost in the pandemic. Performed by percussionist David Cossin, the meditative composition for seven vibraphones plays hourly on Cherry Esplanade and runs 5 minutes