EVENT CATEGORIES

ART

 Through June 3
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Photographer Adam Golfer, the Jewish grandson of Holocaust survivors, offers a personal documentary that examines the connection between the German and Jewish people more than 60 years after the fall of the Third Reich.
Goethe-Institut

June 4 to Aug. 14
E • CO
River degradation. Torrential rains in Brazil. The consequences of nuclear power in Eastern Europe. Environmental issues are captured by professional photographers from across Latin America and Europe in a body of work first shown in Spain in conjunction with “E • CO 2010,” a meeting organized by the Spanish Ministry of Culture to highlight professional photographers’ challenges and needs in the rapidly evolving digital media landscape.
American University Katzen Arts Center

June 4 to Aug. 14
Registro 02
Is a work of art defined by the artist’s intent and methods, or do the people viewing it help define the work through their perceptions of it? Encompassing the works of four individual artists and one collective, this exhibit sets out to show that both the artistic process and the audience’s perception help inform art’s meaning.
American University Katzen Arts Center

Through June 5
Gauguin: Maker of Myth
Paul Gauguin’s sumptuous, colorful images of Brittany and the islands of the South Seas are among nearly 120 works in the first major look at the artist’s oeuvre in the United States since the blockbuster 1988 National Gallery of Art retrospective “The Art of Paul Gauguin.”
National Gallery of Art

Through June 5
In Small Things Remembered: The Early Years of U.S.-Afghan Relations
More than 100 reproductions of photographs and documents culled from private and public archives around the United States and Afghanistan — created for the State Department and U.S. Embassy in Kabul, the exhibit — offer an in-depth chronicle of the relationship between the two countries beginning with initial contacts in the early 20th century and continuing through the late 1970s.
Meridian International Center

June 9 to Sept. 3
gute aussichten: young German photography 2010/2011
Works by eight winners of gute aussichten, the seventh annual German competition for graduate photography students, come to Washington on the exhibition’s worldwide tour.
The Goethe-Institut

June 11 to Sept. 4
Kandinsky and the Harmony of Silence: Painting with White Border
After a visit to his native Moscow, Vasily Kandinsky recorded his “extremely powerful impressions” in his 1913 masterpiece, “Painting with White Border,” which, for this exhibition, is reunited with more than 12 preparatory studies from international collections, including the Phillips’s oil sketch, and compared with other closely related works.
The Phillips Collection

June 11 to Sept. 4

Stella Sounds: The Scarlatti K Series
For the first time in a museum exhibition, the Phillips Collection presents recent works from Frank Stella’s “K “series inspired by the 18th-century composer Domenico Scarlatti’s harpsichord sonatas.
The Phillips Collection

June 11 to Jan. 16
Family Matters: Portraits from the Qing Court
Lavish portraits — almost evenly divided between images of men and women, some nearly life-size — show Qing dynasty royal family members dressed in the elaborate formal robes required for attendance at court or more casual attire in moments of leisure, offering a fascinating look at imperial family life in the later half of China’s Qing dynasty.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

June 17 to Oct. 2
The Guerrilla Girls Talk Back
The Guerrilla Girls, a group of anonymous artist-activists, critique the sexism and racism pervading contemporary culture through their populist art production, which includes posters, books and live performances in which they wear gorilla masks.
National Museum of Women in the Arts

June 17 to Oct. 2
Pressing Ideas: Fifty Years of Women’s Lithographs from Tamarind
Featuring 75 works by 42 artists including Elaine de Kooning, Louise Nevelson, Margo Humphrey, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith and Kiki Smith, “Pressing Ideas” explores the breadth of experimentation in lithography and women’s contributions to a workshop that stretches creative boundaries.
National Museum of Women in the Arts

Through June 18
Beyond the Labyrinth: Latin American Art and the FEMSA Collection
This wide-ranging display features 50 works by some of the most renowned Latin American artists of the past century, including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Rufino Tamayo, Roberto Matta and Fernando Botero, from an internationally renowned collection that spans cubism, surrealism, landscape, abstractionism and contemporary art.
Mexican Cultural Institute

June 18 to Jan. 1
Wedding Belles: Bridal Fashions from the Marjorie Merriweather Post Family, 1874-1958
Sumptuous bridal gowns and bridesmaid dresses belonging to heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her family, along with a royal veil and stunning Cartier bag carried by Post’s daughter —actress Dina Merrill — tell the story of 20th-century wedding styles through the lens of one of America’s most notable and fashionable families.
Hillwood Estate and Museum

