Smithsonian Events

Connected Cultures: Religious Traditions of the Middle East Postponed

Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 6:30 PM

This panel discussion explores the cultural connections between the three largest monotheistic traditions: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. All three traditions originated in the Middle East and are all inextricably linked, as they have infl?uenced each other over centuries. The evening interfaith panel aims to foster a better understanding of human diversity and cultural change through the lenses of these three religions.

Panelists are Imam Yahya Hendi (Muslim chaplain, Georgetown University), Dr. Marc Gopin (director, Center on Religion, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution [CRDC] at George Mason University), and Rev. Dr. Clark Lobenstine (executive director, InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington [[IFC]). The panel is moderated by Najeeba Syeed-Miller (executive director, Center for Civic Engagement and Dialogue, Los Angeles).

This program is related to the IMAX film Journey to Mecca: In the Footsteps of Ibn Battuta, shown in the museum's Samuel C. Johnson IMAX Theater.

More info: www.mnh.si.edu…

CANCELED - Neon Light Sculpture

Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 6:30 PM

CANCELED - Blitzkrieg

Wednesday, February 10, 2010, 6:45 – 9 PM

African Americans in Mexico--Historical Linkages

Wednesday, February 10, 2010, 7 PM

Ben Vinson, director of the Center for Africana Studies at John Hopkins University, examines the history of African American migration to Mexico and discusses the commonalities between African American and Latinos in contemporary society.

CANCELED - Ibn Battuta's Marvelous Travels

Wednesday, February 10, 2010, 7 PM

Lena Horne: Face-to-Face Portrait Talk

Thursday, February 11, 2010, 6 – 6:30 PM

The weekly portrait talk highlights a portrait selected by a National Portrait Gallery staff member or guest speaker.

Today, curator Ann Shumard talks about a photograph of Lena Horne by Florence Meyer Homolka.

Framing the West Film Series: 3:10 to Yuma

Thursday, February 11, 2010, 6:30 PM

(1957, 92 min., directed by Delmer Daves) In this tense thriller, a rancher reluctantly escorts a ruthless, captive outlaw to a nearby town to await the train that will take him to Yuma for trial. Starring Glen Ford and Van Heflin.

More info: www.americanart.si.edu…

Standing Guard: The Terra-Cotta Warriors

Thursday, February 11, 2010, 6:45 – 8:45 PM

Robert DeCaroli explores the legacy created for the first emperor of China, the world-famous life-size terra-cotta army from Xi'an buried in formation by the thousands, poised for battle. Tonight, explore the legacy these soldiers reveal about early China.
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Africa in Reel Time: Nollywood Film Festival: Arugba

Thursday, February 11, 2010, 7 – 9 PM

Nigerian cinema, or “Nollywood,” has become one of the largest film industries in the world. Documentaries and feature films highlight the production values and narrative content of this cinema on the rise. Discussion with director Tunde Kelani follows screening.

Arugba (2008, 97 min, Yoruba with English subtitles, directed by Tunde Kelani) is set against the backdrop of a corrupt society seeking cleansing, rebirth, and nationhood, with all its attendant intrigues, and presents a world in which modernity and tradition exist alongside each other but seldom in equilibrium. Watch as the king of a small town in southwestern Nigeria makes much publicized statements against corruption while instituting economic reforms and embracing foreign investors. The reforms, however, don’t appear to be trickling down to the people, and the king trusts no one and has a weakness for women, which compromises his leadership. Meanwhile, preparations are being made for a traditional ritual in which a young virgin—the arugba—carries a sacrificial calabash.

The Brass Letters of Citizenship: Lincoln, African Americans and Military Service

Thursday, February 11, 2010, 7 – 8:30 PM

Join moderator Tom Bowman, Pentagon correspondent for National Public Radio, along with a panel of noted scholars for a discussion of the expansion of the military to include African Americans under President Abraham Lincoln. The distinguished panel includes Dr. Ira Berlin of the University of Maryland and Dr. Chandra Manning of Georgetown University, both experts on the African American military experience in the mid-19th century.

