THESE SHOES WERE MADE FOR ... WALKING? This extensive collection of shoes from around the world concentrate on the rise from sensiblity to the height of fashion. 60 pairs of shoes, sandals and boots are exhibited from different cultures and different times. The ethnographic collection from the Peabody Library should appeal to shoe and fashion aficianados alike. Through Feb. 2004. Tozzer Library, 21 Divinity Ave. Free with Harvard ID. (CCS)

IN HER OWN HAND: OPERAS COMPOSED BY WOMEN, 1625-1939. This exhibit focuses on the contributions of women through the development of opera. It follows the origins of Italian opera in the courts of Versailles in the 17th century to public opera in post-revolutionary Paris and beyond. For music lovers and history buffs alike. Through Dec. 1, 2003. Loeb Music Library, Music Building. (CCS)

WHERE TRADITIONS MEET: PAINTING IN INDIA FROM THE 14TH THROUGH THE 17TH CENTURY. This exhibit explores the evolution of Indian painting, from early illustrations of Jain and Buddhist manuscripts to refined paintings done in the Rajput courts and under the Mughal emperors. Being in an area of germination and intersection of artistic traditions, India attracted numerous artists, many of whom illustrated religious and allegorical subjects using vibrant indigenous styles. Through December 7. Hours: Monday through Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. $6.50 adults, $5 students/seniors, free with Harvard ID. Arthur M. Sacker Museum, 485 Broadway. (LAP)

BUDDHIST ART: THE LATER TRADITION. This exhibit explores Chinese, Korea and Japanese works of art from the 8th to the 18th century, including paintings, sculptures, sutras (Buddhist sacred texts), ritual objects and textiles. Buddhist art evolved immensely during these ten decades. Early Buddhist art emphasized the religion’s major deities; Buddhas, bodhisattvas, arhats and human and animal guardians, whereas later Buddhist art, which evolved largely in East Asia and changed due to the Buddhist church’s becoming increasingly sectarian, accentuated on the a wider variety of subject matter and style. This ranges from the furious deities of the Esoteric tradition to moralistic paradise and hell scenes of the Pureland school to the simple ink play of Zen. Through January 4, 2004. Hours: Monday through Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. $6.50 adults, $5 students/seniors, free with Harvard ID. Arthur M. Sacker Museum, 485 Broadway. (LAP)

‘LE COQ D’OR’: NATALIA GONCHAROVA’S DESIGNS FOR THE BALLETS RUSSES. Inciter of the Moscow pre-World War I art scene, Natalie Goncharova designed stage sets and costumes for the Ballet Russes production of Le coq d’or, an opera-ballet premiered in Paris and London in 1914. This exhibit brings together Goncharova’s stage and costume designs, curtain studies, and preparatory drawings from the Harvard Theater Collection; the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Through August 24. Hours: Monday through Saturday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday, 1-5p.m. $6.50, $5 students/seniors, free for Harvard ID holders, Cambridge Public Library card holders, and children under 18. Busch-Reisinger Museum, Werner Otto Hall. (LAP)

readings

FRANK BIDART. Poet, editor and Wellesley College professor Frank Bidart ’67 spins personal and contemporary verse, creating work in imaginative ways both on the page and read aloud. This wordsmith sets his poetry in the greater framework of such themes as identity, meaning and the interplay of good and evil. Bidart will read from his chapbook Music Like Dirt, as well as the new Collected Poems by poet Robert Lowell, which he edited. Sunday, August 3 at 4:00 p.m. Free. East Lawn of Longfellow National Historic Site, 105 Brattle St. (HLN)

JANETTE TURNER HOSPITAL. In Hospital’s tightly plotted suspense novel Due Preparations for a Plague, two adults who survived the 1987 hijacking of an Air France flight by Iraqi Islamic Fundamentalists attempt to piece together the gruesome details. As the U.S.’s sordid role in the affair is uncovered, protagonists Lowell and Samantha work to bring their information to light and struggle with the emotional toll of digging into their pasts. Hospital reads from Due Preparations for a Plague on Tuesday, August 5 at 7:00 p.m. Wordsworth Books. (HLN)

Happening was edited by Ryan J. Kuo ’04 with John P. Kehoe and compiled by Megan C. Harney, Mallory R. Hellman, Heloisa L. Nogueira, Huei C. Ong, Lara A. Pedrini, Caitlin C. Southwick and Eric Wang.