EVENT CATEGORIES
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ART
June 1 to 29
Who Used to Dance
Classically trained artist Anna Demovidova brings together a collection of paintings inspired by the vibrancy and expressiveness of jazz and flamenco, evoking the spirit, rhythm and improvisation of the two musical forms.
International Visions Gallery
Through June 8
Pageant of the Tsars: The Romanov Coronation Albums
Marking the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Romanov dynasty in 1613, the history and spectacle of Russian tsars’ coronations are revealed through lavish, rarely seen albums and objects from Hillwood’s Russian collection.
Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens
June 8 to Sept. 1
Georges Braque and the Cubist Still Life, 1928–1945
Featuring 44 sumptuous canvases, the exhibition charts French cubist master Georges Braque’s (1882-1963) work in the still-life genre — from depictions of intimate interiors in the late 1920s, to vibrant, large-scale canvases in the 1930s, to darker and more personal spaces in the 1940s.
The Phillips Collection
June 8 to Jan. 12
Living Artfully: At Home with Marjorie Merriweather Post
From the glamour of Palm Beach, to the rustic whimsy of the Adirondacks, to the distinguished social scene of Washington, D.C., heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post brought to her multiple residences a flawless style of living and entertaining that was made possible only through the gracious management of loyal staff.
Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens
Through June 9
Albrecht Dürer: Master Drawings, Watercolors, and Prints from the Albertina
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) has long been considered the greatest German artist, uniquely combining the status held in Italian art by Michelangelo in the 16th century, by Raphael in the 18th and 19th centuries, and by Leonardo da Vinci in our own day. But while Dürer’s paintings were prized, his most influential works were actually his drawings, watercolors, engravings and woodcuts.
National Gallery of Art
Through June 15
Codex Mexico: The Book as Art
This exposition of artisanal books and printed art showcases both Mexico’s enormous heritage in the arts of printing, and the Mexicans currently working to renew and enrich such an important legacy.
Mexican Cultural Institute
June 16 to Aug. 4
A World of Bonds: Frederick Sommer’s Photography and Friendships
Frederick Sommer (1905–99) explored an unusually broad array of subjects ranging from disorienting landscapes and macabre aspects of the natural world to surreal arrangements of found objects and virtual abstractions.
National Gallery of Art
June 19 to Feb. 9
Lines, Marks, and Drawings: Through the Lens of Roger Ballen
This exhibit considers the 40-year-plus career of Roger Ballen, one of the more recognized photographic artists working today, through a new approach: an examination of line and drawing in his photographs.
National Museum of African Art
Through June 21
Point of View – Afghanistan
Presented by the Embassy of Australia and the Australian War Memorial as part of the 2013 ANZAC Day Commemorations, “Point of View – Afghanistan” features the video and photographic work from Shaun Gladwell’s experience as an official war artist in the Middle East, where he investigated relationships between the human body, landscapes and images drawn from the contemporary world.
Embassy of Australia Art Gallery
June 21 to Nov. 10
Awake in a Dream World: The Art of Audrey Niffenegger
The first major museum exhibition of visual artist and author of “The Time Traveler’s Wife” reveals a mysterious, strange and whimsical world, both real and imagined, through 239 paintings, drawings, prints and book art.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Through June 28
2Fik’s Museum (and Other Works)
This new project by French-Moroccan artist 2Fik features playful photographic recreations of classic paintings in which 2Fik recreates the original masterpiece and uses himself as the sole impersonator for all the subjects. Born in Paris to a Moroccan Muslim family, 2Fik moved to Montréal in 2003 and through his emigration experience, he was forced to confront his relationship to religion, politics and society — an experience from which he derives much of his inspiration.
La Maison Française
June 29 to Sept. 29
WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath
This landmark exhibition revolutionizes our understanding of war, immersing viewers in the experience of soldiers and civilians through images by more than 200 photographers from 28 nations that span conflicts from the past 165 years — from the Mexican-American War through present-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Corcoran Gallery of Art
Through June 30
The Enduring Designs of Josef Frank
Designer and architect Josef Frank, born 1885, was a leading pioneer in modern Swedish design, leaving behind about 200 textile and 2,000 furniture designs, a portion of which are on display in this exhibit.
