Home The Washington Diplomat March 2015 Events – March 2015

Events – March 2015

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ART 

Through March 1

Trees are Poems

Four renowned Finnish photo artists, Kristoffer Albrecht, Taneli Eskola, Pentti Sammallahti and Ritva Kovalainen, present their perspectives on trees, key elements in landscape art. The exhibition is not actually a cross section of trees as a motif in art, but the photo artists have approached the theme by the stories and mood behind them. Trees can be seen not only as an element of the landscape but also as a symbol of life and human existence. Exhibit is open on Saturdays and Sundays.

Embassy of Finland

 

March 5 to May 1

gute aussichten: new german photography 2014/2015

In its eleventh year, the eight “gute aussichten 2014/2015” award winners are hot on life’s heels. This young generation of photographers is after the most basic and existential questions of life: the banality of death and what remains — or follows the deceased and vanishes without a trace — migration, discrimination, loneliness, isolation and desperation, all of which are put face to face with happiness, cognizance, diversity and creative energy.

Goethe-Institut

 

Through March 6

Primal Connections: Paintings by Deanna Schwartzberg

Deanna Schwartzberg’s passionate concern for the environment and keen awareness of the destructive forces that threaten our ability to live in harmony with nature has been the impetus of her work for many years. In her paintings, we enter a world of color and light that inspires us to contemplate the shared presence of humanity and the natural world.

Art Museum of the Americas

 

March 11 to May 1

Fordlandia: The Lost City of Henry Ford

This series of photographs, completed in 2012, reveals what has become of Fordlandia, the American town built in the Brazilian rainforest by tycoon Henry Ford. Today, the town is a post-industrial wasteland, complete with prefabricated industrial sheds from Michigan and American clapperboard houses. More curious still is that, in spite of no new economy or employer in the area, Fordlandia is coming back to life.

Art Museum of the Americas

 

Through March 15

Identidad

“Identidad” showcases the work of Argentinean glassmaker Silvia Levenson, featuring 116 intricate pieces of cast glass baby clothing, an homage to the social movement of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. The grandmothers led a campaign to reunite missing grandchildren with their families following the Dirty War, a dark chapter in the country’s history.

American University Museum

Katzen Arts Center

 

March 19 to Aug. 23

Ships, Clocks & Stars: The Quest for Longitude

To mark the 300th anniversary of the passing of the Longitude Act in 1714, this landmark exhibition tells the extraordinary story of the race to determine longitude (east-west position) at sea, helping to solve the problem of navigation and saving seafarers from terrible fates including shipwreck and starvation.

Folger Shakespeare Library

 

Through March 22

Nasta’liq: The Genius of Persian Calligraphy

More than 20 works ranging in date from 1400 to 1600 form the first exhibition of its kind to focus on nasta‛liq, a calligraphic script that developed in the 14th century in Iran and remains one of the most expressive forms of aesthetic refinement in Persian culture to this day.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

 

Through March 29

Cutting-Edge Spanish Crafts

Curated by Tachy Mora, and based in her book “Cutting-Edge Spanish Crafts,” this exhibition invites you to discover the contemporary crafts from Spain through a selection of objects by individual crafters and designers, industrial innovators and large firms, including Loewe, Lladró, Cerabella, Apparatu and Peseta.

Spanish Cultural Center

 

Through April 12

Days of Endless Time

This exhibit presents 14 installations that offer prismatic vantage points into the suspension and attenuation of time or that create a sense of timelessness, with themes such as escape, solitude, enchantment and the thrall of nature.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

 

Through April 12

Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea

For millennia, Mary has been one of the most popular subjects in the history of Western art. This landmark exhibition of more than 60 beautiful depictions of the Virgin Mary explores the concept of womanhood represented by Mary and the power her image has exerted through time.

National Museum of Women in the Arts

 

Through May 3

Piero di Cosimo: The Poetry of Painting in Renaissance Florence

The first major retrospective exhibition of paintings by the imaginative Italian Renaissance master Piero di Cosimo features 44 of the artist’s most compelling paintings, including fanciful mythologies, powerful religious works (one on loan for the first time from the church in Italy for which it was created 500 years ago), and sensitive portraits.

