National Museum of Asian Art

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Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free, 30-minute online meditation sessions three times each week led by DC-based meditation teachers.  The practice of meditation is rooted in a variety of Asian spiritual traditions. Each month, we will use a different theme as a lens through which to explore these traditions. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.   Register and join the sessions here.  Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Wednesday, August 10, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Thursday, August 11, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free, 30-minute online meditation sessions three times each week led by DC-based meditation teachers.  The practice of meditation is rooted in a variety of Asian spiritual traditions. Each month, we will use a different theme as a lens through which to explore these traditions. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.   Register and join the sessions here.  Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Friday, August 12, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Friday, August 12, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

Afterhours @ NMAA: Hong Kong Style

Films Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/afterhours-nmaa-hong-kong-style-tickets-379998755507  Join us for an outdoor festival to celebrate summer and the Made in Hong Kong Film Festival! Enjoy art and music from across Asia with performances, food, and exclusive curator talks. Experience the museum galleries open late, purchase signature cocktails from Please Bring Chips, and taste food from local vendors, including Queen’s English, Lei Musubi, and Ruby Scoops. At 7:30 p.m. see Jackie Chan at his very best in a special outdoor screening of Drunken Master, perhaps the greatest kung fu comedy of all time, as part of our annual Made in Hong Kong Film Festival.   · 5–8 p.m.: Museum galleries are open and food and drinks from local vendors are available to purchase.   · 5:30–6:30 p.m.: Curator talks on the exhibition Underdogs and Antiheroes: Japanese Prints from the Moskowitz Collection.  · 5–7:30 p.m.: Performance by DJ 2-Tone of Shaolin Jazz and live martial arts demos.    · 7:30–9:30 p.m.: Outdoor… Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer plaza. Cost: Free. Friday, August 12, 2022, 5:00 PM – 9:30 PM.

Drunken Master

Films Accompanied by a live DJ performance by DJ 2-Tone of Shaolin Jazz!  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQMNllz6aE0   The festival’s closing weekend gets off to a boozy start with an outdoor screening of perhaps the greatest kung fu comedy of all time! Jackie Chan is at his hilarious and athletic best as Wong Fe-hung, a mischievous young man who is sent by his father to learn some discipline from an eccentric kung fu master who teaches Wong the “drunken boxing” style, which he masters just in time to defeat a rival master hired by an evil businessman to kill Wong’s father. Chan’s woozy, sauced-up action scenes are virtuoso displays of his comedic and fighting talents, and the film has gone on to influence not only other movies, but fashion, music, manga, anime, and video games. DJ 2-Tone will provide the beats to go along with every kick and punch, and cocktails will be available for sale so you can drink along with the master. (Dir.: Yuen Woo-ping, Hong Kong, 1978, 110 min. Blu-Ray, Cantonese with… Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer Plaza. Cost: Free. Friday, August 12, 2022, 7:30 PM.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Saturday, August 13, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Sunday, August 14, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

The Young Master

Films Get your free tickets here: https://mihk2022.eventive.org/films  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiYkE_7HV2w   The first film Jackie Chan made at Golden Harvest—the studio where he would go on to make many of his greatest films—was a record-breaking box office smash that firmly established him as Hong Kong’s leading kung fu superstar. In his second outing as director, Chan plays Dragon Lung, a martial arts student who sets out to find his errant brother, who has defected to a rival school, only to get mixed up in a case of mistaken identity from which he must fight his way out. It all builds to an epic, nearly twenty-minute final battle that sees Chan balancing slapstick and thrilling action with rip-roaring virtuosity. Description by the Criterion Channel. (Dir.: Jackie Chan, Hong Kong, 1980, 106 min. 35mm, Cantonese with English subtitles) Images courtesy of Janus Films. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Sunday, August 14, 2022, 2:00 PM.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free, 30-minute online meditation sessions three times each week led by DC-based meditation teachers.  The practice of meditation is rooted in a variety of Asian spiritual traditions. Each month, we will use a different theme as a lens through which to explore these traditions. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.   Register and join the sessions here.  Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Monday, August 15, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free, 30-minute online meditation sessions three times each week led by DC-based meditation teachers.  The practice of meditation is rooted in a variety of Asian spiritual traditions. Each month, we will use a different theme as a lens through which to explore these traditions. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.   Register and join the sessions here.  Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Wednesday, August 17, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Thursday, August 18, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free, 30-minute online meditation sessions three times each week led by DC-based meditation teachers.  The practice of meditation is rooted in a variety of Asian spiritual traditions. Each month, we will use a different theme as a lens through which to explore these traditions. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.   Register and join the sessions here.  Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Friday, August 19, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Friday, August 19, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