House of Sweden
Through June 30
The Third Room
Maja Salomonsson, in collaboration with Swedish Radio’s Youth Radio Drama Department, has created the sound walk “The Third Room,” a play area that welcomes children into a dream world where time is fluid and the laws of gravity are suspended.
House of Sweden
Through July 7
One Man’s Search for Ancient China: The Paul Singer Collection
New Jersey psychiatrist-turned-collector Paul Singer’s bequest to the Sackler Gallery created one of the largest Chinese archaeological collections in the United States. This exhibition looks at the collector’s contributions to Chinese art history — made largely at a time when contact between China and the West was heavily restricted — and examines how landmark archaeological discoveries have shed new light on his acquisitions and on ancient China.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Through July 12
Nothing is Done (Nichts ist erledigt)
Ever since the 1970s, artist, publisher and lawyer Klaus Staeck has been causing a stir in Germany. Often used in protests against environmental destruction, Staeck’s art — through evocative images and slogans — calls attention to global warming, ever-growing piles of rubbish, nuclear waste, and the pollution of the air and oceans.
Goethe-Institut
Through July 28
Edvard Munch: A 150th Anniversary Tribute
This 150th birthday tribute to Edvard Munch (1863–1944), Norway’s most famed painter and printmaker, includes more than 20 renowned works from the gallery’s collection and a unique series of six variant impressions.
National Gallery of Art
Through Aug. 4
Arts of Japan: Edo Aviary and Poetic License
Complementary but distinct installations examine two themes of Edo period art: “Edo Aviary,” which traces how depictions of birds were influenced by natural history painting, and “Poetic License: Making Old Words New,” which shows how classical Japanese and Chinese literary traditions were absorbed into the merchant and artisan classes.
Freer Gallery of Art
Through Aug. 4
Views of Panama
Photographers Gabriel Benaim, José Manuel Castrellón and Lorena Endara examine the stunning transformation Panama has undertaken in the last few years, manifested into a real estate and building boom that has changed Panama City’s skyline.
OAS Art Museum of the Americas
F Street Gallery
Through Aug. 11
Hand-Held: Gerhard Pulverer’s Japanese Illustrated Books
More than 100 volumes reflect on the Edo period Japan (1615-1868) as an age of great social and political change that gave rise to an unprecedented “reading culture” of artists, writers and publishers. Similar to blogging and e-publication in the 21st century, illustrated books (ehon) in Edo Japan opened up a new avenue with which to share ideas, marked by epic levels of publishing and book consumption.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Through Sept. 1
David Levinthal: War Games
David Levinthal, a central figure in the history of American postmodern photography, has staged uncanny tableaux using toys and miniature dioramas for nearly 40 years. Mounted to celebrate the museum’s acquisition of a major, career-spanning body of work, this exhibition is the first to feature all of the artist’s work on the subject of war.
Corcoran Gallery of Art
Through Sept. 2
Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909-1929: When Art Danced with Music
More than 130 original costumes, set designs, paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings, photographs and posters reveal how the Ballets Russes — the most innovative dance company of the 20th century — propelled the performing arts to new heights through groundbreaking collaborations between artists, composers, choreographers, dancers and fashion designers.
National Gallery of Art
Through Sept. 2
Nine Deaths, Two Births: Xu Bing’s Phoenix Project
Chinese artist Xu Bing spent more than two years creating his newest work, “Phoenix Project,” a massive installation that comprises two birds fabricated entirely from materials found at construction sites in Beijing.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Through Sept. 8
Over, Under, Next: Experiments in Mixed Media, 1913-Present
Butterfly wings, glass shards, doll parts, crumpled automotive metal, jigsaw puzzle pieces, clothing, straight pins, furniture, and colored sand — these are just some of the materials in “Over, Under, Next,” an exhibition of approximately 100 examples of collage and assemblage, primarily drawn from the Hirshhorn’s collection.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Through Sept. 22
Bice Lazzari: Signature Line
In collaboration with the Italian Embassy, this exhibit features 25 paintings and drawings by Lazzari (1900-81), one of Italy’s most revered modern artists. Discouraged from studying the figure in art school in the 1910s because of her gender, she became a prominent decorative arts designer who became for her later poetic abstract paintings
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Through Sept. 29
A Book Behind Bars: The Robben Island Shakespeare
Nelson Mandela signed his name next to a passage from “Julius Caesar” in Shakespeare’s “Complete Works” on Dec. 16, 1977, while serving 18 years as a political prisoner at Robben Island. More than 30 of Mandela’s fellow prisoners also signed their names next to passages, documenting a part of their experience through their shared knowledge of Shakespeare. Accompanying the Robben Island Shakespeare book — on display for the first time in the United States — is a series of sketches Mandela made in the early 2000s, reflecting on his prison life.