National Gallery of Art

 

Through May 10

Man Ray—Human Equations: A Journey from Mathematics to Shakespeare

Highlighting the multimedia work of the legendary Surrealist artist, “Man Ray—Human Equations” explores the intersection of art and science that defined a significant component of modern art on both sides of the Atlantic at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Phillips Collection

 

Through May 10

Hiroshi Sugimoto: Conceptual Forms and Mathematical Models

This exhibition features approximately five photographic works and three sculptures by Hiroshi Sugimoto — one of Japan’s most important contemporary artists — inspired by Man Ray’s 1930s photographs.

The Phillips Collection

 

Through May 15

Francesco Nonino: Selected Works

Francesco Nonino is one of few Italian photographers whose work has been acquired by both the Library of Congress and the Phillips Collection. The exhibit at the Embassy of Italy will include some recent works from two series: “Come La Vergogna” and “Atmospheres.” As an homage to his mother, Italian traditions and to introduce the theme of the upcoming EXPO 2015, some photos of his mother’s hands making pasta will also be on display. Viewings are by appointment only; for information visit www.iicwashington.esteri.it.

Embassy of Italy

 

Through May 15

Hands-On Urbanism. The Right to Green

The research-based exhibition is dedicated to the history of the idea of appropriating land in urban space. Since the shockwave of modernization that accompanied industrialization, towns and cities worldwide have had to face some very significant challenges. City-dwellers, who have always found a number of solutions in crisis situations, are involved in bottom-up urban development, as fruit and vegetable gardens led to other forms of collective cohesion, neighborliness and fair distribution.

Embassy of Austria

 

Through May 30

25 Years / 25 Artists

This visual arts exhibition celebrating the Mexican Cultural Institute’s first 25 years presents works from several generations and artistic movements. From the contemporaries of the third stage of Mexican muralism, to the members of the “Ruptura” in the 1960s, this exhibit explores art that proposed new forms of expression and changed the way art was seen in Mexico.

Mexican Cultural Institute

 

Through May 31

Style in Chinese Landscape Painting: The Yuan Legacy

Landscape painting is one of the most outstanding achievements of Chinese culture. Key styles in this genre emerged during the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) and are still followed today.

Freer Gallery of Art

 

Through May 31

The Traveler’s Eye: Scenes of Asia

Featuring more than 100 works created over the past five centuries, “The Traveler’s Eye: Scenes of Asia” provides glimpses of travels across the Asian continent, from pilgrimages and research trips to expeditions for trade and tourism.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

 

Through June 7

Libertad de Expresión: The Art Museum of the Americas and Cold War Politics

Following the creation of the Organization of American States in 1948, its Visual Arts Section, under the direction of Cuban José Gómez Sicre, began an ambitious exhibition program that would further awareness of the art of the Caribbean and Central and South America in the United States. Sicre’s support for international modernism also allied him with U.S. Cold War Warriors, who used freedom of expression as a tool in the cultural and intellectual struggle against the Soviets.

Art Museum of the Americas

 

Through June 7

Perspectives: Chiharu Shiota

Performance and installation artist Chiharu Shiota, Japan’s representative at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015, will recreate a monumental yet intimate work in the Sackler pavilion that amasses personal memories through an accumulation of nearly 400 individual shoes, each with a note from the donor describing lost individuals and past moments.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

 

Through June 7

Unearthing Arabia: The Archaeological Adventures of Wendell Phillips

Wendell Phillips, a young paleontologist and geologist, headed one of the largest archaeological expeditions to remote South Arabia (present-day Yemen) from 1949 to 1951. Through a selection of unearthed objects as well as film and photography shot by the expedition team, the exhibition highlights Phillips’s key finds, recreates his adventures (and misadventures), and conveys the thrill of discovery on this important great archaeological frontier.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

 

Through June 14

Zen, Tea, and Chinese Art in Medieval Japan

Zen Buddhism, tea and ink painting — well-known expressions of Japanese culture — have their roots in Chinese arts and ideas brought to medieval Japan from the late 12th to the 16th century. Chinese and Japanese paintings, lacquer ware and ceramics illuminate this remarkable period of cultural contact and synthesis.

