Related Events

Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II
National Museum of American History
Open until February 19, 2018
americanhistory.si.edu

Marking the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 in February 2017, this exhibition explores the history of relocating Japanese American citizens and immigrants to prison camps during World War II through artwork, photographs, and objects.

Many Voices, One Nation
National Museum of American History
Opens June 28, 2017
americanhistory.si.edu

Through almost 200 museum artifacts and about 100 loan objects, this exhibition shows how the many voices of the American people have contributed to and continue to shape the nation and its communities, from its earliest beginnings to the present.

Gateways/Portales
Anacostia Community Museum
Open until January 7, 2018
anacostia.si.edu

Through the gateways of social justice, community access, and public festivals, this exhibition explores the experiences of Latino migrants and immigrants in four U.S. metro areas: Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Maryland; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.

The Glazed Elephant: Ceramic Traditions in Cambodia
Freer | Sackler Galleries
Open until July 11, 2017
asia.si.edu

This ceramics exhibition explores unconventional forms, supposed functions, and the people who made and used them during the reign of the Angkor kingdom. It will include several contemporary works by Cambodian American ceramic artist Yary Livan, an NEA National Heritage Fellow from Lowell, Massachusetts.

July 7, 2017, 9 p.m.
SMITHSONIAN at 8: A Night at the Circus
Arts and Industries Building
900 Jefferson Dr. SW, Washington, D.C.
smithsonianassociates.org

Inspired by the 50th annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival’s spotlight on circus arts, the historic and beautiful Arts and Industries Building hosts a late-night party that features circus performers, music by DJ Alkimist, hands-on activities, cocktails, a GIF photo booth provided by OM Digital, and more to make this a night to remember. Tickets required; must be 21+. Proceeds benefit the Smithsonian Associates’ education programs.

July 7, 2017, 6 p.m.
Circus Harmony: Watch Out for Flying Kids
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
2700 F St. NW, Washington, D.C.
kennedy-center.org

Circus Harmony’s flying children demonstrate how they promote peace through pyramids, joy through juggling and harmony through handsprings. These performers from St. Louis’ only social circus school will amaze and amuse you as they flip, fly, and fling. The only complete circus school in St. Louis, Circus Harmony is a social circus organization focused on arts education and youth development. By inspiring individuals and connecting communities with circus education and entertainment programs, the school has had a positive impact on the St. Louis area and beyond.

July 6, 2017, 7:30 p.m.
The Moth StorySLAM — Roots
Arts and Industries Building
900 Jefferson Dr. SW, Washington, D.C.
themoth.org

For the first time, this year we are partnering with storytelling event presenter and podcast The Moth. In this StorySLAM open-mic competition, anyone can enter to share a five-minute storyon the night’s theme of “Roots,” honoring the Folklife Festival program On the Move: Migration Across Generations. Come tell a story, or just enjoy the show!

July 5, 2017, noon
Ledward Kaapana: Master Slack Key Guitar Player from Hawaii
Library of Congress, Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium
101 Independence Ave. SE, Washington, D.C.
loc.gov

July 5, 2017, 6 p.m.
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
2700 F St. NW, Washington, D.C.
kennedy-center.org

Ledward Kaapana is a master of the two leading string instruments in Hawaii: the Hawaiian ukulele and ki ho‘alu, the slack key guitar, a fingerstyle guitar art form that originated in Hawaii. This talent, combined with his vocal skills in the baritone and leo ki‘eki‘e (falsetto) range, have made him a legendary performer who has been entertaining audiences in Hawaii and abroad for more than forty years. He was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2011.

July 1, 2017, noon
The Circus: Two Portraits
National Gallery of Art, East Building Auditorium
150 Fourth Street NW, Washington, D.C.
nga.gov

Federico Fellini’s lifelong engagement with itinerant performers is embodied in I Clowns (1970), the director’s intensely visual essay that, in the words of historian Sam Rohdie, “memorializes a childhood of clowns and the enchantment of clowns, including their terror—the film is their requiem and their return to life.”

The verité documentary Constellations (Luigi Cuomo, 2015) follows a group of contemporary Italian performers as they go about a daily life of rigorous rehearsals, meals, animals, and camaraderie—a view of a diverse community coming together for an ancient, unique, and compelling purpose. Presented in association with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

June 30, 2017, noon
Music Making and Community Building with Roy and PJ Hirabayashi of San Jose Taiko
Library of Congress, Jefferson Building, Whittall Pavilion
101 Independence Ave. SE, Washington, D.C.
loc.gov

Acknowledged as one of the premier music ensembles in the United States, San Jose Taiko has mesmerized audiences and critics alike with the powerful, spellbinding, and propulsive sounds of taiko, the Japanese drum. Founded in 1973 by young Asian Americans searching to convey their experiences as third-generation Japanese Americans, and inspired by traditional Japanese drumming, company performers express the beauty and harmony of the human spirit through the voice of the taiko as they strive to create new dimensions in music and movement. NEA National Heritage Fellows Roy and PJ Hirabayashi will discuss the power of taiko to create and sustain community.