The program also includes Dr. Nathaniel Frank, Senior Research Fellow at the Palm Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and author of Unfriendly Fire, who will compare arguments surrounding the issue of the makeup of the United States military in the 19th century with modern arguments around the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Part of the Lincoln Lecture Series and related to our current exhibition Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life.

More info: americanhistory.si.edu…

Nicolas Fox Weber on Josef Albers and Joseph Hirshhorn

Thursday, February 11, 2010, 7 – 8 PM

On the opening night of Josef Albers: Innovation and Inspiration, Nicolas Fox Weber, executive director of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, discusses the artist’s life and work, as well as Albers’ close relationship with Joseph Hirshhorn.

More info: hirshhorn.si.edu…

Dinner and a Movie: Burwa dii Ebo/The Wind and the Water

Sunday, February 14, 2010, 5 PM

5-6:30 PM: Enjoy dinner at the Zagat-rated Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe (a la carte).

7 PM: Burwa dii Ebo/The Wind and the Water (2008, 100 min., in Kuna and Spanish with English subtitles, directed by the Igar Yala Collective*, produced by Vero Bollow) This contemporary coming of age story introduces two young Kuna: a boy raised by his grandfather in his ancestral homelands and a girl who has never been there.

*The Igar Yala Collective is a group consisting primarily of rural and urban Kuna youth of Panama.

Denis Dutton: Our Love of Beauty Comes Naturally

Tuesday, February 16, 2010, 6:45 PM

Philosophy of art professor and founder/editor of Arts & Letters Daily, Denis Dutton argues that human tastes in the arts are shaped by Darwinian selection and evolutionary traits, which explains why our aesthetic tastes are shared across cultures.
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Voluntourism: Finding Your Perfect Destination While Helping Others

Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 6:45 PM

Voluntourism is a new way to explore a culture in great depth and give back to the global community-while seeing the world. Join travel writer, Andrew Mersmann and learn the myriad options for combining your destination vacation while helping others.
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Baseball Umpires: A Secret Society

Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 7 PM

Take an insider's look at the mysterious and surprising world of umpires. MLB umpires Jim Evans and Ted Barrett share their secrets with author Bruce Weber. This rousing evening will utterly change your understanding of America's favorite pastime.
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Take Five! The Bay Jazz Project

Thursday, February 18, 2010, 5 – 7 PM

The four-time WAMMIE-nominated quartet The Bay Jazz Project -- Sean Lane (piano), Seth Kibel (reeds), Bob Abbott (bass), and Mark Lucas (drums) -- joined by vocalist Justine Miller with her trumpet serve up crowd favorites, standards, and their own original music.

Gallery Talk with Curator Toby Jurovics

Thursday, February 18, 2010, 6 PM

In this tour of the related exhibition, curator of photography Toby Jurovics discusses O’Sullivan’s photographic works for Clarence King and Lt. George M. Wheeler on two of the great surveys of the West and describes how the photographer fashioned a new and compelling vision of the American landscape that continues to influence and inspire contemporary artists.

More info: www.americanart.si.edu…

Booker T. Washington: Face-to-Face Portrait Talk

Thursday, February 18, 2010, 6 – 6:30 PM

The weekly portrait talk highlights a portrait selected by a National Portrait Gallery staff member or guest speaker.

Today, historian James Barber talks about the portrait of Booker T. Washington.

American University Museum at Katzen Arts Center

Thursday, February 18, 2010, 6:30 PM

Resident Members Only: Visit the Katzen Arts Center at American University featuring an extraordinary 30,000 square foot art museum with a variety of gallery spaces showcasing contemporary art from the nation’s capital region and from around the world.

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Africa in Reel Time: Nollywood Film Festival: Nollywood Lady

Thursday, February 18, 2010, 7 – 9 PM

Nigerian cinema, or “Nollywood,” has become one of the largest film industries in the world. Documentaries and feature films highlight the production values and narrative content of this cinema on the rise. Discussion with Peace Anyiam-Fibresima follows screening.

