Exhibitions
American Bison
National Zoo
Permanent exhibition
nationalzoo.si.edu
Bison inspired the founding of the Zoo and helped spark the conservation movement. To encourage the animals to use their natural behaviors, keepers will often spread food around the enclosure and provide them with enrichment items to investigate and play with. Visitors may catch a glimpse of the bison wallowing in the grass and mud, a behavior that helps them keep cool.
Deep Time
National Museum of Natural History
Permanent exhibition
naturalhistory.si.edu
The new, 31,000-square-foot fossil hall invites you to explore the epic story of how Earth’s distant past is connected to the present and informs our future. Discover how human actions are driving Earth’s rapidly changing climate today much like long-ago geological events did in the past.
FUTURES
Arts and Industries Building
On view through July 6, 2022
aib.si.edu
Part exhibition, part festival, FUTURES presents nearly 32,000 square feet of new immersive site-specific art installations, interactives, working experiments, inventions, speculative designs and “artifacts of the future,” as well as historic objects and discoveries from the Smithsonian’s museums, major initiatives and research centers.
Falcons: The Art of the Hunt
National Museum of Asian Art
On view through July 17, 2022
asia.si.edu
Swift, fierce, and loyal, falcons have been celebrated for millennia. The art of falconry—using the birds of prey to hunt—spread throughout the Islamic world and is still practiced in many societies today, including the United Arab Emirates. A selection of paintings and objects from ancient Egypt to China offers a glimpse into the fascinating world of falcons.
Arctic Highways: Unbounded Indigenous People
House of Sweden
On view through July 17, 2022
houseofsweden.com
Even as national borders have separated Indigenous peoples and, at times, pitted them against each other, their culture and art have traveled effortlessly across the Arctic landscape. Here, twelve Indigenous artists tell their own story, through their own experiences, using their own forms of expression. The Folklife Festival is a promotional partner of this exhibition.
World on the Move: 250,000 Years of Human Migration
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, DC Public Library
On view June 18–August 28, 2022
understandingmigration.org
Sharing stories from across human history and the breadth of world cultures, this traveling exhibition shows that we have always been on the move and that migration is a shared experience that connects us all. The exhibition is organized by the American Anthropological Association and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
HABITAT
Various Smithsonian museums on the National Mall
On view through September 5, 2022
gardens.si.edu
Through fourteen outdoor installations, this Smithsonian Gardens exhibition tells diverse stories about habitats and the plants, animals, and humans that call them home. The installations share one big idea: protecting habitats protects life. Folklife Festival technical staff and Tech-Teach students assisted in the construction and installation of several HABITAT structures.
Food for the People: Eating and Activism in Greater Washington
Anacostia Community Museum
On view through September 17, 2022
anacostia.si.edu
With every bite of food we eat, we have an opportunity to help remake an unjust and unequal food system. Food for the People looks at the greater Washington, D.C., area’s food system, the inequalities that shape it, and the people working to transform it. The outdoor and indoor exhibition features artifacts, art installations, videos, and hands-on interactives.
Nature by Design
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York City
On view through September 25, 2022
cooperhewitt.org
Discover how nature and design have intersected in the past and continue to converge in our world. Through textiles, jewelry, furniture, cutlery, and more, learn how designers across the centuries have observed nature, investigated its materials, and imitated and abstracted its patterns and shapes.
This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World
Renwick Gallery
On view through April 2, 2023
americanart.si.edu
This Present Moment showcases the dynamic landscape of American craft today, highlighting the role that artists play in our world to spark essential conversations, stories of resilience, and methods of activism—showing us a more relational and empathetic world. It centers more expansive definitions and acknowledgments of often-overlooked histories and contributions of women, people of color, and other marginalized communities.