Freer Gallery of Art

 

Through Aug. 2

From the Library: Florentine Publishing in the Renaissance

This exhibition presents a variety of books from the late 15th through the early 17th century and explores the development of publishing related to the artistic and scholarly community in Florence.

National Gallery of Art

 

Through Aug. 9

Jacob Lawrence: Struggle … From the History of the American People

Produced between 1954 and 1956, Jacob Lawrence’s “Struggle … From the History of the American People” portrays scenes from American history, chronicling events from the Revolutionary War through the great westward expansion of 1817.

The Phillips Collection

 

Through Sept. 13

Chief S.O. Alonge: Photographer to the Royal Court of Benin, Nigeria

This retrospective showcases the work of noted Nigerian photographer Chief S.O. Alonge, the first indigenous photographer of the Royal Court of Benin, in conjunction with royal arts from the Benin kingdom. The collection of historic photographs was captured on Kodak glass-plate negatives and documents more than 50 years of the ritual, pageantry and regalia of the obas (kings), their wives and retainers.

National Museum of African Art

 

DANCE

Sat., March 7, 8 p.m.

Tango Buenos Aires: Song of Eva Perón

The renowned Tango Buenos Aires uses the art of tango to journey through the life of Argentina’s larger-than-life former first lady, Eva Perón, from her impoverished childhood in the slums to her position as one of the country’s most powerful and influential figures. Tickets are $29 to $48.

George Mason University

Center for the Arts

 

DISCUSSIONS

Thu., March 5, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Connecting the Gems of the Indian Ocean: Eastern Africa’s ‘Swahili’ Civilization, Oman and the Gulf

The symposium, in collaboration with the National Museum of African Art, will focus on the historic, commercial and cultural links that existed between the lands of the East African “Swahili” coast, Oman and other countries of the Middle Eastern Gulf region.

Library of Congress

James Madison Building

 

Thu., March 5, 7:30 p.m.

Cecelia Porter: Women Composers and Performers in Vienna, 1918-1945

In this lecture and concert, Dr. Cecelia Porter is joined by Rosa Lamoreaux, resident soprano at the National Gallery of Art, and pianist Stan Engebretson to shed light on three relatively unknown but important female composers in Vienna: Mathilde von Kralik (1857-1944), Johanna Müller-Hermann (1878-1941) and Frida Kern (1891-1988). Admission is free but registration is required; for information visit acfdc.org.

Embassy of Austria

 

Sat., March 7, 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

The Legacy of Andrea Palladio

Renaissance Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508-80) is arguably the most influential architect in the Western world. In this richly illustrated seminar, art historian Bonita Billman traces the hallmarks and features of Palladio’s architecture, from the magnificent villas he created in his homeland to the country houses and mansions that were built by great British architects in the era of the European Grand Tour. Tickets are $130; for information visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.

Location TBA

 

Sat., March 14, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Empires of the Adriatic

Over the centuries, the people along the coast of the Adriatic Sea have known many rulers, but none as disparate as those of the Venetian, Ottoman and Habsburg empires. In this all-day seminar, explore the history and legacy of each of these centers of power with Charles Ingrao, a professor of history at Purdue University. Tickets are $130; for information visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.

S. Dillon Ripley Center

 

Thu., March 19, 6:45 p.m.

Ancient Peru’s Mysterious Moche

The origins and collapse of the Moche, an enigmatic Andean civilization that ruled the northern coast of Peru for hundreds of years beginning in the first century A.D., remains a tantalizing puzzle. Haagen Klaus of George Mason University offers insights into the life of this ancient culture, dozens of whose massive pyramids and cities remain to this day. Tickets are $42; for information visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.

S. Dillon Ripley Center

 

Tue., March 31, 6:45 p.m.

Looking West: Ataturk and the Creation of Modern Turkey

In the first half of his lecture, Bulent Atalay describes the conditions prevailing in Europe 500 years ago that led to the extraordinary ascent of the West over the great empires of the East, specifically the Ottoman and Chinese. In the second half, he discusses the revolution that Kemal Ataturk launched in Turkey following World War I that changed the face of the Ottoman Empire. Tickets are $42; for information visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.

S. Dillon Ripley Center

 

MUSIC

Mon., March 2, 6:30 p.m.