Through June 24
Corridor
This exhibit showcases the work of 12 established artists, six from Baltimore and six from Washington, D.C., linked by the I-95 corridor, flipping the conventional artist-curator relationship on its side with intriguing results.
Organization of American States
Art Museum of the Americas

June 25 to Aug. 14
Washington Color and Light
Artists associated with the Washington Color School and their contemporaries were united by an exploration of the language of abstraction, a desire to experiment with materials, and a love of color. This exhibition reveals the artistic innovations and individual approaches that shaped new directions in abstract painting and sculpture from the 1950s to the late 1970s.
Corcoran Gallery of Art

Through June 30
All Come in Color
Five local Argentine artists present abstract and figurative paintings to celebrate the month of the May Revolution in their home country. For information, call (202) 238-6464.
Embassy of Argentina

Through July 17
The Orchid in Chinese Painting
Coinciding with the National Museum of Natural History’s annual orchid show, the Sackler presents 20 works related to orchids in Chinese painting, ranging in date from the 15th to the 19th century.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Through July 22
Contemporary Jamaican Artists
A selection of contemporary Jamaican artists were invited by the World Bank to exhibit their work in the Caribbean segment of “About Change,” the hemispheric art survey organized by the World Bank Art Program in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank, the Organization of American States, and the Caribbean Community Secretariat.
Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center

Through July 24
Gabriel Metsu 1629–1667
One of the most important Dutch genre painters of the mid-17th century, Gabriel Metsu captured ordinary moments of life with a freshness and spontaneity that was matched by his ability to depict materials with an unerring truth to nature.
National Gallery of Art

Through July 24
Word, Shout, Song: Lorenzo Dow Turner Connecting Community through Language
Lorenzo Dow Turner’s foundational work in the 1930s established that people of African heritage, despite slavery, had retained and passed on their cultural identity through words, music and story wherever they landed. Features of the exhibition include rare audio recordings, photographs and artifacts from Turner’s linguistic explorations into the African Diaspora.
Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum

Through July 30
Tom Wesselmann Draws
This marks the most comprehensive exhibition of drawings by Tom Wesselmann, a brilliant colorist and innovator who in the 1960s was one of the key leaders in the pop art movement alongside Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.
The Kreeger Museum

Through July 31
Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan
Majestic sixth-century Chinese Buddhist sculpture is combined with 3D imaging technology in this exploration of one of the most important groups of Buddhist devotional sites in early medieval China: the Buddhist cave temples of Xiangtangshan carved into the mountains of northern China — home to a magnificent array of sculptures, from monumental Buddhas and divine attendant figures to crouching monsters framed by floral motifs.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Through Aug. 12
Stefan Zweig – An Austrian from Europe
In 1992, the city of Salzburg honored well-known writer and political observer Stefan Zweig with an exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of his death — a retrospective that now comes to Washington with more than 120 photographs and numerous reproductions and other documents on his life. Admission is free but registration is required and can be made at www.acfdc.org/events-registration.
Embassy of Austria

Through Aug. 13
The Last Full Measure: Civil War Photos from the Liljenquist Family Collection
Portrait photographs of the young men who fought and died in the American Civil War serve as a memorial to those who gave their lives during the devastating conflict, displaying the faces of 360 Union soldiers — one for every 1,000 who died — and 52 Confederate soldiers, one for every 5,000.
Library of Congress
Thomas Jefferson Building

Through Sept. 30
Democratic Principles
This exhibit of 22 portraits by Elizabeth McClancy represent contemporary progressive political leaders in ways that reveal the magnitude of the challenges they face and the leadership they must assume. A special panel discussion on June 8 at 7 p.m. features Howard Dean and will discuss the next of the arts in democratic development. For information, visit www.democraticwoman.org.
The Woman’s National Democratic Club

Through Oct. 2
In the Tower: Nam June Paik
A new exhibition featuring 20 works by groundbreaking contemporary artist Nam June Paik (1923–2006) is the third in a series of shows installed in the Tower Gallery that centers on developments in art since the midcentury.
National Gallery of Art

Through Oct. 9
NASA / ART: 50 Years of Exploration
More than 70 pieces of art — from the illustrative to the abstract — offer a look at the works commissioned by the NASA Art Program, which was established soon after the inception of the U.S. space program in 1958 as a way to communicate the accomplishments, setbacks and sheer excitement of space exploration over the past five decades to the public.
National Air and Space Museum

Through Nov. 27
Italian Master Drawings from the Wolfgang Ratjen Collection: 1525–1835
The splendors of Italian draftsmanship from the late Renaissance to the height of the neoclassical movement are showcased in an exhibition of 65 superb drawings assembled by the European private collector Wolfgang Ratjen.
National Gallery of Art