Meet the Filmmaker: Ahsen Nadeem

Films Crows Are White  Friday, August 19, 7 p.m.  In person: Ahsen Nadeem, director; Aaron P. Proffitt, Professor of Japanese Studies, University at Albany  Get your free tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/crows-are-white-tickets-388083437007    “I’ll be honest with you, I’m a fantastic liar,” announces Ahsen Nadeem at the outset of his autobiographical documentary. The son of devout Muslim parents who want him to settle down with a nice Muslim girl, he has secretly married an American, non-Muslim woman and is afraid to tell them. Seeking spiritual guidance, he travels to a secretive Buddhist temple in Japan where the monks practice extreme acts of physical endurance. But the only monk who offers help is an outcast himself who prefers heavy metal music and sweet desserts to the rigors of monastery life. As their friendship evolves over the course of five years, Ahsen comes closer to telling his parents the truth. This charming film strikes a balance between weighty issues of faith and familial loyalty with… Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Friday, August 19, 2022, 7:00 PM.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Saturday, August 20, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Sunday, August 21, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free, 30-minute online meditation sessions three times each week led by DC-based meditation teachers.  The practice of meditation is rooted in a variety of Asian spiritual traditions. Each month, we will use a different theme as a lens through which to explore these traditions. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.   Register and join the sessions here.  Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Monday, August 22, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free, 30-minute online meditation sessions three times each week led by DC-based meditation teachers.  The practice of meditation is rooted in a variety of Asian spiritual traditions. Each month, we will use a different theme as a lens through which to explore these traditions. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.   Register and join the sessions here.  Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Wednesday, August 24, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Thursday, August 25, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free, 30-minute online meditation sessions three times each week led by DC-based meditation teachers.  The practice of meditation is rooted in a variety of Asian spiritual traditions. Each month, we will use a different theme as a lens through which to explore these traditions. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.   Register and join the sessions here.  Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Friday, August 26, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Friday, August 26, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

Samurai Rebellion

Films Get your free tickets here: mifune2022.eventive.org/films   Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPTLUZFRq4   Toshiro Mifune stars as Isaburo Sasahara, an aging swordsman living a quiet life until his clan lord orders that his son marry the lord's mistress, who has recently displeased the ruler. Reluctantly, father and son take in the woman and, to the family’s surprise, the young couple fall in love. But the lord soon reverses his decision and demands the mistress’s return. Against all expectations, Isaburo and his son refuse, risking the destruction of their entire family. Director Masaki Kobayashi's Samurai Rebellion is the gripping story of a peaceful man who finally decides to take a stand against injustice. Description courtesy of Janus Films. (Dir.: Masaki Kobayashi, Japan, 1967, 121 min. b&w, 35mm, Japanese with English subtitles) Images courtesy of Janus Films. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Friday, August 26, 2022, 7:00 PM.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Saturday, August 27, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Sunday, August 28, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free, 30-minute online meditation sessions three times each week led by DC-based meditation teachers.  The practice of meditation is rooted in a variety of Asian spiritual traditions. Each month, we will use a different theme as a lens through which to explore these traditions. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.   Register and join the sessions here.  Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Monday, August 29, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free, 30-minute online meditation sessions three times each week led by DC-based meditation teachers.  The practice of meditation is rooted in a variety of Asian spiritual traditions. Each month, we will use a different theme as a lens through which to explore these traditions. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender.   Register and join the sessions here.  Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Wednesday, August 31, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Thursday, September 1, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Friday, September 2, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Saturday, September 3, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

Permanent Collection Tour

Tours The National Museum of Asian Art has over 45,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.   The public can schedule reserved group tours using the online reservation form. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meet at Freer information desk. Cost: Free. Sunday, September 4, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM. For more info visit asia.si.edu.