The Arakaendar Choir and Orchestra

A great legacy of 7,000 musical scores was preserved for centuries by native musicians in the Jesuit missions of Chiquitos in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Polish musicologist Father Piotr Nawrot brought them to light and founded the International Festival of Renaissance and Baroque Music of Bolivia, beginning a collaborative partnership that led to the Arakaendar Choir’s debut in 2006 (pre-concert talk at 6 p.m.).

Inter-American Development Bank Cultural Center

 

Fri., March 6, 8 p.m.

Danú: 20th Anniversary Tour

To celebrate 20 years of spirited music-making, Danú, an award-winning band hailing from Ireland’s historic County Waterford, performs an unforgettable night of lively Celtic music. Tickets are $28 to $46.

George Mason University

Center for the Arts

 

Fri., March 6, 7:30 p.m.

Till Fellner, Piano

The international career and collaborations of Till Fellner, who first garnered attention in 1993 by winning first prize at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition, reads like a “who’s who” of classical music; he has appeared as guest soloist with many of the world’s foremost orchestras and has worked with such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Leonard Slatkin and Lothar Zagrosek. Tickets are $70 and include light reception; for information visit www.embassyseries.org.

Embassy of Austria

 

Fri., March 13, 7:30 p.m.

The Minetti Quartet

The Minetti Quartett has collected more important prizes than any ensemble since 2003, when it received the Haydn Award at the International Joseph Haydn Competition in Vienna. It performs a program of Mozart, Shostakovich and Mendelssohn. Tickets are $70 and include light reception; for information visit www.embassyseries.org.

Embassy of Austria

 

Sat., March 14, 8 p.m.

Cristina Pato in Concert

A pop star of the gaita (Spanish bagpipes) in her native Spain and dubbed by the Wall Street Journal as “one of the living masters of the gaita,” Cristina Pato’s musical influences of jazz and Latin sounds represent a portion of her commitment to cultural exchange. Tickets are $25.

Sixth and I

 

Tue., March 17, 8 p.m.

Carlos Núñez with the Sean Culkin Dancers

Phenomenal multi-instrumentalist Carloz Núñez grew up in Galicia in northern Spain—home to ancient civilizations whose Celtic traditions predated those of Scotland and Ireland, and to the Galician bagpipe, of which Núñez is the acknowledged world master. Please call for ticket information.

Music Center at Strathmore

 

Tue., March 17, 8 p.m.

Zakir Hussain: Celtic Connections

Tabla master Zakir Hussain has long explored other cultures, and his newest project, “Celtic Connections,” makes its U.S. tour debut, pairing the beautiful and flowing melodies of Celtic instruments including bodhran, violin, pipes, flutes and whistles with tabla, bamboo flute and Carnatic (south Indian) violin. Tickets are $22 to $39.

GW Lisner Auditorium

 

Thu., March 19, 7:30 p.m.

EUNIC Concert Series: Yumeto Suenaga

The EUNIC Concert Series and American University present French classical pianist, Yumeto Suenaga. who was born in Paris in 1981 to painters and is of French-Japanese origin. The EUNIC Concert Series gives young emerging artists from Europe a platform to perform in Washington, D.C. Ticket are $15; for information visit acfdc.org.

Embassy of Austria

 

Tue., March 31, 7:30 p.m.

Florian Feilmair, Piano

“Sensitivity and a wealth of nuances,” “pearly ease and aplomb” — these are a few of the traits critics have attributed to the young pianist Florian Feilmair, who has already captured a considerable number of important prizes. Admission is free but registration is required; for information visit acfdc.org.

Embassy of Austria

 

Tue., March 31, 7:30 p.m.

Nikolay Khozyainov, Piano

Born in Blagoveshchensk, a city in Russian Far East in 1992, Nikolay Khozyainov began to play the piano at the age of 5 and went on to study at the Central Musical School of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He performs a repertoire of Haydn, Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov. Tickets are $175 and include Russian buffet and free valet; for information visit www.embassyseries.org.

Russian Residence

 

THEATER

March 6 to April 26

The Originalist

Four-time Helen Hayes Award winner Edward Gero stars as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in a daring world premiere about the brilliant, but polarizing justice, his bright, new, liberal clerk, and their clash over one of the most incendiary cases ever to reach the nation’s highest court. Tickets are $55 to $90.

