Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Walls of Heritage, Walls of Pride: African American Murals

See nearly 70 photographs and nearly 30 pieces of original art in this exhibition spotlighting historic and contemporary murals created by African Americans around the country and other artists who have or are producing pieces for public display in African American communities.

July 11, 2005 – October 16, 2005

Anacostia Community Museum

Why Vote?

See how the artist DeWayne Barton uses poetry and campaign memorabilia to fashion a personal statement about voting, the electoral process, and African American disenfranchisement.

July 11, 2005 – October 16, 2005

Anacostia Community Museum

Forgotten Roots: African American Muslims in Early America

Learn through a range of artifacts, diaries, documents, and photographs in this exhibition showing how newly transported African Muslims played significant roles as explorers, entrepreneurs, educators, and patriotic servicemen in America during the 18th and 19th centuries.

July 11, 2005 – October 16, 2005

Anacostia Community Museum

Chinese Mountains of Immortality: A Focused Look

See a 3-object installation that examines Chinese images of mountains by comparing a 2nd-1st century B.C. incense burner with 2 later hanging scrolls.

April 2, 2005 – September 25, 2005

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Where Gods and Mortals Meet: Continuity and Renewal in Urhobo Art

See the first exhibition devoted to the arts and culture of the Urhobo people, who live in the Niger River Delta in southern Nigeria.

June 23, 2005 – September 25, 2005

African Art Museum

Caravan Kingdoms: Yemen and the Ancient Incense Trade

Explore how ancient Yemen grew fabulously wealthy because of the caravan trade routes of frankincense and myrrh that ran through it.

June 25, 2005 – September 11, 2005

Asian Art Museum, East Building

From Selma to Montgomery: The 40th Anniversary of the Voting Rights March

This showcase features clothing worn by Selma marchers, a voter registration manual, and photographs to mark the 40th anniversary of this historic march and the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

March 21, 2005 – September 11, 2005

American History Museum

Visual Music

Visual Music surveys the impact of music on the visual arts over the last 100 years, showing successive explorations of the idea of synaesthesia -- the experience of one sense evoking another.

June 23, 2005 – September 11, 2005

Hirshhorn Museum

Chinese Pots for Tabletop Gardens: Honoring the World Bonsai Friendship Federation

See how the pot used to hold a bonsai is also important to the overall aesthetic impact in this display featureing 8 antique Chinese pots that reveal a continuum of taste from imperial opulence to restrained rusticity.

May 27, 2005 – September 5, 2005

Asian Art Museum, East Building

George Catlin and His Indian Gallery

See George Catlin's celebrated depictions of the Native people of the American Plains, painted from 1830 to 1836 as he followed the trail of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

February 26, 2005 – September 5, 2005

American Indian Museum New York

New Tribe: New York: Spiderwoman Theater

Follow the story of Spiderwoman Theater, founded by three Brooklyn sisters in 1975, with this 30-year landmark retrospective of archival and performance video footage, photos, memorabilia, and Kuna and Rappahannock objects from the sisters' collection.

May 28, 2005 – September 5, 2005

American Indian Museum New York

The Allure of Pearls

On view in a case in the Winston Gallery are 12 extraordinary pearls that represent the breadth in color, shape, size, and luster of these natural gems.

March 18, 2005 – September 5, 2005

Natural History Museum

Chasing Venus: Observing the Transits of Venus, 1631-2004

Through books, manuscripts, and period scientific instruments, this exhibition examines the 'transit of Venus', the scientific and debates of the day.

March 24, 2004 – September 5, 2005

American History Museum

Hella Jongerius Selects: Works from the Permanent Collection

Discover a select group of samplers from the museum's collection of over 1,000 samplers from Great Britain, Europe and the Americas.

March 4, 2005 – September 4, 2005

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

TEXTures: Word & Symbol in Contemporary African Art

View an exhibition that highlights the creative ways in which 6 contemporary artists combine the acts of writing with a range of media.

February 11, 2005 – September 4, 2005

African Art Museum

Boating on a River

Survey the role of boats in later Chinese painting history in works of Chinese painting and calligraphy spanning the 12th to the 20th centuries.

February 12, 2005 – August 21, 2005

Asian Art Museum, West Building

Young Visions of Community

View the photographs and writings of Washington, D.C. elementary school students created during the Literacy through Photography project. The photos, essays, poems, and stories paint a vivid portrait of youth and community in the District of Columbia.

June 9, 2005 – August 21, 2005

Ripley Center

Treasures

View a changing exhibition that commemorates the museum's 25th anniversary by interweaving masterpieces from the museum's collection with artworks from public and private collections.

November 17, 2004 – August 15, 2005

African Art Museum

Collecting Photographic Art in Archives

View a selection of works from the Archive Center's documentary photography collections.

May 13, 2005 – August 10, 2005

American History Museum

In the Realm of Princes: The Arts of the Book in Fifteenth-Century Iran and Central Asia

See 33 paintings, manuscripts, and portable luxury objects from Iran and modern-day Afghanistan that illustrate one of the most artistically brilliant periods in the history of the Islamic world.

March 19, 2005 – August 7, 2005

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Perspectives: Cai Guo-Qiang: Traveler: Reflection

See how Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang explores past and present artistic expression driven by contact between cultures and peoples.

October 30, 2004 – July 31, 2005

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Close Up in Black: African American Film Posters

Trace the history of the African American experience in the movie industry through ninety framed film posters that illuminate the impact of performers, writers, designers, directors, and producers on screen and behind the screens.

May 7, 2005 – July 28, 2005

Anacostia Community Museum

The Aurora Butterfly of Peace

See 240 natural colored diamonds -- one of the most comprehensive collections of natural colored diamonds in the world -- loosely arranged to form the shape of a butterfly.

November 23, 2004 – July 25, 2005

Natural History Museum

Iraq and China: Ceramics, Trade, and Innovation

See approximately 60 objects that focus on revolutionary and enduring changes that took place in Iraqi ceramics during the 9th century as Islamic pottery responded to a wave of luxury Chinese goods.

December 4, 2004 – July 17, 2005

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Greenland

The museum explores the history and culture of Greenland through several exhibitions and display cases -- featuring artifacts, photographs, and contemporary art -- on view in various locations throughout the building.

May 20, 2005 – July 17, 2005

Natural History Museum