The Hidden Fortress

Films Get your free tickets here: https://nmaamatinees.eventive.org/films  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-UCPiWJizg A grand-scale adventure as only Akira Kurosawa could make one, The Hidden Fortress stars the inimitable Toshiro Mifune as a general charged with guarding his defeated clan’s princess (a fierce Misa Uehara) as the two smuggle royal treasure across hostile territory. Accompanying them are a pair of bumbling, conniving peasants who may or may not be their friends. This rip-roaring ride is among the director’s most beloved films and was a primary influence on George Lucas’s Star Wars. The Hidden Fortress delivers Kurosawa’s trademark deft blend of wry humor, breathtaking action, and compassionate humanity. Description courtesy of Janus Films. (Dir.: Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1958, 139 min. b&w, 35mm, Japanese with English subtitles) Film still courtesy of Janus Films. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Wednesday, September 7, 2022, 2:00 PM.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Register and join the session here. Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers. Sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collection as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender. Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Friday, September 9, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.

The Last Gunfight

Films Get your free tickets here: mifune2022.eventive.org/films Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qBj_uIeVhk In this colorful, violent yakuza yarn, Toshiro Mifune plays a cop suspected of corruption who is demoted and sent to the gang-infested city of Kojin to investigate the murder of a gangster’s wife. As his sympathy for the widowed cook grows, a gang war looms on the horizon. Mike Hale of The New York Times praised Mifune’s performance, calling him “the cool center of the psychedelic action, underplaying the stereotypical tough guy and giving a wry spin to his punch lines.” This rarely screened gem is presented in a 35mm print courtesy of the Japan Foundation. (Dir.: Kihachi Okamoto, Japan, 1960, 95 min. 35mm, Japanese with English subtitles) Film still courtesy of the Japan Foundation. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Friday, September 9, 2022, 7:00 PM.

Revealing Krishna: Journey to Cambodia’s Sacred Mountain

Talks and Lectures Free, no registration required Step into the exhibition Revealing Krishna and take a journey to Cambodia’s sacred mountain of Phnom Da with curator Emma Natalya Stein. Walk through a sweeping cinematic corridor and feel as if you are traveling by boat down the river to meet Krishna lifting Mount Govardhan, a monumental sculpture with a 1500-year history. Don’t miss this last chance to experience the exhibition with the curator before it closes on September 18. Venue: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Event Location: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Cost: Free. Saturday, September 10, 2022, 1:00 PM.

Satook: A Screening and Conversation

Talks and Lectures Register here. Join us in the Meyer Auditorium for a special screening of the film Satook, directed by praCh Ly. Created for the exhibition Revealing Krishna: Journey to Cambodia’s Sacred Mountain, this short documentary examines the transformation of religious traditions through the ruptures of the Khmer Rouge genocide and immigration. Titled Satook, a word of blessing spoken at the end of Cambodian Buddhist prayers, the film centers on four intimate conversations with Loung Ung, Bonieta Lach, Mea Lath, and Pon Carvi Ly, who share their personal experiences, memories of their parents, and reflections on their communities, journeys, and beliefs. The screening will be followed by a conversation between praCh Ly and writer Loung Ung. Afterward, join us for a reception featuring Cambodian-inspired refreshments at 3pm and a Cambodian dance performance at 4pm. praCh Ly is a critically acclaimed and award-winning artist. He was first known as a musician, and his debut album was the first number one rap album in… Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Saturday, September 10, 2022, 2:00 PM.

