Exhibitions
Desert Jewels: North African Jewelry and Photography from the Xavier Guerrand-Hermès Collection
October 8, 2008-January 11, 2009
African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection
Through March 22, 2009
Black Gold I
by Yinka Shonibare, MBE
Indefinite
Artists in Dialogue: António Ole and Aimé Mpane
February 4-August 2, 2009
FAMILY & KIDS
Let's Read About Africa
Introduces young audiences to Africa through children's literature by award-winning authors.
Age: 5-10 and young at heart.
Anansi Does the Impossible! An Ashanti Tale
Sat., Jan. 3
Retold by Verna Aardema, illus. by Lisa Desimini, 2000
Anansi the Spider completes impossible tasks involving a python, a fairy and 47 stinging hornets! Followed by an art activity.
The Orphan Boy
Sat., Feb. 7
By Tololwa M. Mollel, illus. by Paul Morin, 1995
A Maasai tale of a missing star. Followed by an art activity.
Adults
Lectures
2009 Lecture Series
A Scattering of Pearls: Architecture of the Gold Road and the Mali-Spain Diaspora
Fri., Jan. 30, 12 p.m.
In 1324 King Mansa Musa of Mali invited Al-Saheli, a son of the Granada Spice and Perfume Guild head, to become his court architect. Distinguished historian Suzanne Preston Blier examines this remarkable patron-architect relationship, the subsequent buildings and the larger history of the north-south exchange during the centuries of the trans-Saharan gold trade.
Reconstructing the History of Ethiopia's Famed Site of Lalibela
Fri., Feb 27, 12 p.m.
Leading Ethiopian art historian Marilyn Heldman discusses Lalibela, the world-famed pilgrimage site composed of churches carved from the living rock in the mountains of Lasta.
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Clinics
Curatorial and Conservation Clinic
Thurs., Feb. 19, 1:30-4 p.m
Registration required, 202.633.4640
Museum curators and conservators offer insights and advice on the aesthetics, cultural context and proper care of works in your collection. Select a clinic; limit two objects per visit.
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Films
Kirikou and the Sorceress
Sat., Feb. 28, 1 p.m.
Ages: 7 and up
This award-winning animated film recounts a West African folktale about a newborn boy who saves his village from the curse of the evil sorceress Karaba (France, 1998, 71 mins.).
Africa in Reel Time African Diaspora Film Festival
Thursdays in February, 7 p.m.
Visit africa.si.edu or call 202.633.4640 for further details.
Discussions
Edible Treasures
Sun., Jan. 11, 2-5 p.m.
Registration required, 202.633.4640
$15, free for African Art members (purchase tickets at door)
Join culinary expert Amy Riolo for a lecture, tea and cooking demonstration. Learn how concepts of design, worship and aesthetics evident in Moroccan jewelry and art influenced the Moroccan table. Sip orange blossom water while Moroccan delicacies are prepared. Followed by book signing.
Presented in conjunction with Desert Jewels
Conversation with the Artists
Fri., Feb. 6, 6:30 pm
Visiting artists Aimé Mpane and António Ole discuss their work and site-specific installations for the exhibition Artists in Dialogue.
Meet the Composer
Sat., March 14, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Award winning composer, playwright and pianist Tony M. Small will perform original works from his Tales and Traditions series including "The Waltz of the Butterflies" (1st movement), It Takes a Village, and other original music that shows the rich connection and influence of African culture on America's indigenous Tales and Traditions.
The instrumental and vocal performances will be enhanced by intergenerational troupes ranging from a youth choir and local artists accompanied by a jazz/string quartet.
Funded in part through Meet The Composer's MetLife Creative Connections program .
Children's Workshops
Africa in Motion
Sounds of Africa
Sharon Katz & The Peace Train
Sat., Feb. 7, 2 p.m.
Nelson Mandela's "cultural ambassadors" present uplifting messages of unity through South African music and dance.
Gesel Mason Performance Projects
Sat., Feb. 14, 2 p.m.
Gesel Mason performs excerpts of her award-winning solo project, No Boundaries: Dancing the Visions of Contemporary Black Choreographers, a collaboration with leading contemporary African American choreographers that celebrates the diversity of work by, for and about African Americans.
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