Through Dec. 4
Artists in Dialogue 2: Sandile Zulu and Henrique Oliveira
The second in a series of exhibitions in which two artists are invited to create new works — each inspired by, and in response to the other — this installment features Sandile Zulu, who lives in Johannesburg, and Henrique Oliveira, who lives in Sao Paolo, and their site-specific works composed of unlikely materials such as weathered wood and fire.
National Museum of African Art

Through December 2011
African Mosaic
A towering, striking sculpture of Haitian leader Toussaint Louverture by contemporary Senegalese artist Ousmane Sow is the centerpiece of this exhibition of important acquisitions over the last decade, including more than 100 traditional and contemporary works, some never before on display.
National Museum of African Art

DANCE

Through June 5
Ballet Nacional de Cuba
The Ballet Nacional de Cuba, founded by Alicia Alonso in 1948, presents “The Magic of Dance,” a compilation of ballet highlights spanning the classical anthology from “Giselle” to “Swan Lake” (May 31-June 1), as well as their acclaimed version of “Don Quixote” (June 2-5). Tickets are $25 to $99.
Kennedy Center Opera House

June 7 to 12
The Royal Danish Ballet
The Royal Danish Ballet continues to command attention on the world stage with new productions of Bournonville’s signature and enduring masterpiece “Napoli” and “A Folk Tale,” both re-staged by new Artistic Director Nikolaj Hübbe. Tickets are $29 to $99.
Kennedy Center Opera House

DISCUSSIONS

Sat., June 4, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Armchair Egyptologist
If the pyramids could talk, what mysteries they would reveal about ancient Egypt? Egyptologist Bob Brier takes you to five major sites and monuments to see what they have to tell us. Tickets are $120. For information, visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
Location on ticket

Tue., June 7 to 28, 6:45 p.m.
Cathedrals and Beyond: Art of the Medieval World
This course examines the art and architecture of the 1,000-year period between classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and its relationship to a society infused with faith and spirituality. Tickets for the five sessions are $131. For information, visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
S. Dillon Ripley Center

Wed., June 8, 6:45 p.m.
Latin American Masters: The Modern Heritage of Latino Art
Art historian Abigail McEwen discusses how many of Latin America’s leading avant-garde artists, from Wifredo Lam to Diego Rivera, traveled to the United States in the 1930s and ’40s, creating monumental artworks and enriching the development of modern American art. Tickets are $40. For information, visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
Location on ticket

Wed., June 15, 6:45 p.m.
Tigers to Honey Bees: Where in the World Did They Go?
What do coral, tigers, frogs, birds, and honeybees have in common? Catastrophic decline, which could lead to irreversible changes in the functioning of natural ecosystems and all the services they provide. A group of conservations experts discuss both efforts to preserve endangered species and the ecological implications of extinction. Tickets are $35. For information, visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.
Location on ticket

Wed., June 22, 6 p.m.
Literature Talk Between NPR’s Diane Rehm and Eva Gabrielsson
NPR anchor Diane Rehm talks with Eva Gabrielsson, author of “There Are Things I Want You to Know About Stieg Larsson and Me,” about the life she shared with Swedish journalist and author Stieg Larsson. Tickets are $10. For information, visit www.houseofsweden.com or www.ticketweb.com.
House of Sweden

Thu., June 23, 7 p.m.
Le Studio: Wine Tasting 101
Every month, Le Studio focuses on a different wine region of France with some of its most famous vintners. This wine tasting features the Côte de Beaune and Maison Faiveley presenting an amazing journey in Burgundy through a historic estate, with author and critic James K. Finkel. Tickets are $65.
La Maison Française

FESTIVALS

June 13 to 27
Zeitgeist DC: Contemporary Literature
The Goethe-Institut, Embassy of Switzerland and the Embassy of Austria, under the banner of the Zeitgeist DC Literary Collaborative, present three of Europe’s newest and edgiest plays by three of its most famous playwrights today, Marius von Mayenburg, Ewald Palmetshofer and Lukas Bärfuss. The Monday evening literature and play readings are performed by top local actors. For information, visit www.zeitgeistdc.org.
Various locations

June 21 to 26
Nordic Food Week
The embassies of the Nordic countries — Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden — showcase the region’s best and most creative chefs in the United States for the first time, introducing new Nordic food to the D.C. dining scene (participating restaurants include Masa 14, DC Coast, Birch & Barley, Vidalia and Marcel’s) with exclusive culinary master classes, food demonstrations and other culinary-related happenings throughout the metropolitan area. For information, visit www.nordicinnovation.org/nordicfooddaysdc.
Various locations