Folger Shakespeare Library
Through Oct. 13
Out of Southeast Asia: Art that Sustains
The last exhibition presented in the Textile Museum’s historic location before the museum’s 2014 reopening promises to be a beautiful pairing of tradition and innovation, demonstrating how four artists are reinventing traditional Southeast Asian textile techniques, designs and ideology in new and meaningful ways.
The Textile Museum
Through Jan. 5, 2014
Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts of Africa
Some 100 exceptional works of art from the late 18th to 21st centuries come together for the first major exhibition and scholarly endeavor to comprehensively examine the rich relationship between African artists and the land upon which they live, work and frame their days.
National Museum of African Art
DISCUSSIONS
Thu., June 6, 6:45 p.m.
Nabokov’s Secrets
Author Andrea Pitzer draws from newly declassified intelligence files and recovered military history to suggest that Vladimir Nabokov — the celebrated author of works such as “Lolita” who fled Revolutionary Russia and then Germany under Hitler — managed to hide disturbing history in his novels. Tickets are $25; for information, visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
S. Dillon Ripley Center
Fri., June 7, 6:30 p.m.
Health, Hair, and Heritage
Panelists Diana N’Diaye, Monte Harris, Karen Milbourne and Gina Paige hold an engaging conversation on contemporary hair, health and beauty in relation to the heritage and history of Africa, followed by a reception. Admission is free but reservations are required and can be made at http://healthhairheritage.eventbrite.com.
National Museum of African Art
Fri., June 14, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Scandalous Spring: Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring at 100
Spend a day at the Embassy of France and experience “The Rite of Spring” in a seminar led by Yvonne Caruthers, cellist with the National Symphony Orchestra, as she explores a ballet work whose modernity and savage beauty rocked prewar Paris with a creative explosion that still echoes a century later. Tickets are $150, including lunch; for information, visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
La Maison Française
Sat., June 15, 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Glorious Prague: City of Mystery and Gold
Cultural and music historian Carol Reynolds explores this legendary city, home to magnificent architecture and many cultural attractions, whose complex history is marked by the events that have shaped it — and the Czech people. Tickets are $130; for information, visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
S. Dillon Ripley Center
Tue., June 18, 7 p.m.
La Cuisine du Québec: Exploring the Passion and Depth of Québec’s Emerging Microbreweries
Celebrated beer sommelier Sylvain Bouchard joins us from Québec to showcase the microbrewery movement and the wealth of variety that defines craft beers in Québec — followed by a tasting of several Québec microbrews, with a pairing of cheeses and other Québec treats. Tickets are $30; for information, visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
S. Dillon Ripley Center
Thu., June 20, 6:45 p.m.
The Jews of Britain
Jewish Britons’ transformation from vilified interlopers to vital members of the British community is examined this evening by historian Virginia W. Newmyer. Tickets are $42.
S. Dillon Ripley Center
FESTIVALS
June 26 to 30
July 3 to 7
Smithsonian Folklife Festival
This year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival, an international exposition of living cultural heritage produced annually on the National Mall, features the themes “Hungarian Heritage: Roots to Revival,” “One World, Many Voices: Endangered Languages and Cultural Heritages” and “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style and Identity.”
National Mall
Fri., June 21, 7:30 p.m.
Fête de la Musique
The Embassy of France opens its doors to music lovers to celebrate the summer solstice festivities — which were founded in 1982 and take place each year in 110 countries and over 430 cities — with performances by Origem and Cheick Hamala Diabate, two groups that offer a unique mix of jazz and world music. Tickets are free but RSVP is required and can be made at http://fetedelamusique2013.eventbrite.com/.