Story of the Serpent: Cambodian Dance

Performances Free, no registration required. The art of dance bridges classical and contemporary Cambodian culture. In celebration of the exhibition Revealing Krishna: Journey to Cambodia’s Sacred Mountain, experience a dance performance by Mea Lath that explores the identity of the naga, the serpent deity, who poignantly gets caught in her own tail—a metaphor for struggles with identity in the wake of immigration. The program includes a traditional blessing dance and a contemporary work choreographed by Sophiline Cheam Shapiro. Dancer Reaksmey “Mea” Lath is a celebrated Cambodian classical dancer, instructor, and manager of the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach, California. Born in a Cambodian refugee camp in Thailand, Mea uses the sacred art of Cambodian dance to connect with her history, to heal and inspire, and to present Cambodian culture to the world. She is one of the four speakers featured in the short documentary Satook, which was created by praCh Ly for the exhibition Revealing Krishna: Journey to Cambodia’s… Venue: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Event Location: Sackler gallery 27. Cost: Free. Saturday, September 10, 2022, 4:00 PM.

Samurai Assassin

Films Get your free tickets here: mifune2022.eventive.org/films Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBRWVg4AVyg Set in 1860, soon after the Treaty of Amity and Commerce opened trade between Japan and the US, Samurai Assassin is about a plot to assassinate Ii Naosuke, the official who signed the agreement, by a band of disgruntled samurai. Toshiro Mifune’s character is a poor ronin who is also the illegitimate son of a noble family, and who hopes being involved in the plot will win him some respect. But the film makes clear that the samurai code and feudal structure he was raised to believe in is riddled with hypocrisy. Director Kihachi Okamoto’s mastery of the widescreen format and flair for staging and shooting wild swordplay battles are on full display in this rare 35mm print provided by the Japan Foundation. (Dir.: Kihachi Okamoto, Japan, 1965, 121 min. 35mm, Japanese with English subtitles) Film still courtesy of the Japan Foundation. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Sunday, September 11, 2022, 4:00 PM.

Sneak Peek—In Context: Childe Hassam’s "The Chinese Merchants"

Talks and Lectures Register here. Childe Hassam’s 1909 painting The Chinese Merchants pictures Chinatown in Portland, Oregon. The work is unusual both for Hassam, who typically created idyllic views of New England, and for Charles Lang Freer, who collected American and Asian art but who only ever purchased this one view of contemporary Asian American life. In The Chinese Merchants, Hassam creates a flattened, stage-like space with an array of darkened doors and windows that suggests a bustling commercial and domestic life largely inaccessible to both painter and viewer. This talk explores how Hassam, as a white artist from the East Coast, represented the neighborhood. Comparing Hassam’s efforts with other artists who took up the subject of Chinatown neighborhoods throughout the country, we recognize the development of a particular lexicon for envisioning Asian enclaves in American cities. This talk also explores how The Chinese Merchants entered Freer’s collections and what role it has served alongside the collector’s grouping… Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Tuesday, September 13, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:40 PM.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Register and join the session here. Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers. Sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collection as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender. Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Friday, September 16, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.

Red Lion

Films Get your free tickets here: mifune2022.eventive.org/films In this “rambunctious, satirical, eventually tragic period piece” (Mike Hale, The New York Times), Toshiro Mifune plays the aptly named Gonzo, a peasant who returns to his hometown after a ten-year absence, disguised as a high-ranking army officer. His goal is to rid the town of its corrupt officials by assembling a ragtag band of sex workers, students, and assorted ruffians. In his book The Emperor and the Wolf, Stuart Galbraith IV writes that Mifune “is excellent as a larger-than-life, lusty character.” 35mm print provided by the Japan Foundation. (Dir.: Kihachi Okamoto, Japan, 1969, 115 min. 35mm, Japanese with English subtitles) Film still courtesy of the Japan Foundation. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Sunday, September 18, 2022, 4:00 PM.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Register and join the session here. Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers. Sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collection as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender. Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Friday, September 23, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.

Yojimbo

Films Get your free tickets here: mifune2022.eventive.org/films Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_1iT_GmHTE The incomparable Toshiro Mifune stars in Akira Kurosawa's visually stunning and darkly comic Yojimbo. To rid a terror-stricken village of corruption, wily masterless samurai Sanjuro turns a range war between two evil clans to his own advantage. Remade twice, by Sergio Leone and Walter Hill, this exhilarating genre-twister remains one of the most influential and entertaining films of all time. Description courtesy of Janus Films. (Dir.: Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1961, 110 min. b&w, 35mm, Japanese with English subtitles) Film still courtesy of Janus Films. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Friday, September 23, 2022, 7:00 PM.