GALAS

Wed., June 8
Embassy Progressive Dinner
In honor of its 10th anniversary, the Center for Global Development hosts an evening with three stops — the British ambassador’s residence (for cocktails), the Embassy of Finland (for dinner), and the Norwegian ambassador’s residence (for dessert) — celebrating individuals working on high-level policy in the development sphere, including ambassadors, members of the U.S. Congress, current and former heads of state, corporate executives, philanthropists and academics. The event also honors Donald Kaberuka’s efforts and success in rebuilding the African Development Bank. Tickets start at $1,000. For information, visit www.cgdev.org/section/about/donate/embassy_dinner_event/evening_details.
Various locations

Sun., June 12, 2 p.m.
Ninth Annual Tea-Off to Good Health
The Jamaican Women of Washington Inc. and Jamaican Ambassador Audrey Marks, along with John Schriffen of NBC4, host the ninth annual Tea-Off to Good Health Reception and Auction to raise awareness of hypertension and stroke prevention. Tickets are $150 or $250. For information, visit www.jwow.org.
Four Seasons Hotel

Sat., June 18, 6:30 p.m.
Farewell to Ambassador and Mrs. Christian Prosl
Austrian Ambassador Christian Prosl and his wife Patricia Prosl- Hurni, in cooperation with the American-Austrian Cultural Society, present an evening filled with chamber music by cellist Earl Williams and pianist Raymond Wertheim, as well as an exhibition by Ingrid Dohm — with proceeds supporting Tibetan students living in India. Tickets are $40. For information, call Gerda Merwald at (703) 354-0796 or visit www.acfdc.org.
Austrian Ambassador’s Residence

Sun., June 26, 5:30 p.m.
2011 RAMMYS: Carnevale da Cuisine
The Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington’s annual awards gala, “the RAMMYS,” now in its 29th year, toasts the many extraordinary professionals that comprise the D.C. dining scene and has become one of the area’s most anticipated culinary events. Tickets are $300. For information, visit www.ramw.org/Rammy-s/2011/.
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel

MUSIC

Fri., June 3, 7:30 p.m.
The Brass-A-Holics
A “go-go brass funk band,” this eight-piece ensemble incorporates New Orleans brass elements with a full drum set, keyboards and an electric guitar to produce an invigorating sound. Tickets are $25. (Part of the DC Jazz Festival)
La Maison Française

June 12, 16 and 17, 7 p.m.
Duke Ellington School of the Arts Show Choir
Famous for its energetic showmanship and artistic diversity, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts Show Choir is bringing its musical talent to France this July. To celebrate, it will perform three benefit shows at the French Embassy in Washington. Tickets are $25.
La Maison Française

Thu., June 16, 7:30 p.m.
Fri., June 17, 7:30 p.m.
Great Singers of Hungary and Poland
In honor of Hungarian independence on June 16, 1989, as well as Poland assuming the rotating presidency of the European Union, the Embassy Series presents two concerts by celebrated tenor Szabolcs Brickner, mezzo-soprano Magdalena Wór and pianist George Peachey. Tickets are $75 and include buffet reception. For information, visit www.embassyseries.org.
Embassy of Hungary (June 16)
Embassy of Poland (June 17)

Sat., June 18, 4 p.m.
Fête de la Musique
Each year on the summer solstice, the French gather in the streets to celebrate the change of seasons with La Fête de la Musique — a dynamic tapestry of both amateur and professional musicians. For the ninth consecutive year, the French Embassy in Washington (La Maison Française) recaptures this lively atmosphere with more than 50 bands and street performers dazzling audiences in its gardens. Admission is $8.
La Maison Française

Sun., June 19, 6 p.m.
Nordic Jazz 2011
Jazz bands from Iceland, Norway and Sweden play on the spectacular rooftop terrace of House of Sweden overlooking the Potomac River in the heart of Georgetown. The evening includes complimentary hors d’oeuvres by five of the world’s best chefs — the Nordic Bocuse d’Or chefs — and a cash bar between 6 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $25. For information, visit www.houseofsweden.com or www.ticketweb.com.
House of Sweden

Wed., June 22, 7 p.m.
Palestine Youth Cultural Choir
The Palestine Strings of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music teams up with the Danadeesh Dance Group of the First Ramallah Group for a performance showcasing young Palestinians, featuring 18 violinists and 16 modern and folkloric dancers. Tickets are $50.
George Mason University
Center for the Arts, Va.