In Nollywood Lady (2008, 52 min, English subtitles, directed by Dorothee Wenner), Peace Anyiam-Fibresima -- an impresario of showbiz and an impassioned spokeswoman for the thriving and innovative African film industry -- is the “Nollywood Lady.” An ex-lawyer, producer, filmmaker, and the founder and CEO of the influential African Academy of Motion Pictures, she is reshaping the way Africans see themselves—and how the world sees Africans. Sharing her vision for transforming preconceptions about Africa and African images with filmmaker Dorothee Wenner, Anyiam-Fibresima takes viewers on an all-access tour to film locations, markets, and sit-downs with Nollywood professionals in the vibrant production hub of Lagos. Rounding out this insider’s primer to a dynamic $250 million industry are several clips from the more than 1,500 direct-to-video, mostly low budget, culturally distinct and immensely popular Nollywood films produced each year.

Lincoln, Race and the American Presidency

Thursday, February 18, 2010, 7 – 8:30 PM

Fath Davis Ruffins, the museum's curator of African American History and Culture, moderates a panel discussion on race and presidential politics (in Lincoln’s time and our own).

Lincoln’s views on race, and indeed the national debates on racial issues and politics in the mid-19th century, were much more complex and complicated that simply a question of whether to end the institution of slavery. Lincoln and his contemporaries also wrestled with issues of colonization, voting and other political and social rights, interracial marriage, gradual versus immediate emancipation, and, as one congressman argued, whether the United States was a nation “made by white men, for white men.”

To discuss these issues, which have an incredibly relevant legacy today, panelists include Dr. Maurice Jackson and Dr. Chandra Manning of Georgetown University; Dr. Edna Greene Medford of Howard University; and Dr. Ronald Walters, author of Black Presidential Politics in America and director of the African American Leadership Institute at the University of Maryland. Book signings follow.

More info: americanhistory.si.edu…

Words Between Two Reformers: Mary McLeod Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt: Cultures in Motion Performance

Monday, February 22, 2010, 7 PM

Written and produced by Jewell Robinson, a Helen Hayes Award nominee, this original theatrical work explores the friendship between Mrs. Roosevelt, portrayed by Linda Kenyon, and Mrs. Bethune, a civil rights leader and member of FDR’s “Black Cabinet,” portrayed by Ysaye Barnwell.

Mayan Literature: The Last Two Thousand Years

Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 6:45 – 9 PM

Scholar Dennis Tedlock surveys Mayan texts from the last 2,000 years. Mayans, the only fully literate pre-Columbian people, used hieroglyphs to record their culture and history, creating one of the oldest bodies of literature in the world.
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George Washington and John Adams, Two Founding Fathers

Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 7 PM

Historian and biographer John Ferling takes a critical look at George Washington and John Adams and their relationship, and unlocks the reasons as to why Adams has been underrated and Washington has become a greater national icon.
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Framing the West Film Series: A Fistful of Dollars

Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 6:30 PM

(1966, 99 min., directed by Sergio Leone) A nameless gunman arrives in a dusty border town to find the people there terrorized by rival gangs. The stranger receives offers of employment from each faction, but he conspires to pit them against each other. Starring Clint Eastwood and Marianne Koch.

More info: www.americanart.si.edu…

An Evening at the Musee D'Orsay

Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 6:45 – 8:45 PM

Housed in an elegant old train station, the Musee d'Orsay holds a world class collection of art including masterpieces by Manet, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, and many others. Art historian Linda Skalet highlights the importance of these collected works.
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How Science Sparked the Spread of Democracy

Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 6:45 PM

Acclaimed science writer Timothy Ferris explains how he believes science inspired the rise of liberalism and democracy. He investigates the co-evolution of the scientific and political revolutions and how they were mutually beneficial.
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Journey to Mecca IMAX Screening

Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 7 PM

This dramatic and documentary feature filmed in Saudi Arabia and Morocco in English and Arabic tells the amazing story of Ibn Battuta, one of the greatest travelers of all time, traveling for almost 30 years and three times farther than Marco Polo.

