Lara Baladi’s “Roba Vecchia,” a life-sized kaleidoscope; image courtesy the Kennedy Center

Written by DCist contributor Monica Shores

There are five days left to catch the Kennedy Center’s Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World festival, and the event is well worth making time for. While several of the weekend performances are sold out, you can visit the art installations any day for free.

Exuberant wedding garb from 22 countries, including Kuwait, Palestine, and Lebanon, is included in Brides of the Arab World, displayed in the Hall of Nations and Hall of States. Bahrain’s embroidered white sheath makes the mannequin look like a fabulous, gaudy angel, while one of Palestine’s offerings seems to have directly inspired Gucci’s spring prints two years ago. Upstairs on the Terrace level, art created by Arab women, such as Fahda bint Saud’s Three Women, a burqa-ed take on “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” is the focus of the exhibit, Breaking the Veils.

Here you’ll also find more interactive rooms, such as the gigantic bed dominating Youssef Nabil’s Cinema exhibit, where guests admire portraits of Egyptian film stars while listening to clips of movie soundtracks; as well as the Exploratorium, which features a film about Arab mathematical advances projected in 3-D on the ceiling.