A PAINFUL INHERITANCE
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture takes over the National Museum of American History's Carmichael Auditorium on Saturday to present a screening of "Traces of the Trade." For this documentary, filmmaker Katrina Browne and nine of her relatives delve into their family's painful history, tracing their ancestors, the DeWolfes, back to the 18th and 19th centuries, when they were active in the slave trade, possibly transporting as many as 10,000 West Africans across the Middle Passage in exchange for rum. The film screens for educators only on Saturday (reserve at Nmaahceducation@si.edu) and for the public on Nov. 28.
» National Museum of American History, 14th Street & Constitution Avenue NW; Sat., Nov. 21, 2-5 p.m.; Nov. 28, 1-3 p.m., free; 202-633-1000.
FILM WITH A CHARMING LILT
Solas Nua branches out from mounting some of the most compelling Irish plays around to showing some of the most compelling Irish-themed films around. As part of its Monday-night "Irish Popcorn" series, the arts organization screens Martin Duffy's family drama "The Boy From Mercury."
» Flashpoint, 916 G St. NW; Mon., Nov. 23, 7 p.m., free. (Gallery Place-Chinatown/Metro Center)
Photo courtesy NMAAHC
THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY'S "Portraiture Now: Communities" is not laid out to indicate a starting and ending point. That makes sense, because the show is is as conceptually open-ended and accessible as it is physically.
"Communities" features the works of three painters, all thematically bound by a blending of old techniques and new, democratically rendering American subjects from almost every walk of life.
A leveling of the social playing field in the age of online dating, social networking and virtual identity, Jim Torok's 23-piece "A Colorado Family," for instance, maps underlying features that unite its three generations, broaching a profound question: What indelible human traits bind us as a people? An inversion of Chuck Close's photo-enlargement techniques, it's no quaint irony that his 5-by-4-inch oil-on-panel portraits, each of which can take a year to complete, are little larger than Polaroids.
Continue Reading "A Picture of a Nation: 'Portraiture Now: Communities'" »
WITH HER FIRST major project, "The Hijabi Monologues," writer and performer Sahar Ullah has created a space in which Muslim women can share their lived experiences. She invites others into that space on Sunday at the Kennedy Center, where she'll perform the work and lead a post-performance discussion.
The South Florida native says such a forum is needed to help a post-9/11 American public see the humanity behind the hijab, or headscarf, worn by many U.S. Muslim women.
An episodic play styled after Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues," "The Hijabi Monologues" uses 12 true-to-life stories.
"The project's purpose is to humanize one of the most viably noticeable minorities in America — women who wear the hijab," said Ullah.
OVER THE PAST FOUR DECADES, painter Brice Marden has created monochromatic paintings, examined linear networks and found inspiration in Japanese and Chinese calligraphy. The abstractionist comes to the National Gallery of Art on Sunday to converse with Harry Cooper, curator and head of the department of modern and contemporary art. Marden has five paintings and two drawings on display in "The Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection: Selected Works," on view until May.
The show contains 126 paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints that the Meyerhoffs collected between 1958 and 2004, and includes works by Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg. Marden says he knew the Meyerhoffs, and they would visit his studio to purchase paintings.
Of his works in the show, Marden says, "there's a very strong unifying vein that runs through the whole group, even though in a certain superficial way they all look very different from each other."
Continue Reading "The Collector's Art: Painter Brice Marden at the National Gallery of Art" »
MONDAY: Unless you were following Chicago politics back in 2003, you probably didn't hear of the charismatic new senator with the funny name till a few years later. Chances are, you hadn't given much thought to the 2008 presidential race yet. But that was the year that veteran campaign manager David Plouffe partnered with David Axelrod to plot Obama's historic journey to the White House.
Plouffe will discuss his management tactics, the five year plan, and his new book, "The Audacity To Win," at the Politics & Prose event held at the Sixth & I Synagogue.
» Sixth & I Synagogue, 600 I St. NW; Mon., Nov. 23, 7 p.m., $8; 202-408-3100. (Gallery Place)
Written by Express' Anne Polsky
Photo courtesy Penguin Books
ONGOING: It's a solo show by a Belgian conceptual artist featuring live chickens. What else do you need to know?
Oh, fine. The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, dreamed up by artist Koen Vanmechelen, combines mixed-media art (sometimes made of eggs) with, um, artistic chicken breeding? It's about genetic engineering! And rebirth! Or something. Really, we have no idea, but it'll be a good date-night conversation piece.
» Conner Contemporary Art, 1358 Florida Ave. NE; through Dec. 31, free; 202-588-8750.
Photo by Richard A. Lipski/The Washington Post
FRIDAY: Oh-so-in-demand DJ Dredd will spin a dance night at the Black Cat this weekend focused on '80s hip-hop classics. We're hoping some of the more obnoxious '80s trends won't make it to the Cat — we're looking at you, girl-in-ratty-tutu and boy-in-flourescent-hi-tops — but the great music that made the decade worthwhile will be there for sure.
We know it's not hip-hop, but we're hoping if we yell loud enough, he'll play "Like a Prayer." Cause you know it's not even vaguely '80s without that.
» Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW; Fri., Nov. 20, 9 p.m., free; 202-667-4490. (U St.-Cardozo)
Photo by Michael Temchine/The Washington Post
SATURDAY: The resurgence of handmade culture in America bodes well for the future. At the very least, if civilization collapses we'll have tons of people who know how to make ugly hats and "Twilight"-themed Fimo jewelry.
But it's nice to see people making things for themselves, and that's commemorated in "Handmade Nation," a short documentary about crafters showing at the Renwick Saturday afternoon. Will DIY sink back into obscurity once this recession is over? We hope not. Go check out the movie — maybe it'll inspire you to make something of your own.
» Renwick Gallery, 17th Street and Pennsylvania Ave. NW; Sat., Nov. 21, 2 p.m., free; 202-633-1000. (Farragut West)
Photo from Indiecraftdocumentary.blogspot.com
THIS WEEK: We've always thought Mt. Vernon was just about beautiful enough to eat — and finally, someone agrees with us. Former White House pastry chef Roland Mesnier is making our dreams come true this week.
Chef Mesnier will be inside Mt. Vernon constructing a gigantic replica of George Washington's former home out of gingerbread for Christmas. The structure will be highly-detailed and will include a number of figurines made out of marzipan. Drop by any time between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to watch him while he works and smell some of that delicious, delicious gingerbread.
We're salivating already.
» Mt. Vernon, 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Mount Vernon; through Tue., Nov. 24, free; 703-780-2000.
Written by Express' Sarah Mimms
Photo by Frank Johnston/The Washington Post
SATURDAY: Although our diaries and letters are now online and go by different names, we're no less committed as a society to expressing our daily lives through words than we were 200 years ago. And social networking makes it all too clear that the only thing we love more than keeping diaries and writing letters is reading those that belong to other people.
Snooping? Maybe. We like to think of it as "searching for a window into someone else's soul," but you can be mean about it if you want to.
In "Yours Ever: People and Their Letters," Thomas Mallon has compiled a fascinating and detailed look into the private correspondence of notable historical figures, such as Sacco and Vanzetti, Madame de Sevigne and F. Scott Fitzgerald. He'll be speaking this weekend at Politics and Prose.
» Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW; Sat., Nov. 21, 1 p.m, free; 202-364-1919. (Van Ness)
Written by Express' Anne Polsky
Photo courtesy Pantheon
Addison Road