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Justice Thurgood Marshall: Face-to-Face Portrait Talk

Thursday, February 25, 2010, 6 – 6:30 PM

The weekly portrait talk highlights a portrait selected by a National Portrait Gallery staff member or guest speaker.

Today, L. Michael Seidman and Susan Bloch, professors of law at Georgetown University Law Center, speak about the portrait of Justice Thurgood Marshall.

The Bounty of the Nile

Thursday, February 25, 2010, 6:30 PM

You are invited to sample Egyptian hospitality at the stunning Embassy Residence. Amy Riolo, culinary expert and author, explains the sources of Egypt's multifaceted cuisine. Embassy chef, Mamdouh Farag, prepares a traditional Egyptian buffet.
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Africa in Reel Time: Nollywood Film Festival: The Figurine (Araromire)

Thursday, February 25, 2010, 7 – 9 PM

Nigerian cinema, or “Nollywood,” has become one of the largest film industries in the world. Documentaries and feature films highlight the production values and narrative content of this cinema on the rise. Discussion with director Kunle Afolayam follows screening.

The Figurine (Araromire) (2009, 203 min, English subtitles, directed by Kunle Afolayam) is a multicultural and contemporary feature highlighting essence and efficacy of tradition, friendship, betrayal, and love. It transcends both the ancient and the modern day. Two buddies and a girl, all down on their luck, have their lives changed after one of them discovers araromire, a mysterious figurine in an abandoned shrine that, according to ancient legend, bestows seven years of good luck. But, no one told them about the next seven years . . .

Thomas Joshua Cooper

Thursday, February 25, 2010, 7 PM

Artist Thomas Joshua Cooper and curator of photography Toby Jurovics discuss Timothy H. O’Sullivan’s images of Shoshone Falls. O’Sullivan photographed this dramatic and inspiring landscape for both the King and Wheeler surveys. In 2003, Cooper traveled to the Snake River, making photographs that speak forcefully about our experience of place.

More info: www.americanart.si.edu…

Meet the Artist: Phoebe Greenberg

Thursday, February 25, 2010, 7 – 8 PM

Artist Phoebe Greenberg discusses her process and work, about which she has observed, "in this absurd and grotesque universe, an unexpected sequence of events undermines the endless symphony of abundance." Her film Next Floor (2008) -- part nightmare, part morality tale -- is on view on the lower level.

More info: hirshhorn.si.edu…

Artist Talk: Karen LaMonte

Friday, February 26, 2010, 5:30 PM

Internationally recognized glass artist Karen LaMonte, whose cast-glass sculpture Reclining Dress Impression with Drapery was recently acquired by the museum, has developed a unique process in creating her hauntingly sensual glass garments. This evening she discusses her work, her experiments with material and process, and her artistic influences.

Note: The Renwick's Reclining Dress Impression with Drapery will be on view here in the Kogod Courtyard February 26-28.

More info: www.americanart.si.edu…

ARTrageous: Annual Benefit Event

Saturday, February 27, 2010, 8 – 11:30 PM

Spend a fabulous evening at the Smithsonian American Art Museum! The evening features a buffet dinner reception, live music, dancing in the Kogod Courtyard, mingling in the galleries, and viewing of Karen LaMonte's striking cast-glass sculpture Reclining Dress Impression with Drapery. Proceeds benefit the museum's public and educational programs.

Note: The Renwick's Reclining Dress Impression with Drapery will be on view here in the Kogod Courtyard February 26-28.