La Maison Française
Sat., June 22, 4 p.m.
Summer Music Fête
Each year on the summer solstice, the French gather in the streets to celebrate the change of seasons with a Fête de la Musique — a dynamic tapestry of music and dancing by both amateur and professional musicians. To mark the occasion, the French-American Cultural Foundation hosts its 11th annual all-day music fête at the Embassy of France featuring more than 50 bands and street performers, as well as barbecued specialties, pastries, cotton candy, beer, wine and other libations. Admission is $10 in advance or $15 at the door.
La Maison Française
June 20 to 29
Nordic Jazz 2013
The Nordic embassies in Washington and Twins Jazz Club present the seventh annual Nordic Jazz Festival in D.C., showcasing internationally acclaimed performers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden who will present the modern sound of Nordic jazz over the course of eight concerts at the Finnish and Swedish embassies, as well as Twin Jazz Club. For information, visit www.nordicjazz2013.eventbrite.com or www.twinsjazz.com.
Various locations
MUSIC
Fri., June 7, 7:30 p.m.
Bergthor Palsson, Baritone
Edvinas Minkstimas, Piano
Baritone Bergthor Palsson has appeared with the Icelandic Opera, the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Reykjavik, and his oratorio roles include Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion, Haydn’s Creation and Seasons, Orff’s Carmina Burana and Mozart’s Requiem. Tickets are $100 and include buffet; for information, visit www.embassyseries.com.
Icelandic Residence
Sat., June 8, 6:30 p.m.
Leoncavallo – Pagliacci
Opera Camerata performances start with a lavish cocktail reception followed by redacted versions of beloved operas with top talent, orchestra, chorus, costumes and narrator. The June 8 show of “Pagliacci,” hosted by Greek Ambassador Christos Panagopoulos, features Greek-American superstar Anastasia Jamieson and is conducted by maestro Gregory Buchalter of the Metropolitan Opera. Tickets are $175; for information, visit www.operacamerata.org.
The Farfax at Embassy Row Hotel
Fri., June 14, 7:30 p.m.
DC Jazz Festival: Jazz Meets the Latin Classics
Conductor/saxophonist/clarinetist and jazz master Paquito D’Rivera leads an all-star ensemble in arranged works by Piazzolla, Lecuona, D’Rivera and others. Tickets are $35.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Sat., June 15, 7:30 p.m.
Amandine Beyer and Gli Incogniti
Amandine Beyer, one of the finest Baroque violinists of her generation, embraces the modernist works of Berio, Stockhausen, and Challulau with her group Gli Incogniti, which specializes in experimentation, seeking out new repertoire, and the rediscovery of the classics. Tickets are $25.
La Maison Française
Sat., June 22, 7:30 p.m.
The Batera Duo
The Batera Duo, which hails from two sister islands in the Maltese archipelago, was formed by Gozitan saxophonist Philip Attard and Maltese pianist Christine Zerafa. The name Batera (meaning “conjunction” in the Basque language) aptly describes this duo of two young musicians with relatively different musical backgrounds that are combined into a unique performing style. Tickets are $110, including buffet and valet parking; for information, visit www.embassyseries.com.
Embassy of Luxembourg
Sun., June 23, 8 p.m.
The Legacy of Bob Marley
The Kennedy Center, with the Grammy Museum, celebrates Jamaican folk legend Bob Marley with a concert featuring David Hines (of Steel Pulse), Israel Vibration, Junior Marvin, Speech (of Arrested Development), and Roots Radic. Tickets are $20 to $48.
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
THEATER
Fri., June 7, 1:30 p.m.,
Sat., June 8, 2 p.m.
La Pluma y la Palabra / The Pen and the Word Poetry Marathon
Teatro de la Luna presents its 21st annual Poetry Marathon: The Best of Hispano-American Poetry featuring the Spanish-speaking world’s most celebrated poets, including José Eduardo Degrazia of Brazil, Emilio Mozo of Cuba and Nicasio Urbina of Nicaragua, among others (in Spanish; free but donations accepted).