Arena Stage

 

March 7 to 21

The Flying Dutchman

In this Washington National Opera revival, formidable bass-baritone and Grammy winner Eric Owens makes his staged role debut in Wagner’s retelling of the nautical legend, about a captain condemned to wander the seas in search of unconditional love. Tickets are $25 to $300.

Kennedy Center Opera House

 

Through March 8

King Hedley II

With an angry scar down the length of his face and seven years of prison haunting him, King has a chance to lock away his past and achieve an entrepreneurial dream, but Pittsburgh’s Hill District is an unforgiving place. Tickets are $45 to $90.

Arena Stage

 

Through March 8

Mary Stuart

Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, has been imprisoned under charges of attempted regicide. Her captor and cousin Queen Elizabeth I cannot bring herself to sign the death decree. In a society where women are considered inferior, these two queens charged with ruling as kings battle sexism, greed, lust and each other in Peter Oswald’s bold new translation of Friedrich Schiller’s “Mary Stuart.” Tickets are $40 to $75.

Folger Shakespeare Library

 

Through March 8

No Hay Que Llorar

(No Need to Cry)

Teatro de la Luna’s hilarious comedy, in Argentina’s Grotesque genre, unfolds as a family comes together at a reunion to celebrate their matriarch’s birthday. The mother’s greed and the non-conformance, selfishness and deceit at the gathering reveal the true and gritty feel of this middle-class family, with alarming hints at decay. Tickets are $20 to $35.

Gunston Arts Center

 

Through March 10

Dialogues of the Carmelites

Faith is put to the ultimate test in Poulenc’s powerful opera about an order of Carmelite nuns who refuse to renounce their beliefs during the French Revolution. Washington National Opera Artistic Director Francesca Zambello directs this company premiere, sung in English. Tickets are $25 to $300.

Kennedy Center

 

March 11 to April 19

Laugh

Out West in the 1920s, a dynamite accident at a gold mine leaves young Mabel wealthy but orphaned. She’s shipped off to a calculating aunt whose nephew is charged with seducing her to control Mabel’s fortune — a hapless courtship reveals a shared love of silent movies and a plan for greater things. Tickets are $44 to $88.

Studio Theatre

 

March 13 to May 20

Freedom’s Song

This epic musical features the words of Abraham Lincoln and music inspired by the letters of those who lived through the Civil War, evoking the soaring hopes and tragic losses of real people through a series of highly theatrical vignettes. Tickets are $20 to $69.

Ford’s Theatre

 

March 14 to 23

Don Giovanni

The In Series’s opera season continues with Mozart and DaPonte’s masterpiece, “Don Giovanni,” a dramma giocoso (comedic tragedy) based on the legend of the infamous libertine and his supernatural stone guest, which is universally listed among the most perfect opera in the repertory. Please call for ticket information.

GALA Hispanic Theatre

 

Through March 15

The Metromaniacs

Mistaken identity, misplaced ardor and a fight for true love ensues in Alexis Piron’s classic 1738 French farce, in which would-be poet Damis has fallen for the works of the mysterious Breton poetess, not knowing she is really middle-age gentleman Francalou. Tickets are $20 to $110.

Shakespeare Lansburgh Theatre

 

March 17 to April 26

Man of La Mancha

As Miguel de Cervantes presents his tale of knight errant Don Quixote, his journey comes alive in a play-within-the-play, featuring loyal friends, troubled maidens, giant monsters and brave knights. Please call for ticket information.

Shakespeare Theatre

Sidney Harman Hall

 

Through March 22

Kid Victory

Seventeen-year-old Luke returns home after vanishing a year ago. Profoundly changed, Luke and his parents struggle to adjust to life following his disappearance. Please call for ticket information.

Signature Theatre

 

Through March 22

Much Ado About Nothing

Confirmed bachelor Benedick and the equally spirited and unwed Beatrice will spar, court and conspire in Synetic’s 11th “Wordless Shakespeare” adaptation — a flirtatious and fiercely funny show set in 1950s Las Vegas. Tickets start at $35.

Synetic Theater

Cari