The Peacock Room: Behind the Scenes

Talks and Lectures Free, no registration required Get a behind-the-scenes look at the newly restored Peacock Room, a masterpiece of aesthetic decoration, with Lunder Curator of American Art Diana Greenwold. Before the Peacock Room became a work of art by James McNeill Whistler, it was the dining room in the London mansion of Frederick Leyland. Its shelves were designed to showcase the British shipping magnate’s collection of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. Whistler completely redecorated the room in 1876 and 1877 as a “harmony in blue and gold.” This extravagant interior has been on permanent display since the Freer Gallery of Art opened in 1923 and is one of the most beloved artworks in the Smithsonian. After the talk, stay to hear performances of music inspired by the Peacock Room at 1 and 2 p.m. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Peacock Room, Freer Gallery of Art. Cost: Free. Saturday, September 24, 2022, 12:00 PM.

Harmony in Blue and Gold

Performances Free, no registration required. Celebrate the reopening of the newly conserved Peacock Room with this special in-gallery performance. Drop in to hear the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps Modern Flute Ensemble perform "Harmony in Blue and Gold," a composition by contemporary composer Eric Ewazen inspired by the Peacock Room by James McNeill Whistler. Ewazen’s ornate textures and impressionist moods express Whistler's unique environment through a musical world of sounds and lines. The room was originally designed to showcase a Chinese blue-and-white porcelain collection, and the music represents the excitement one feels when viewing this room, with its vivid palette of colors, intricate paintings offsetting elaborate shelves of porcelain, and spectacular gold-coffered ceiling and embossed leather walls. These two performances will be free, and advance registration is not required. Come early to join a curator-led gallery talk at noon in the Peacock Room prior to the performances. The Modern… Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer south corridor. Cost: Free. Saturday, September 24, 2022, 1:00 PM.

Harmony in Blue and Gold

Performances Free, no registration required. Celebrate the reopening of the newly conserved Peacock Room with this special in-gallery performance. Drop in to hear the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps Modern Flute Ensemble perform "Harmony in Blue and Gold," a composition by contemporary composer Eric Ewazen inspired by the Peacock Room by James McNeill Whistler. Ewazen’s ornate textures and impressionist moods express Whistler's unique environment through a musical world of sounds and lines. The room was originally designed to showcase a Chinese blue-and-white porcelain collection, and the music represents the excitement one feels when viewing this room, with its vivid palette of colors, intricate paintings offsetting elaborate shelves of porcelain, and spectacular gold-coffered ceiling and embossed leather walls. These two performances will be free, and advance registration is not required. Come early to join a curator-led gallery talk at noon in the Peacock Room prior to the performances. The Modern… Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Freer south corridor. Cost: Free. Saturday, September 24, 2022, 2:00 PM.

Sanjuro

Films Get your free tickets here: mifune2022.eventive.org/films Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq_rSsbhQnE Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed Sanjuro. In this sly companion piece to Yojimbo, jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a "proper" samurai on its ear. Less brazen in tone than its predecessor but equally entertaining, this classic character's return is a masterpiece in its own right. Description courtesy of Janus Films. (Dir.: Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1962, b&w, 96 min. 35mm, Japanese with English subtitles) Film still courtesy of Janus Films. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Sunday, September 25, 2022, 3:30 PM.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Register and join the session here. Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers. Sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collection as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender. Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Friday, September 30, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.