More info: americanart.si.edu…

Masterworks of Four Centuries

Sunday, February 28, 2010, 6:30 PM

The Smithsonian Chamber Music Society celebrates its 33rd season with an appropriately eclectic repast, balancing familiar masterworks with undeservedly neglected oeuvres perdues. This concert features music by composers Franz Schubert and Anton Bruckner.
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The Hajj Experience: Seeking Absolution

Thursday, March 4, 2010, 6:45 – 8:45 PM

A once in a lifetime experience for Muslims, the Hajj experience involves a trip not only to Mecca, but a series of ceremonies that symbolize the basic tenets of Islam. Explore the Hajj ceremonies and their impact on Muslims who travel there.

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Photoshop for Photographers

Friday, March 5, 2010, 6 PM

Designed for photographers working in a digital darkroom with Adobe Photoshop, this class introduces students to the most effective ways of setting up files to make controlled tone and color adjustments.
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Smithsonian Sleepovers

Saturday, March 6, 2010, 8 PM

Discover the National Museum of Natural History in a whole new way in this unique overnight experience. Includes an evening snack, light breakfast, IMAX screening, evening activity, and tour.
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Introduction to Photoshop or Photoshop Elements

Monday, March 8, 2010, 6:30 PM

Photographers, artists, graphic designers, web designers, and computer enthusiasts can benefit from this introduction to Photoshop, the industry standard software used to edit pictures and create designs for print and Web use.
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Jane Austen: The Author, Her Legacy and?Sea Monsters?

Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 6:45 – 8:45 PM

Join Jane Austen scholar Tara Wallace in a panel discussion with Austen-inspired authors of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, and Darcy's Passions.

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Normal: The Dusseldorf Ripper

Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 8 PM

Part of Francophonie Cultural Festival 2010. Based on a true story, this psychological thriller is set in Germany during the 1930s recession (in Czech, English subtitles). Screening held at the Avalon Theatre.

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Smithsonian Events

Connected Cultures: Religious Traditions of the Middle East ***Postponed***

CANCELED - Neon Light Sculpture

CANCELED - Blitzkrieg

African Americans in Mexico--Historical Linkages

CANCELED - Ibn Battuta's Marvelous Travels

Lena Horne: Face-to-Face Portrait Talk

Framing the West Film Series: 3:10 to Yuma

Standing Guard: The Terra-Cotta Warriors

Africa in Reel Time: Nollywood Film Festival: Arugba

The Brass Letters of Citizenship: Lincoln, African Americans and Military Service

Nicolas Fox Weber on Josef Albers and Joseph Hirshhorn

Dinner and a Movie: Burwa dii Ebo/The Wind and the Water

Denis Dutton: Our Love of Beauty Comes Naturally

Voluntourism: Finding Your Perfect Destination While Helping Others

Baseball Umpires: A Secret Society

Take Five! The Bay Jazz Project

Gallery Talk with Curator Toby Jurovics

Booker T. Washington: Face-to-Face Portrait Talk

American University Museum at Katzen Arts Center

Africa in Reel Time: Nollywood Film Festival: Nollywood Lady

Lincoln, Race and the American Presidency

Words Between Two Reformers: Mary McLeod Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt: Cultures in Motion Performance

Mayan Literature: The Last Two Thousand Years

George Washington and John Adams, Two Founding Fathers

Framing the West Film Series: A Fistful of Dollars

An Evening at the Musee D'Orsay

How Science Sparked the Spread of Democracy

Journey to Mecca IMAX Screening

Justice Thurgood Marshall: Face-to-Face Portrait Talk

The Bounty of the Nile

Africa in Reel Time: Nollywood Film Festival: The Figurine (Araromire)

Thomas Joshua Cooper

Meet the Artist: Phoebe Greenberg

Artist Talk: Karen LaMonte

ARTrageous: Annual Benefit Event

Masterworks of Four Centuries

The Hajj Experience: Seeking Absolution

Photoshop for Photographers

Smithsonian Sleepovers

Introduction to Photoshop or Photoshop Elements

Jane Austen: The Author, Her Legacy and?Sea Monsters?

Normal: The Dusseldorf Ripper

Connected Cultures: Religious Traditions of the Middle East Postponed