“Hijras” by Antonio di Vico, courtesy Subcontinental Drift.>> We’re proud to give our top spot this week to DCist jazz writer Sriram Gopal and his arts collective Subcontinental Drift, who have put together the exhibition opening at Smith Farm Healing Arts Gallery tomorrow night. Positive Exposure: The South Asian Experience Through the Camera Eye is in two parts. The larger exhibit was picked from an open contest and includes photography from both local and international artists that feature South Asia and its diaspora; the second part includes work from The Clean Hands Project, where professional photojournalists trained Dalits (Untouchables) in Nepal to use digital cameras to document their lives. Visit the opening reception Friday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and be sure to mark your calendar for a whole month of events, including Subcontinental Drift’s regular monthly open mic night, held at the gallery on Feb. 12, and a panel discussion about challenges minority artists face getting into the mainstream on Feb. 17.
>> Every first Thursday, The Phillips Collection holds Phillips After 5 with music, cash bar, gallery talks and discussions. Doors open at 5 p.m. (free with museum admission), and they’ve collaborated with the American Poetry Museum this month for a panel on poetry and hip-hop starting at 6:30 p.m. Two gallery talks, at 6 and 7 p.m. will focus on Jacob Lawrence’s work, and in between enjoy tunes by DJ Adrian Loving.
>> Transformer Gallery shuns all time and space by opening Summer Camp this weekend, filling the next month with events and workshops for everyone, for free. Start with a reception on Friday for April Behnke and her delicate drawings in flights of fancy, 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, take the party to Comet Ping Pong for VIDEYO!, where a slew of artists, including Kathryn Cornelius and Victoria F. Gaitán, will fill the venue with, you guessed it, all kinds of video art during the reception, 9 to 11 p.m., followed by an after-party until 2 a.m.
>> It’s First Friday for the Dupont galleries. If you missed January’s not-really-First Friday, you’re in luck, because Hillyer is still running its two exhibits, the literal Tools for Change and the installations of Judy Stone’s work in Spirit. Listen to DJ Neville Chamberlain and enjoy food and beverages for a $5 suggested donation. 6 to 9 p.m. Foundry Gallery shows the work of three painters, Doris Colbert Kennedy, Marina Reiter and Ron Riley, in RESHUET (Joy). 6 to 8 p.m. Over at Marsha Mateyka Gallery, see new photographs by Susan Eder and Craig Dennis. 6 to 8 p.m. The brand new web site the Dupont Galleries put up a few months ago seems to have disappeared, but if you start at one of the galleries above and follow the tipsy patrons carrying plastic cups of wine through the streets, you’ll should find the rest of them.
