Upcoming Friends Travel

A Celebration of Encompassing the Globe in Portugal
Friends Trip Led by Exhibition Curator Jay Levenson and Julian Raby, Director of the Freer and Sackler Galleries

September 21–26, 2009

During the summer of 2007, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery presented the largest exhibition in its history: Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries. With its rich mix of objects, global message, and major components devoted to the art and culture of Japan, China, India, Africa, and Brazil, this ambitious exhibition was an international sensation and attracted more than 340,000 visitors from around the world.

This exhibition is now on view in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon, Portugal (through October 11, 2009). Jay Levenson, lead curator of Encompassing the Globe and the director of the International Program at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and Director Julian Raby offer the Friends of the Freer and Sackler Galleries a chance to experience Encompassing the Globe in Portugal with them from September 21 to September 25, 2009.

In addition to exclusive access to the exhibition and many experts who contributed to it, this five-day excursion features behind-the-scenes tours of stunning private art collections and cultural venues in northern Portugal and includes regional cuisine with unique dining experiences at acclaimed eateries and private homes.
Please download the preliminary itinerary on this page or contact Rachel Wood, Membership Coordinator, at 202.633.0448 or woodr@si.edu for more information. 

Friends Trip to Cambodia 
October 25–November 5, 2009

Join Louise Cort, curator of ceramics, and Director Julian Raby on an eleven-day educational adventure in Cambodia. Become acquainted with the stunning array of stone monuments in this region of Southeast Asia. Learn to “see” the long-lost wooden architecture, canals, and roads of Cambodia, and visit with individuals committed to preserving and revitalizing the heritage of Khmer culture.

We are still accepting reservations for this trip. Please download the itinerary and reservation information on this page to register or call 202.633.0448 for more information.

Please contact Rachel Wood, Membership Coordinator, at 202.633.0448, or email woodr@si.edu for more information on Friends programs.

Upcoming Friends Events

For more information about or to RSVP to any of the Friends events listed, please contact Rachel Wood, Friends Coordinator, at 202.633.0448 or e-mail woodr@si.edu.

Annual Friends Day and Dinner
Saturday, September 12, 2009

On this special day, Friends are invited to participate in a daytime program that includes behind-the-scenes tours led by curators, a talk by Julian Raby, director of the Freer and Sackler Galleries, and a light lunch. See below for information on this year’s tours. The event concludes with an evening black-tie cocktail reception and dinner. Invitations will be mailed to all Friends in early August.

Fate, Fortune, and the Falnama
Massumeh Farhad, Chief Curator and Curator of Islamic Art, discusses folios from the Falnama, a sixteenth-century manuscript used by royalty and commoners in Safavid Iran and Ottoman Turkey to foretell the future.

New at the Archives
Archivists David Hogge and Rachael Woody present Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s photography collection of “East meets West” encounters, and the recent conservation of Ernst Herzfeld’s drawings documenting ancient Near Eastern civilization.

Seeing Babur
Debra Diamond, Associate Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art, looks at paintings created by Mughal masters and related to Babur (1483–1530), the founder of the Mughal empire in India. 

Studying Khmer Stone Sculpture
With the aid of petrography and electron microscopy, Conservation Scientist Janet Douglas demonstrates scientific research efforts to preserve Khmer stone sculpture in Cambodia.

Kyushu Kilns
In a hands-on session, Louise Cort, Curator of Ceramics, examines ceramics made at kilns in southern Japan, from stoneware tea bowls to enamel-decorated porcelain—and many unfamiliar genres in between.

Narrative Modes in Japanese Art
From folding screens to prints and books, Ann Yonemura, Senior Associate Curator of Japanese Art, explores the extraordinary range of Japanese narrative art in the museums’ collections.

Looking Back and Facing Forward
Join Carol Huh, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Asian Art, to discover the evolution of portraiture in Asian photography through historical images in the Archives and contemporary works in the Sackler collection.

Sixth-century Buddhist Sculpture from Xiangtangshan
Keith Wilson, Associate Director and Curator of Ancient Chinese Art, leads a workshop featuring an important group of Chinese Buddhist stone sculptures from the cave chapels at Xiangtangshan.