(Courtesty of the Sackler)
A GLIMPSE OF ANCIENT YEMEN @ FREER
The region that the Romans called Arabia Felix was known for frankincense and myrrh, and such cities as Timna prospered along trade routes to India and the Mediterranean. This intimate exhibit at the Sackler highlights a small selection of objects excavated from south Arabia (modern Yemen) by Wendell Phillips, an archaeologist of humble origins who became an American Lawrence of Arabia and struck it rich thanks to oil concessions.
Opens August 18 at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1050 Independence Ave SW. Free.
(National Building Museum)
INVESTIGATING WHERE WE LIVE @ NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM
The stately Pension Building, home to the National Building Museum, isn’t just for blockbuster shows; it’s an elegant reminder of the city’s past. This month the museum exhibits the work of area teenagers who participated in a summer program to explore the city, connecting with artists and residents and documenting communities with photography and creative writing. This year’s theme: what was it like to be a teenager in Washington, D.C. in the tumultuous year of 1968? The culmination of this program is an exhibit designed and installed by local teens.
August 11, 2017-January 15, 2019 at the National Building Museum, 401 F Street N.W. $16.
Julius Kassovic, “Frozen Moment” (Black Rock Center)
JULIUS KASSOVIC: NATURAL ABSTRACTIONS @ BLACKROCK
Silver Spring resident Julius Kassovic has spent much of the last 12 years photographing seasonal and other changes in Sligo Creek. The resulting body of work captures, “surprising abstract patterns, colors, and shapes which naturally appear in the creek at various times of day.” Join the photographer for an artist talk and gallery tour on the closing day of his solo exhibition.
August 25 at 1 pm at BlackRock Center for the Arts, 2901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown, MD. Free.
Han Gaku, historical woman warrior, armed and armored, seated on a rearing horse. Detail from woodcut by Yoshitoshi Taiso, ca, 1885.Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
ANIME FOR ALL @ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
In conjunction with Otakon, an annual convention of Asian pop culture, the Library of Congress (disclosure: I work at the Library of Congress but not on this program) presents three days of events that include a display of medieval picture scrolls, musical performances, a family-friendly cosplay workshop, and talk with Japanese writer-director Kihara Hirokatsu.
August 8-10 at the Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E. Free; tickets are available, but not required. See the event ticketing site.
Moriah Evans, Figuring at SculptureCenter (2018) (Performers left to right: Sarah Beth Percival and Lizzie Feidelson) Photo: Paula Court
MORIAH EVANS: BE MY MUSE @ HIRSHHORN
For five days next week, choreographer Moriah Evans, who, as the Hirshhorn writes, “interrogates dance’s complex history and structure with an exciting, expansive sense of the art form,” brings a series of 49-minute performances to the gallery, in which she will “expose her process to a series of interventions and opinions from museum visitors, producing an open choreography regulated both by time and the intimate, momentary exchanges between two people.” The performance is part of the performance art exhibition, Does the body rule the mind, or does the mind rule the body?, which runs through August 12.
August 6-10 at 11 am at the Hirshhorn. Free.
(From WAMU’s Anacostia Unmapped page)
ANACOSTIA UNMAPPED 2.0 @ CAH GALLERY
The popular radio documentary series between independent producer Katie Davis and WAMU 88.5 (disclosure: WAMU is the parent company of DCist) becomes a mixed-media art exhibit in which artists from the region explore the history of Anacostia through poetry, photographs, paintings, and animated film. Featured artists include Kymone Freeman, V Kuroji Patrick, Katie Davis, John Johnson, Daniel Nathan, Sheila Crider, Kenadi Johnson, Yetunde Mondie Sapp, Melani Douglass, Aniekan Udofia, Demont Peekaso Pinder, and the Anacostia Watershed Society.
August 6-September 14 at CAH Gallery, 200 I Street, S.E. Attend an artist talk on August 16 from 6-8 pm. Free.
Chae Eun Rhee, My Land, 2018. (Korean Cultural Center)
EXPANDING SPACETIME: CHAE EUN RHEE AND SKY KIM @ KOREAN CULTURAL CENTER
The Korean Cultural Center presents new work by two artists “whose vivid and evocative paintings ask viewers to imagine how mind and body transcend the constraints of time and space.” Chae Eun Rhee’s representational work marries such influences as Van Gogh, Hitchcock, and The Wizard of Oz with social media and “paparazzi exploitation,” while Sky Kim’s watercolors are “at once abstract, anatomical, spiritual and sensual.”
August 3-September 4 at the Korean Cultural Center, 2370 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Free.
