Zadie Smith, new art exhibits and more happening in Boston week

It's a five-day week again, and there's plenty happening around Boston that's worth putting on your calendar.

🎨 The ICA is free to all this and every Thursday from 5 to 9pm.

• Check out the 2023 James and Audrey Foster Prize exhibit showcasing local artists.
• The Invisible Ground of Sympathy exhibit, curated by Boston artist Taylor Davis, is also on display. It's the first time an artist has been invited to curate an exhibit from the ICA's permanent collection.

📖 Novelist, essayist and playwright Zadie Smith will be at the First Parish Church in Harvard Square on Friday night to discuss her latest novel "The Fraud."

• The historical fiction work is about a high-stakes claim to an inherited title in Victorian England.

🖼️ The Strong Women in Renaissance Italy exhibit opened last week at the Museum of Fine Arts and runs through January 7.

• Over 100 Italian works from the 14th to early 17th centuries focus on female agency, creativity and power.
• The MFA is open 10am to 5pm (except Tuesdays) and open late on Thursdays and Fridays.

💰 Economist and Deputy Dean of Harvard Law John Coates will talk about his new book "The Problem of Twelve" tonight.

• It's a look at the dozen financial institutions, including Fidelity and State Street, that have amassed unprecedented control over the American economy.
• The Harvard Book Store will host him at 7pm.