Library of Congress
Mary Pickford Theater (June 7)
Casa de la Luna (June 8)
Through June 8
The Full Monty
The Keegan Theatre presents the raucous musical based on the British film about six down-on-their luck steelworkers who are desperately seeking paychecks to support their families — until they come up with a bold way to make some quick cash. Tickets are $40.
Church Street Theater
June 8 to 9
Approaching Ali
In two premiere performances, composer D.J. Sparr and librettists Mark Campbell and Davis Miller tell the story of a reporter’s transformative meeting with the boxing legend Muhammad Ali. Tickets are $30.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
Through June 9
The Submission
A gay, white playwright’s play gets accepted at the nation’s preeminent theater festival. Trouble is, everyone thinks his stirring new play about an alcoholic black mother and her card-sharp son trying to get out of the projects is written by Shaleeha G’ntamobi … and she doesn’t exist. Tickets are $32.50 to $65.
Olney Theatre Center
Through June 9
The Three Musketeers
D’Artagnan teams up with the Three Musketeers and becomes entangled in a plot surrounding the evil Cardinal Richelieu, the sly Milady de Winter and a romance between the Duke of Buckingham and Queen Anne. Tickets are $35 to $55.
Synetic Theater
Through June 9
Twelfth Night
Director Robert Richmond returns to Folger Theatre to direct this romantic and whimsical of tales filled with lovers, lunatics, poets, drunkards, and clowns in the quixotic land of Illyria. Tickets are $30 to $68.
Folger Shakespeare Library
June 11 to July 6
One Destiny
This one-act play by Richard Hellesen brings the drama and emotion of the American Civil War to life by capturing the emotions of that fateful night in 1865 that killed Abraham Lincoln, as told through the eyewitness accounts of actor Harry Hawk and Ford’s Theatre co-owner Harry Ford, among others. Please call for ticket information.
Ford’s Theatre
June 11 to July 7
Anything Goes
All aboard for Roundabout Theatre Company’s saucy and splendid production of the beloved musical “Anything Goes,” winner of three 2011 Tony Awards. Tickets are $25 to $115.
Kennedy Center Opera House
June 16 to 19
Theater of the Voiceless
Documentary theater possesses the unique ability to respond to issues of pressing social and political import, providing a platform and voice for the dispossessed. This symposium and festival co-produced by Zeitgeist DC (the Austrian Cultural Forum, Goethe-Institut and the Embassy of Switzerland) brings together leading playwrights, artists, and governmental, political and cultural experts from the United States and German-speaking countries to discuss, perform and celebrate the international power of this art form. For information, visit www.theaterofthevoiceless.eventbrite.com/.
Various locations
Through June 23
The Guardsman
Budapest’s most beautiful and beloved young actress is notorious for her affairs that only last six months. When she finally decides to marry, she of course chooses Budapest’s most handsome and talented actor. Shortly into their marriage, the actor suspects his new wife is getting restless, so he decides to take on his most daring role yet — disguising himself as her ideal lover. Tickets are $54 to $95
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater
Through June 23
Stupid Fucking Bird
An aspiring director rampages against the art created by his mother’s generation. A nubile young actress wrestles with an aging Hollywood star for the affections of a renowned novelist. And everyone discovers just how disappointing love, art and growing up can be in this irreverent remix of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull.” Tickets start at $35.
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
Through June 23
The Winter’s Tale
An act of jealousy sets the plot into motion when Leontes, King of Sicilia, accuses his virtuous wife Hermione of infidelity in this moving story of mistakes and forgiveness that spans 16 years and two nations. Tickets are $43 to $95.
Shakespeare Lansburgh Theatre
Through June 30
Company
On his 35th birthday, a commitment-phobic bachelor searches for the answers to love and life in New York City, where he observes both the joys and pitfalls of marriage from his five quirky couple friends. Please call for ticket information.
Signature Theatre
Through June 30
The Hampton Years
This breakthrough premiere explores the development of great African-American artists John Biggers and Samella Lewis under the tutelage of Austrian Jewish refugee painter and educator Viktor Lowenfeld during World War II. Tickets start at $35.
Washington DCJCC Theater J