The Art of Video Games

Smithsonian American Art Museum
Now – 09/09/2012
Video games use images, actions and player participation to tell stories and engage their audiences. Much in the way of film, animation, and performance, video games are a compelling and influential form of narrative art. This exhibition is the first to examine comprehensively the evolution of video games themselves as an artistic medium. From the Atari VSC to the Playstation 3, the show documents the development since the 1970s of visual effects and aesthetics, the emergence of games as a means for storytelling, the influence of world events and popular culture on game development, and the impact games can have on society. Multimedia presentations of video game footage, video interviews with developers and artists, large prints of in-game screen shots, historic video game consoles, and a selection of working video game systems for visitors to play are included.

 

Suprasensorial: Experiments in Light, Color and Space

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Now—May 13, 2012
The focus of this exhibition is to explain the international light-and-space art movement of the mid- and late 20th century. The exhibition consists of large-scale installations by five artists from South America who created landmark works in the 1950s and 1960s—Lucio Fontana, Julio Le Parc, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Jesús Rafael Soto and Hélio Oiticica. By developing large-scale, multimedia constructions of light and color, these Latin Americans engaged viewers more actively in a physical process of exploring the possibilities of visual and spatial perceptions. This exhibition underscores the artists’ innovative contributions and acknowledges their seminal role in the ongoing, global light-and-space tradition. The five installations—which have heretofore been known only to a small number of people—create enveloping optical effects that overwhelm and transform the sensory experience.

 

Behind the Scenes: The Real Story of Quileute Wolves

National Museum of the American Indian
January 2012—May 2012
Organized in conjunction with the Quileute Nation in Washington state, the exhibition brings together rare artworks and creates a public forum for clarifying misconceptions resulting from the popular Twilight books and films. The exhibition, composed of approximately 20 objects of Quileute art, offer authentic interpretation of art representing wolf mythology, including five wolf headdresses spanning 70 years from the 1870s to the 1940s. Visitors have the chance to learn from the Quileute themselves about their history, visual and performing arts, unique language and oral traditions, and ways in which their important cultural beliefs are kept alive today. The exhibition includes historical photographs, a map of Quileute place names, a timeline of Quileute history and a 12-minute video. Also on view are eight drawings of Quileute cultural activities—including wolf rituals—created by schoolchildren between 1905 and 1908.

 

The Black List: Photographs by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

National Portrait Gallery
Now — April 22, 2012
The Black List Project was conceived by photographer and filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders with Elvis Mitchell, NPR correspondent and former New York Times film critic in an effort to redefine the word. Historically, “blacklist” denotes a group of people marginalized and denied work or social approval. In this exhibit, portraits of 50 African Americans provide insight into the struggles, triumphs and joys of black life in the U.S. The images are both pictorial and verbal, representing some of the most dynamic and inspiring personalities in the fields of politics, music, business, civil activism, literature, the arts and athletics. Some of the featured photographs include those of American political activist and university professor Angela Davis; musician John Legend; chairman and CEO of the United Negro College Fund Michael Lomax; artist Kara Walker; and actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, novelist and composer Mario Van Peebles.

 

Mail Call

National Postal Museum
Now — Permanent
On the battlefront and at home, mail provides a vital communication link between military service personnel, their communities and their loved ones. Mail call is a moment where the frontline and home front connect. This exhibition tells the history of military mail from the American Revolution to 2010. How does this mail reach its destination? What roles does it play? Why does it influence morale? The exhibition explores the great lengths taken to set up and operate postal services under extraordinary circumstances. Visitors can read the words of both personal messages and official letters that reveal the expressions, emotions and events of the time.

 

Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt

National Museum of Natural History
Now — TBD
This exhibit focuses on Egyptian burial ritual, its place within ancient Egyptian cosmology, and the insights that mummies, burial ritual, and cosmology provide about life in ancient Egypt. Learn how burial practices and associated religious beliefs serve as windows into world cultures. Visitors can explore the ways in which mummies, tombs and Egyptian mythology open new windows into the lives of ancient Egyptians as they navigated through the world of the living to achieve eternal life after death.

 

“Something of Splendor”: Decorative Arts from the White House

Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Now—May 6, 2012
The White House has been the official residence of the President of the United States for more than 200 years. It embodies the ever-evolving story of how the presidents and their families live, work and entertain within its historic walls and among its historic furnishings. This exhibition, organized in honor of the 50th anniversary of the White House Historical Association. It includes approximately 120 objects—furniture, ceramics, metals, glass and textiles—from the White House collection. Many of these objects were made by the most celebrated craftsmen of their time and some have never been seen outside of the White House. The exhibition and its related publication include archival prints and photographs of the interiors to help the visitor envision life in the President’s official residence. The exhibition is co-organized with the White House Office of the Curator.

 

The Evolving Universe

National Museum of Natural History
Now—Jan. 20, 2013
This exhibit takes visitors on a journey from present-day Earth to the far reaches of space and the distant past—back to the beginning of the universe. How stars and galaxies, even the universe itself, change from birth to maturity to death, much like living things on Earth, is explored in full-color photographs that capture the awe-inspiring beauty of the cosmos, as seen through high-powered terrestrial and orbiting telescopes. This exhibition is a collaborative effort with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

 

Against All Odds: Rescue at the Chilean Mine Rescue

National Museum of Natural History
Now — Indefinite
Last fall, the world watched as rescuers in Chile ferried 33 miners to safety after spending nearly two months trapped in a collapsed mine. The actual rescue capsule is in a special temporary exhibit featuring the complex rescue effort and the miners’ story. New video footage, mementos from the miners and rock samples recall this dramatic event.

 

One Life: Ronald Reagan

National Portrait Gallery
Now — 5/28/2012
When Ronald Reagan ran for President in 1980, it was the conventional wisdom, after what was viewed as four failed presidencies, that the office had outgrown the individual and needed to be changed or perhaps held jointly. Within a short time after Reagan became President, however, whether one agreed with his policies or not, there was no doubt about his capacity and command of the office, and the discussion about the need to change the office of the President ended. This fact alone altered the course of the nation’s history; Reagan’s two terms would include much else of great consequence. Next year, the National Portrait Gallery joins with millions of Americans commemorating the centennial of this “consequential” and “transformational” President, terms used to describe the Reagan era by President Barack Obama.

 

 

 

The David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins: What Does It Mean to Be Human?

National Museum of Natural History
New – New Permanent
Trace the epic story of how humans evolved in response to a changing world. The museum’s new multi-media immersion experience allows visitors to meet face-to-face with Sahelanthropus, the oldest known fossil human. Other displays include life-size reconstructions of early human species and an interactive family tree depicting millions of years of evolutionary change.

 

Moving Beyond the Earth

National Air and Space Museum
Now – New Permanent
Get a first hands feel for the history of human spaceflight during the space shuttle and space station era. Immerse yourself in the story and technology of human spaceflight. Visitors will see the Earth as it is viewed from the space station, learn what it feels like to orbit in the shuttle and quiz themselves to learn if they are “flight ready” for a space journey. See a 12-foot-tall space shuttle model and other launch vehicles, astronaut gear and other historic spaceflight artifacts.

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