House

Films Get your free tickets here: https://nmaamatinees.eventive.org/films  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ_Yo06kIIA How to describe Nobuhiko Obayashi’s indescribable 1977 movie House (Hausu)? As a psychedelic ghost tale? A stream-of-consciousness bedtime story? An episode of Scooby-Doo as directed by Mario Bava? Any of the above will do for this hallucinatory head trip about a schoolgirl who travels with six classmates to her ailing aunt’s creaky country home and comes face-to-face with evil spirits, a demonic house cat, a bloodthirsty piano, and other ghoulish visions, all realized by Obayashi via mattes, animation, and collage effects. Equally absurd and nightmarish, House might have been beamed to Earth from some other planet. Description courtesy of Janus Films. (Dir.: Nobuhiko Obayashi, Japan, 1977, 88 min. 35mm, Japanese with English subtitles) Film still courtesy of Janus Films. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Wednesday, October 5, 2022, 2:00 PM.

Translocation of South Asian Art: Provenance and Documentation

Talks and Lectures Register here. This two-day event will occur on Thursday, October 6, and Friday, October 7. Washington, DC: 9–12 p.m. EDT daily London: 2–5 p.m. BST daily Berlin: 3–6 p.m. CET daily New Delhi: 6:30–9:30 p.m. IST daily From the seventeenth century onward, Western visitors to the South Asian subcontinent were actively acquiring as well as commissioning works of art for private and public collections. A complex network of individuals and institutions encouraged collecting and facilitated the strategic movement of art out of South Asia. In our contemporary moment, histories of South Asian objects in museum collections are under increasing scrutiny, and questions about the art market and museum ethics are at the forefront of people’s minds. While this webinar engages with those important issues, it primarily focuses on documenting the provenance and circulation of South Asian art before 1970 as a way to better understand and reckon with the collections that exist today. Divided into two half-day sessions, this w… Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Thursday, October 6, 2022, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM.

Days

Films In person: Tsai Ming-liang, Lee Kang-sheng, Anong Houngheuangsy Get your free tickets here: https://tsaimingliang.eventive.org/films Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgG25_7BCIQ “In Days, I focused on the physical body of Lee Kang-sheng—his exterior. I suddenly realized that because of the aging process, the body is ever-evolving. I can see that inevitable evolution in Lee’s exterior, and that also prompted me to see myself as part of this aging process, since we’re 10 years apart. He almost served as a mirror.” —Tsai Ming-liang Tsai Ming-liang has been directing exquisite examinations of alienation, isolation, and the fleeting beauty of human connection featuring his muse Lee Kang-sheng for decades. Days will undoubtedly stand as one of his best, sparest, and most intimate works. Lee once again stars as a variation on himself, wandering through a lonely urban landscape and seeking treatment in Hong Kong for a chronic illness; at the same time, a young Laotian immigrant working in Bangkok, played by… Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Thursday, October 6, 2022, 7:00 PM.

Translocation of South Asian Art: Provenance and Documentation

Talks and Lectures Register here. This two-day event will occur on Thursday, October 6, and Friday, October 7. Washington, DC: 9–12 p.m. EDT daily London: 2–5 p.m. BST daily Berlin: 3–6 p.m. CET daily New Delhi: 6:30–9:30 p.m. IST daily From the seventeenth century onward, Western visitors to the South Asian subcontinent were actively acquiring as well as commissioning works of art for private and public collections. A complex network of individuals and institutions encouraged collecting and facilitated the strategic movement of art out of South Asia. In our contemporary moment, histories of South Asian objects in museum collections are under increasing scrutiny, and questions about the art market and museum ethics are at the forefront of people’s minds. While this webinar engages with those important issues, it primarily focuses on documenting the provenance and circulation of South Asian art before 1970 as a way to better understand and reckon with the collections that exist today. Divided into two half-day sessions, this w… Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Friday, October 7, 2022, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Register and join the session here. Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers. Sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collection as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender. Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Friday, October 7, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.

Goodbye, Dragon Inn

Films In person: Tsai Ming-liang, Lee Kang-sheng New 4K Restoration! Get your free tickets here: https://tsaimingliang.eventive.org/films Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHMxMJ6qkOU “For me, making a film is a form of writing, writing about the things that concern me deeply.” —Tsai Ming-liang Haunting, ravishingly beautiful, and at times utterly hilarious, Goodbye, Dragon Inn distills the minimalist style Tsai developed over his previous films to its very essence. In a cavernous movie house on its final night in business, a collection of ghostly denizens alternately watch the movie and wander the hallways and restrooms while King Hu’s martial arts classic Dragon Inn plays on the screen. This wistful elegy to cinema history (two of the actors, Miao Tien and Shih Chun, also starred in Hu’s film) is also a formalist comedy full of sight gags worthy of Jacques Tati. Goodbye, Dragon Inn is at once a daring departure and a further refinement of Tsai’s distinctive aesthetic. (Dir.: Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan,… Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Friday, October 7, 2022, 7:00 PM.