June 27, 2017, 6 p.m.
Homegrown: BeauSoleil
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
2700 F St. NW, Washington, D.C.
kennedy-center.org

June 28, 2017, noon
Library of Congress, Jefferson Building, Coolidge Auditorium
101 Independence Ave. SE, Washington, D.C.
loc.gov

For four decades, BeauSoleil has taken traditional ingredients—waltzes, two-steps, soulful Cajun French lyrics, hot fiddle licks, and irresistible accordion—and spiced them up with eclectic percussion, acoustic guitar in both finger-picked and flat-picked styles, and an open and creative attitude toward the music. BeauSoleil’s particular flavor of Cajun music reflects the vision of bandleader Michael Doucet, a lifelong student of Cajun culture. 

June 26, 2017, 6 p.m.
Sweet Spot Aerial & Street Light Circus
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
2700 F St. NW, Washington, D.C.
kennedy-center.org

Join Sweet Spot Aerial Productions and Street Light Circus on a tour de force of Washington’s top circus talent! This cabaret of modern circus arts will dazzle and amaze all ages, and the show will conclude with the opportunity for audience members to engage with the talent through a moderated Q&A.

June 25, 2017, 6 p.m.
UniverSoul Circus
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage
2700 F St. NW, Washington, D.C.
kennedy-center.org

UniverSoul Circus is a combination of circus arts, theater, music, and audience interaction that embraces and celebrates urban pop culture from around the world. Since its inception in 1994, UniverSoul has evolved into an amazing spectacle, pushing the limits of imagination with daring and innovative performances featuring diverse blends of performers from virtually every continent. 

May 24, 2017, 6 p.m.
Lecture: African American Dress and the Will to Adorn
The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum
701 21st St. NW, Washington, D.C.
museum.gwu.edu
$10/museum members and GW students, faculty, and staff; $15/public

As part of the exhibition Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair, Folklife curator Diana N’Diaye will introduce a spectrum of African American style as an expression of community and individual identity. The Will To Adorn, a featured program at the 2013 Folklife Festival, continues as a youth-access research and presentation project in collaboration with Smithsonian Affliate museums across the country, the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, and Mind-Builders Creative Arts, Inc.

March 31, 2017, 6:30–7:30 p.m.
Sounding Board: Digital Creativity in Museums
The Potter’s House
1658 Columbia Road NW, Washington, D.C.
pottershousedc.org

What does creativity look like in today’s digital landscape? Join us for a roundtable with new media strategists from across Washington, D.C.’s most prominent museums to discuss just that and what it means for the future of social media and web design. Explore today’s latest web and social media work within museums—the projects that are engaging audiences in new and imaginative ways— and learn how you can foster that same creativity with your next digital project.

March 23, 2017, 6:30–9 p.m.
Film Screening: Good Work: Masters of the Building Arts
Washington National Cathedral
3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.
cathedral.org

Extending from a program at the 2001 Folklife Festival, Good Work: Masters of the Building Arts showcases ten American artisans in the building trades, including four with hands-on experience at Washington National Cathedral. Academy Award-winning directors Marjorie Hunt and Paul Wagner reunite to illustrate the diversity of beautiful and functional works of art, from stained glass to masonry to ironwork and hard-carved lettering. Good Work celebrates American craftsmanship, occupational traditions, the beauty of our built environment, and the importance of “good work.”

February 25, 2017, 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity
Alexandria Black History Museum
902 Wythe St., Alexandria, Virginia
alexandriava.gov

Growing from a Folklife Festival program in 2013, The Will to Adorn examines African American traditions of dress and body adornment as creative expressions, revealing ideas, values, skills, and knowledge rooted on the African continent and in the American experience. Folklife curator Diana Baird N’Diaye guides audiences through an exciting journey of discovery about how we make meaning through what we choose to wear, how we groom our hair, and how we refashion and adorn our bodies.

February 21–25, 2017
Mother Tongue Film Festival
Various locations in Washington, D.C.
recoveringvoices.si.edu

This free five-day festival hosted by the Smithsonian’s Recovering Voices (including the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage) will open on United Nations Mother Language Day and feature work representing thirty-three languages across six continents. Visitors can see a curated selection of films on music, identity, and place from communities around the world. Together, the program includes a variety of styles from drama to experimental and brings to light the value of language use and revitalization in today’s increasingly globalized world.

February 16, 2017, 6:30–7:30 p.m.
Sounding Board: Music, Prisons, and Transformation
The Potter’s House
1658 Columbia Road NW, Washington, D.C.
pottershousedc.org

Join Georgetown University professor Ben Harbert, GRAMMY Award-winning music producer Ian Brennan, and Smithsonian Folkways director and curator Huib Schippers as they discuss complex and timely questions about the societal tensions between administering justice and facilitating rehabilitation, the transformative power of music, and more.