RELATED EVENTS

• Black Gold
• Lida Abdul
• You Are There: 1945 Hoosier Home Front

A group of djembe drummers from Farafina Kan, who will perform at the Madame Walker Theatre April 12. (Submitted photo)

A shop manager tends the cash register at the Indiana History Center as part of "You Are There: 1945 Hoosier Home Front." (Submitted photo)

From "What We Saw Upon Awakening," a film by Lida Abdul, who will be at the Indianapolis Museum of Art April 10. (Submitted photo)

1. Farafina Kan

7 p.m. April 12, $15-$20, Madame Walker Theatre, 617 Indiana Ave., (317) 236-2099, www.walkertheatre.com.

If the heart of Africa is a drumbeat, the members of Washington, D.C.-based Farafina Kan are keeping it alive with their spirited versions of African dance and drum performances. With more than 12 members from Africa and the United States, Farafina Kan (literally, "the sound of Africa") plays djembe, dundunba and other traditional African instruments, not hesitating to mix things up with American funk and hip-hop. Friday's performance will also include a tribute to local West African drummer, scholar and Nigerian native Prince Julius Adeniyi.

2. You Are There: 1945 Hoosier Home Front

10 to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, April 16 through Dec. 31, free, Indiana History Center, 450 W. Ohio St., (317) 232-1882, www.indianahistory.org.

It's Jan. 20, 1945, in Terre Haute. You're standing at the counter inside Citizens Market, a small grocery store. A sign on the old wooden cash register reads, "Save waste fats for explosives. Take them to your meat dealer." You're not in a time warp; you're in a new interactive experience at the Indiana History Center, which lets visitors step inside a historically accurate snapshot of a scene from more than 50 years ago. You can help run the store, fill orders and chat about war events while both learning about and experiencing history.

3. Artist Talk: Lida Abdul

6 p.m. April 10, free, DeBoest Lecture Hall, Indianapolis Museum of Art, 4000 Michigan Road, (317) 920-2659, www.imamuseum.org.

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1973, the Tahik video artist fled her war-torn country in the 1980s. But she never stopped trying to make sense of the strife. After living in Europe and America, Abdul returned to Afghanistan in 2001, where she began staging video works exploring the relationship between architecture and identity.

4. Maya Variations for Earth Harp, Woodwinds and Electronics

8 p.m. April 11, free, Pulliam Great Hall, Indianapolis Museum of Art, 4000 Michigan Road, (317) 920-2659, www.imamuseum.org.

In his Midwest premiere, composer Yuval Ron will bring his massive Earth Harp to Indianapolis for a concert derived from his score to the documentary "Breaking the Mayan Code." The Earth Harp, a stringed instrument, literally spans the length of the performance space. A visual presentation by filmmaker David Lebrun will serve as an atmospheric backdrop. Visitors are invited to remain afterward to ask questions of the musicians and maybe even try out the Earth Harp themselves.

5. 'Black Gold'

7 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, April 10-May 4, $15-$25, Phoenix Theatre, 749 Park Ave., (317) 635-7529, www.phoenixtheatre.org.

"Black Gold" refers to the stuff that leads to much of this play's drama: oil, which the lead character, an African-American factory worker, strikes after buying an oil rig on eBay. Featuring six actors playing 80 roles, "Black Gold," written by Seth Rozin, is a rapid-fire romp that explores themes of race, class and greed.