THEATER

June 2 to July 3
Don Quixote
Synetic Theater once again merges its unique physical theater style with text in its season closer, “Don Quixote,” as the iconic character abandons his home and reality to become a wandering knight, lost in the mystical world of his books. Tickets are $40 to $50.
Synetic Theater at Chrystal City, Va.

Through June 5
Ruined
In war-torn Congo, Mama Nadi keeps the peace between customers on both sides of the civil war as she protects and profits from the women under her charge in this widely acclaimed play that tells an uncommonly human story with humor and song. Please call for ticket information.
Arena Stage

June 8 to 26
Canto al Perú Negro…Celebrating Afro Peru!
Weaving together the music, poetry, history and contemporary experiences of Afro-Peruvians, “Canto al Perú Negro” revels in the rich cultural traditions and stories brought from Africa to Peru to the streets of D.C. Tickets are $34 and $38.
GALA Hispanic Theatre

June 9 to July 3
The Glass Menagerie
In a tenement apartment in 1930s St. Louis, the Wingfield family struggles to hang on to their dreams for the future in this fresh re-envisioning of Tennessee Williams’s legendary masterpiece, his most autobiographical play, presented as part of Georgetown’s Tennessee Williams Centennial Festival. Tickets start at $35.
Arena Stage

June 9 to July 3
Purge
Set in western Estonia in 1992, “Purge” by Sofi Oksanen, an award-winning author and playwright of Estonian-Finnish descent, is the story of two generations of women challenged by a male-dominated political structure a year after the Soviet Union’s collapse and haunted by the memories of Soviet occupation in the 1950s. Tickets are $16 to $40. For information, visit www.scenatheater.org.
H Street Playhouse

Through June 11
Como si fuera esta noche (As If It Were Tonight)
Teatro de la Luna presents Spanish playwright Gracia Morales’s vision of a magical world that, passing through all physical barriers, allows us to leap through two decades, offering a fleeting encounter between a mother and daughter that proves to be decisive for the latter. Tickets are $25 and $30.
Gunston Arts Center, Va.

Through June 12
Cyrano
Cyrano de Bergerac — ashamed of his large nose — uses his wit and poetry to help the handsome Christian woo Roxane in this compelling new adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s classic play, set in the streets of 17th-century Paris. Tickets are $39 to $60.
Folger Shakespeare Library

Through June 12
Side by Side by Sondheim
This award-winning musical revue celebrates the early works of America’s leading composer with timeless Sondheim songs from some of Broadway’s most memorable musicals including “West Side Story” and “Pacific Overtures.” Tickets are $55 to $81.
Signature Theatre

June 17 to 19
Inside/Out…voices from the disability community
VSA, the international organization on arts and disability, presents an interview-based theater performance piece by Ping Chong & Company about culture and identity in America that weaves the cast members’ individual stories with historical events. Tickets are $20.
Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Md.

Through June 19
Follies
All of life’s might-have-beens take center stage as two couple rehash past times and favorite songs amid the crumbling magnificence of their old theater in this winner of seven Tony Awards. Tickets start at $45.
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater

Through June 19
A Time to Kill
After an unspeakable crime is committed against his daughter, Carl Lee Hailey takes the law into his own hands in John Grisham’s stunning first novel, which comes to the stage in this world premiere, pre-Broadway adaptation by Tony Award winner Rupert Holmes. Tickets start at $55.
Arena Stage

June 21 to July 3
Reduced Shakespeare Company: Completely Hollywood (abridged)
America’s “Bad Boys of Abridgement” are back, taking on 186 movies in 100 minutes with hilarious results. Tickets are $39 to $49.
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

June 21 to July 24
The Merchant of Venice
Whether contemplating the contents of gilded chests or the darkest corners of human nature, “The Merchant of Venice” — which features some of Shakespeare’s most complex and memorable characters — challenges audiences to look beyond misleading appearances to find the true measure of things Tickets are $20 to $98.
Shakespeare Theatre Harman Hall

Through June 26
Bootycandy
Robert O’Hara’s kaleidoscope of sassy lessons in sex education speaks the truth about growing up gay and African American with outrageous humor and real heart, testing how we talk about our bodies at home, in church and on the corner. Tickets start at $35.
Woolly Mammoth Theater Company

Through July 3
Old Times
Memory and reality collide in British playwright Harold Pinter’s “Old Times,” as three friends recall their relationship from 20 years prior in a highly charged exploration of whether we can truly ever know another person, or even ourselves. Tickets start at $37.
The Shakespeare Theatre

Through July 3
Venus in Fur
David Ives’s crackling exploration of desire and control pits actress against playwright in a seductive game of cat and mouse. Tickets are $44 to $65.
The Studio Theatre