Improvisations on the Memory of Cinema

Films Performance by Tsai Ming-liang After the screening of Goodbye, Dragon Inn, join Tsai Ming-liang for a performance incorporating storytelling, drawing, and reminiscences about his life and work. First presented at the Venice Film Festival in 2019, this partially improvised event is an intimate self-portrait of an artist at work. Photo by Chang Jhong Yuan. Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Friday, October 7, 2022, 8:30 PM.

Sneak Peek—Reading Between the Lines: Japanese Calligraphy and Frames

Talks and Lectures Register here.  Calligraphy is language turned into art. It celebrates the artfulness of the written word and the different ways in which language can be interpreted visually and conceptually. In the traditional arts of East Asia, calligraphy has long been considered a form of personal and conceptual expression, where individuality and meaning are being projected through the way a text is written. In this way, most if not all pieces of calligraphy combine form and function. This talk focuses on the religious and secular works of Japanese calligraphy and analyzes how meaning is conveyed by form, materials, and the writer’s intention. The talk will also consider how the mountings—frames and integral structural of hanging scrolls—can correspond with and enhance the aesthetic and content of a work of calligraphy.    Frank Feltens is the Japan Foundation Associate Curator of Japanese Art at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. He holds a PhD in the history of Japanese art from Columbia University and i… Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Tuesday, October 11, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:40 PM.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Register and join the session here. Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers. Sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collection as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender. Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Friday, October 14, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.

I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone

Films Get your free tickets here: https://tsaimingliang.eventive.org/films Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTAzZYXREi4 “In all of my work I deal with people who are on the fringes of society. . . . So whenever I shoot something, whenever I get close to people like those in the film, I feel very good. At the same time, I have a very strong belief that every individual is very hard to understand.” —Tsai Ming-liang Director Tsai Ming-liang returned to his native Malaysia to craft this hypnotic consideration of what it means to care for another human being. Bangladeshi migrant worker Rawang (Norman Atung) discovers Hsiao-kang (Lee Kang-sheng), who has been beaten and left for dead on a street in Kuala Lumpur. Rawang takes the homeless man back to his modest home—a bare mattress in a half-finished apartment building—to nurse him back to health. As their relationship evolves into what A.O. Scott of The New York Times drolly but accurately calls “the world of a Walt Whitman poem,” waitress Chyi (Tsai regular… Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Friday, October 14, 2022, 7:00 PM.

What Time Is It There?/The Skywalk is Gone

Films What Time Is It There?  Get your free tickets here: https://tsaimingliang.eventive.org/films Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoQCaJf5W-c “I’m using this movie to raise the question, ‘When someone you love very dearly passes away, is it only fear that you’re feeling, or is it more than that?’ Basically, this character is in shock after his father dies. . . . He has lost a certain sense of direction, which compels him to change every clock in the city.” —Tsai Ming-liang This metaphysical comedy blends the themes and obsessions of Tsai’s earlier films into one of his most elegant and accomplished creations. An assertive young woman (Chen Shiang-chyi), who is about to leave for Paris, convinces a watch seller (Lee Kang-sheng) to sell her the watch on his own wrist. Immediately smitten, he acts out his obsession with her by attempting to change every clock he sees to Paris time. Meanwhile, his grieving mother (Lu Yi-ching) is troubled by the idea that her dead husband might be reincarnated in another… Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Sunday, October 16, 2022, 4:00 PM.

The Sasanians in Context: Art, History, and Archaeology

Talks and Lectures 10 a.m.—5 p.m. EST     Between the third and seventh centuries CE, the Sasanian Empire became one of the most dominant powers in the ancient world, extending geographically from Western to Central Asia. From monumental buildings and impressive rock reliefs to elaborately designed metal vessels and finely carved seals, these structures and objects provide a glimpse into the empire’s artistic diversity and its rich material culture. Recent scholarship has further expanded our knowledge of the Sasanian empire and has confirmed its enduring legacy beyond its geographic borders, long after the Arab conquest in the seventh century.     The Sasanians in Context: Art, History, and Archaeology gathers some of the most renowned national and international scholars to share their recent work on the Sasanians and their lasting artistic and historical contributions.       This symposium is generously supported by the Tina and Hamid Moghadam Fund and is organized in collaboration with the University of California, Irvine.… Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Friday, October 21, 2022 – Saturday, October 22, 2022.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Register and join the session here. Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers. Sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collection as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender. Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Friday, October 21, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.

Stray Dogs

Films Get your free tickets here: https://tsaimingliang.eventive.org/films Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xsQfTkvBwg “Our cities are changing all the time. It is as if we are living in a giant building site. I never avoid these places in my films. They remind us of what we are losing. They have an emotional appeal, as if they are characters themselves with their own stories to tell.” —Tsai Ming-liang Coming after a four-year hiatus from filmmaking, Stray Dogs can be seen as further refinement of the observational, long-take style of Tsai Ming-liang’s previous films. It also serves as a bridge between his early work in experimental theater and his recent multimedia gallery installations. (In fact, at one point Stray Dogs was expanded into an immersive installation in a museum in Taipei.) The winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 70th Venice International Film Festival, it features Lee Kang-sheng as a “sandwich man” who spends his days standing at busy intersections wearing advertising boards for luxury… Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Friday, October 21, 2022, 7:00 PM.

Art & Me Preservation Family Workshop: Celebrating Ceramics

Kids and Family Something old, something new! Learn about ceramics in the Smithsonian’s collections that were made today and those made by past generations during this virtual family workshop. Explore how conservators care for ceramics from across the globe. Then create your own ceramic masterpiece and learn about ways to protect it.   This hands-on, art-making preservation workshop is designed for children ages three to eight and their caretakers. The program is cohosted by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.    Register now! One registration per family. A Zoom link and a list of suggested materials will be sent to registered participants 24–48 hours in advance of the workshop. . Co-sponsor: Smithsonian American Art Museum. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Saturday, October 22, 2022, 10:00 AM – 10:45 AM.

Journey to the West

Films Get your free tickets here: https://tsaimingliang.eventive.org/films Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3h0WiMMOUE “I think I experienced the highest degree of artistic freedom when I was doing the Walker series, because it’s not about a story, not even about meanings. It’s painting.” —Tsai Ming-liang In 2012, Tsai Ming-liang began a series of short video works in which his longtime collaborator Lee Kang-sheng dresses in the robes of a Buddhist monk and wanders slowly, almost imperceptibly so, through the exterior and interior spaces of cities around the world. The videos were born out of Tsai’s “obsession” with Xuanzang, a seventh-century Chinese Buddhist monk whose seventeen-year pilgrimage from China to India formed the basis for the sixteenth-century literary classic Journey to the West. Named after that work (and a sly reference to its setting in Marseille), this is the most ambitious of these videos so far. With his bright red robe contrasting with the subdued tones of the city, Lee moves with… Venue: Freer Gallery of Art. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Sunday, October 23, 2022, 4:00 PM.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Register and join the session here. Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers. Sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collection as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender. Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Friday, October 28, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.

Meditation and Mindfulness

Workshops Register and join the session here. Meditation helps us build a relationship to a place of inner quietude. Whether you’re a beginner or a skilled practitioner, join us for free online meditation sessions each week led by DC-based meditation teachers. Sessions include inspiration from art in the museum collection as well as appearances by special guest teachers and artists. All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Meet our meditation teachers: Aparna Sadananda and Philip Bender. Image: Early Autumn in Urayasu, Kawase Hasui (1883–1857), Japan, Showa era, 1931/10, woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Robert O. Muller Collection, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S2003.8.763. Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Friday, November 4, 2022, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.