From an email:
“Hazel Rowley tells the tale of a partnership as full of betrayals as it is of a fundamental fidelity.
Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt come alive anew in all their complexity, humanity, and greatness.”
Jan. 12 (Wed) @ Noon in the Bookstore
NPG is located at Eighth and F Streets, NW.
Theo Eshetu, Brave New World II, 1999 (2006 Edition). Multimedia and video installation. Photograph by Chris Ward Jones, courtesy of the artist.
From an email:
“Artist Talk: Theo Eshetu
Date: Thursday, December 16
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: National Museum of African Art
lecture hall, sub-level 2
950 Independence Avenue, SW
Take Metro to Smithsonian Station
Video artist, filmmaker and photographer Theo Eshetu discusses his recent projects with a focus on his video installation Brave New World II, now on view at the National Museum of African Art. He shows how aspects of his biography—born in London to Dutch and Ethiopian parents, raised in Senegal and other countries, and now residing in Rome—as well as circumstance influence his life and art.
About the Artist:
Theo Eshetu received his degree in communication design from the North East London Polytechnic in 1981. Since then, he has taught film—most recently at the Accademia dell’Immagine in L’Aquila, Italy—and worked in a range of new media formats, from documentary and experimental films to video art installations and photography. His films include Traveling Light (1992), Art is Easy (1997), Blood Is Not Fresh Water (1998), Africanized (2001) and Body and Soul (2004). Eshetu’s work has appeared throughout Italy as well as in England, Germany, Sweden, South Africa, Canada, the United States, Brazil, China and Japan.”
“Dear PoP,
On Friday, December 3 at 7 PM, we will show the ever popular comedy Linda Linda Linda. The film follows four girls as they prepare their band for their final school festival. Accompanied by a great soundtrack, this film is funny, poignant, and will certainly have you longing for your school festival (and a karaoke box). Click here to visit the film’s official English site. (Japanese with English subtitles)
On Sunday, December 5 at 2 PM, we will screen The Harimaya Bridge, written and directed by former JET Aaron Woolfolk (Kochi Prefecture). The Harimaya Bridge is a drama about an American man who must travel to rural Japan to claim some important items belonging to his late son, from whom he was estranged. While there, he learns several secrets his son left behind. Mr. Woolfolk will be in attendance during the screening and will stay to answer questions about his craft and his experiences. Come see a film the Los Angeles Times calls “a unique, complex, consciousness-raising accomplishment,” and Derek Kester of the San Francisco Examiner labels one of the best films of the year. Click here to visit the film’s official site.
Admission to both films is FREE and open to the public. Seating in the Meyer Auditorium at the Freer (directions here) will be available on a first come first served basis. Auditorium doors will open approximately 30 minutes before each show.”
From an email:
“When: Saturday, December 11, 2010, 2pm
Venue: National Portrait Gallery
Event Location: McEvoy Auditorium (enter from G Street)
Seminal punk rocker Patti Smith discusses and signs copies of her book Just Kids, a memoir of early 1970s Manhattan and of her friendship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe. Books available for sale in the Museum Store.
Please note this is an Author Lecture – not just a book signing!”
Right?
From Wikipedia:
Giuseppe Arcimboldo (also spelled Arcimboldi) (1527 – July 11, 1593) was an Italian painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made entirely of such objects as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish, and books — that is, he painted representations of these objects on the canvas arranged in such a way that the whole collection of objects formed a recognizable likeness of the portrait subject.
Image: Ousmane Sow, Toussaint Louverture et la vieille esclave, 1989. Mixed media. Museum purchase, through exchange from Emil Eisenberg and Mr. and Mrs. Norman Robbins, and with funds from Stuart Bohart and Barbara Portman, 2009-8-1. Photograph by Franko Khoury.
Date: Saturday, November 20
Time: 2 p.m.
Place: National Museum of African Art
mezzanine, sub-level 1
950 Independence Avenue, SW
Take Metro to Smithsonian Station
“Senegalese artist Ousmane Sow will make a rare appearance at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art to speak about his striking work, Toussaint Louverture et la vieille esclave (Toussaint Louverture and the elderly slave). The towering figure of Haitian leader Toussaint Louverture commemorates the bicentennial of the French Revolution and is the centerpiece of the museum’s new exhibition, African Mosaic: Celebrating a Decade of Collecting. The artist will discuss his monumental sculptures with his wife, photographer and filmmaker Béatrice Soulé. The event is free and open to the public.”
Well this was an odd scene on Sat. outside the Spy Museum at 800 F St, NW. Odd but cool. According to the Spy Museum’s Web site:
“The ONLY Trabant Rally in the United States!
Where were you when the Wall fell? The Berlin Wall is long gone, but one Cold War icon is still chugging away—the Trabant. Despite their questionable performance and smoky two-stroke engines, these little cars are now affectionately regarded as a symbol of East Germany and the fall of Communism. Trabants are a rarity here, but on 6 November some of the finest examples in the U.S will chug their way to the International Spy Museum to celebrate our Fourth Annual Parade of Trabants.”
It looks like Mr. T in DC was there too and snapped this great shot:
Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC
And one else happen to check them out? Lots more photos after the jump. (more…)
This sounds awesome:
Skip rush hour, and join us for “Portraits After 5” at the National Portrait Gallery. This free happy hour event combines art and music with a contemporary twist. Check out projections on the walls of the Kogod Courtyard by artist Claire Scoville, a pop-up photo booth with photographer Rob Northway, musical guest DJ Todd Threats (a.k.a. toddlovesupreme), and our special exhibition “Americans Now.”
Located in the Courtyard Café, “Portraits After 5” is the perfect way to start your weekend.
Friday, October 1, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
8th & F Street NW“
Since we’ve got a three-day weekend I thought this could be a useful question. It actually came to my mind when I saw the sign above for an Octagon House Museum and I was like, what the hell is that? Anyway, I thought it’d be fun to share our favorite museums in DC. For those who really love museums I’ll ask for three categories – favorite free museum, favorite museum with a fee and favorite lesser known museum?
Incidentally, I’m sorry I didn’t realize this earlier but the Corcoran Gallery of Art was offering free Summer Saturdays. For those staying in town this Sat. is the last free one!
The school house/museum is located at 4954 MacArthur Blvd. NW. When I was stomping around the Palisades I thought this was pretty cool. Anyone with kids ever check out the museum? This Web site says:
“Bringing your environmentally-obsessed child to this unique museum and nature center is a must. They’ll love seeing conservation and ecology lessons they learned in school get put into action. You can also hike to a creek to learn how water cycles from the ground to the air and back again. Teens will enjoy it too, and are often impressed to find that some of the museum’s volunteer staff are their age.”
And I just thought the building was cool…
