Sneak Peek | An Exclusive Glimpse into From the Louvre
Get a preview of our upcoming exhibition From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art in this online talk with co-curator Simon Rettig. For this show, an exceptional selection of twenty-six objects from the most famous Parisian museum crosses the Atlantic Ocean all together for the first time. Among them are many celebrated artworks, such as the basin known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis,” the so-called Lion of Monzón, the Iznik peacock plate, and one of the monumental portraits of Fath Ali Shah Qajar.
In this talk, Rettig offers an overview of From the Louvre and addresses the main themes explored in the exhibition, from the making of a masterpiece to the formation of the museum’s collections of Islamic art. Rettig also introduces the little-known relationship between the National Museum of Asian Art’s founder Charles Lang Freer and Louvre curator Gaston Migeon, which sparked a century-long collaboration between the two institutions.
This program is part of the monthly lunchtime series Sneak Peek,…
Event Location: Zoom. Cost: Free. Register in advance (required). Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ux2M6nJ5TPeQwEc8SmnUFw#/registration. Categories: Lectures & Discussions. Webcasts & Online. Accessibility: Captioning.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:50 PM.
From the Louvre | Opening Lecture with Souraya Noujaim
Register to Attend In-person, Register to Watch the Livestream
The Musée du Louvre’s Islamic Art Department was established in 2003 and holds over 18,000 objects. In this talk, department director Souraya Noujaim presents some of the masterpieces that could not make the journey to Washington for the exhibition From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. She shares their fascinating story and delves into their journey to the Louvre. Noujaim also focuses on individuals, curators, and donors who helped shape the collections through the present day. Following the lecture, she discusses the exhibition with co-curator Simon Rettig.
This program is made possible with generous support from Villa Albertine.
, Dr. Souraya Noujaim has been the Director of the Department of Islamic Arts at the Musée du Louvre in Paris since 2023. In this capacity, she is responsible for the museum’s curatorial strategy and the ongoing development of its collections, with a focus on engaging a broad and diverse audience. Dr. Noujaim…
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium and Livestreamed. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Categories: Webcasts & Online. Lectures & Discussions. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Captioning. Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 3, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM.
Sneak Peek | Saodat Ismailova and Marianne Kamp in Conversation
Saodat Ismailova’s films weave together archival materials and her own footage to explore Central Asia’s layered histories and landscapes, from the region’s ancient past and Islamic traditions through the Soviet era and into the present. In this online program, Ismailova considers these subjects in conversation with Dr. Marianne Kamp, whose landmark studies of Uzbek social transformation have explored the lives of women and youth amid Soviet-era modernization and unveiling.
Together, their reflections invite us to consider how personal memory, oral history, and historical archives can illuminate the political, social, and environmental changes that have shaped Central Asia. Born in Uzbekistan in 1981, Saodat Ismailova is an Uzbek filmmaker and artist living and working between Paris and Tashkent. She graduated from the Tashkent State Art Institute and Le Fresnoy—National Studio of Contemporary Arts in France. In 2021, she initiated Davra, a research collective dedicated to developing the Central Asian art…
Event Location: Zoom. Cost: Free. Register in advance (required). Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_HXCv1E-OT5-c4eKySE56Dg#/registration. Categories: Webcasts & Online. Lectures & Discussions. Related Exhibition: Saodat Ismailova: Melted into the Sun. Accessibility: Captioning.
Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
The Peacock Room at 150: Lecture and Reception
Join the Freer Research Center as we celebrate the 150th anniversary of James McNeill Whistler’s most complete Aesthetic-era interior, the Peacock Room. Hear from noted Whistler scholar and former National Museum of Asian Art curator Linda Merrill about the context of the room’s creation. She also discusses some of the art-historical misinterpretations that prevailed before the comprehensive conservation campaign of the 1990s. The program will be followed by a celebratory reception in the courtyard.
The Peacock Room is as awe inspiring for its rich detail as it is notorious for the rupture the project caused between the artist and his patron. Whistler designed the space for shipping magnate Frederick Leyland between 1876 and 1877. Leyland expected a few modest alterations to his new dining room, where he intended to display his collection of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. The room Whistler ultimately completed, mostly without his patron’s consent, was a lavish space covered floor to ceiling in depictions…
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Courtyard, Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (required). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-peacock-room-at-150-lecture-and-reception-tickets-2000233342773. Categories: After Five. Lectures & Discussions. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 22, 2026, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM.
Conservation Cart Talk | Peacock Room Ceramics
Join objects conservator Ellen Chase to explore the blue-and-white ceramics displayed in the Peacock Room. Learn how artists in China used cobalt pigments and brushes to create their distinctive designs, and discover how conservators study, care for, and preserve them. Examine a replica ceramic and conservation materials up close while gaining a deeper understanding of these works of art. Image: National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Photo by Colleen Dugan.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Gallery 12. Cost: Free. Register in advance (optional). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1999025752839?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Lectures & Discussions. Related Exhibition: The Peacock Room. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Assisted listening devices.
Friday, October 23, 2026, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Virtual Book Club | Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
Register to join. Halloween costumes welcome~
Calling all readers! We’re starting a quarterly virtual book club, hosted by NPR’s Emily Kwong. You may recognize her from the hit podcast Inheriting about AAPI family history. Our club will meet once each season, with fresh recommendations from some of our favorite Asian-owned bookstores (including Loyalty Bookstore and Yu & Me Books).
Expect: open-ended questions, organic conversation, and a structured activity.
To kick off the club, our first book is Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. Grab a copy from the museum store on your next visit. About Martyr!
A newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, guided by the voices of artists, poets, and kings, embarks on a remarkable search for a family secret that leads him to a terminally ill painter living out her final days in the Brooklyn Museum. Electrifying, funny, and wholly original, Kaveh Akbar’s debut novel is a paean to how we spend our lives seeking meaning—in faith, art, ourselves, others. Martyr! is a New York…
Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Register in advance (required). Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/-aNMzt2QS8eO8K6Fh7Uocw#/registration. Categories: Lectures & Discussions. Webcasts & Online. After Five.
Thursday, October 29, 2026, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM.