Current Exhibitions

My Visit

Promise of Paradise: Ancient Chinese Buddhist Sculpture

The buddhas, bodhisattvas, and disciples in this exhibition were made to inspire and guide believers on their spiritual path. Their beauty imparted the promise of paradise.

October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely

Asian Art Museum, West Building
My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

Art and Industry: China's Ancient Houma Foundry: Chinese Bronzes Added

~~Art and Industry: China's Ancient Houma Foundry: Chinese Bronzes~~ Removed

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Art and Industry: China's Ancient Houma Foundry: Chinese Bronzes

The largest bronze foundry complex from antiquity was excavated at Houma in northern China in the mid-twentieth century. At the two-acre site, archaeologists discovered evidence of extremely sophisticated manufacturing techniques.

October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely

Asian Art Museum, West Building
My Visit

Rediscovering Korea's Past: Korean Ceramics

Today we admire the translucent gray-green celadon glaze on Korean ceramics of the Goryeo period as one of the great achievements of world potters.

October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely

Asian Art Museum, West Building
My Visit

Afterlife: Ancient Chinese Jades

A construction boom in China more than a century ago resulted in new railways and factories—and the accidental discovery of scores of rich ancient cemeteries. Buried in these tombs for thousands of years were jewelry and ritual objects, all laboriously crafted from jade.

October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely

Asian Art Museum, West Building
My Visit

Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China

Many of the powerful emperors of China’s last dynasties—the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912)—were patrons, collectors, and casual practitioners of the arts. They used art to legitimize and glorify their rule. It served many functions: for state rituals, for expressing piety, to dazzle palace visitors, to build diplomatic relations, and for personal pleasure.

October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely

Asian Art Museum, West Building
My Visit

Engaging the Senses: Arts of the Islamic World

Every region, province, and even city developed its own artistic language with rich sensory resonances, many of which are explored in these galleries.

October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely

Asian Art Museum, West Building
My Visit

Center of the World: China and the Silk Road

This wealthy, worldly hub offered a ready market for exotic imports that local artisans translated into a Chinese style.

October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely

Asian Art Museum, West Building
My Visit

Body Image: Arts of the Indian Subcontinent

This exhibition explores concepts and aesthetics of the body. The theme of the body provides a portal for appreciating how India’s extraordinary culture is woven from distinctive but interrelated traditions.

October 14, 2017 – Indefinitely

Asian Art Museum, West Building
My Visit

Feast Your Eyes: A Taste for Luxury in Ancient Iran

View highly sophisticated ancient Iranian metalwork ranging from deep bowls to elaborate drinking vessels to objects in gold and silver.

October 14, 2017 – Permanent

Asian Art Museum, East Building
My Visit

America's Presidents

The nation’s only complete collection of presidential portraits outside the White House tells the American story through the individuals who have shaped it.

September 22, 2017 – Permanent

Portrait Gallery
My Visit

Common Ground: Our American Garden

This exhibition shares the stories of plants and how they are important to Americans.

June 28, 2017 – Permanent

Smithsonian Gardens
My Visit

Wallace H. Coulter Unity Square

Wallace H. Coulter Unity Square is where history will inspire you to participate—in the museum and in civic life.

June 28, 2017 – Permanent

American History Museum
My Visit

Many Voices, One Nation

Explore the 500-year journey of how many distinct peoples and cultures shaped and negotiated the culture of the U.S.

June 28, 2017 – Permanent

American History Museum
My Visit

American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith

Presents national treasures that represent American democracy—based on the bold American experiment to create a government “of the people, by the people and for the people.”

June 28, 2017 – Permanent

American History Museum
My Visit

Greensboro Lunch Counter

The sit-in of four African American college students at this Woolworth counter helped ignite a youth-led movement to challenge inequality throughout the South.

June 28, 2017 – Indefinitely

American History Museum
My Visit

Explore! with the National Portrait Gallery

Explore! is a space where kids (ages 18 months to 8 years old accompanied by an adult) can experiment with portraiture hands-on. Hours are subject to change.

January 28, 2017 – Indefinitely

Portrait Gallery
My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

Clouds in a Bag: The Evelyn Way Kendall Ballooning and Early Aviation Collection Added

~~Clouds in a Bag: The Evelyn Way Kendall Ballooning and Early Aviation Collection~~ Removed

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Clouds in a Bag: The Evelyn Way Kendall Ballooning and Early Aviation Collection

The treasures in this collection provide a sense of the wonder and excitement experienced by those who witnessed the birth of flight over two centuries ago.

January 28, 2017 – Indefinitely

Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
My Visit

Giving in America

Giving in America looks at the history of philanthropy in United States, commemorating the movements and people who made and continue to make a difference.

November 29, 2016 – Permanent

American History Museum
My Visit

Folk and Self-Taught Art

These galleries serve as a reminder that not all artists are formally trained and that the making of art is as much an act of passion as of intellect.

October 21, 2016 – Ongoing

American Art Museum
My Visit

Taking the Stage

See how African Americans transformed the ways they are represented onstage by challenging racial discrimination and stereotypes.

September 24, 2016 – Permanent

African American History and Culture Museum
My Visit

Making a Way Out of No Way

Learn about the ways in which African Americans created possibilities in a world that denied them opportunities.

September 24, 2016 – Permanent

African American History and Culture Museum
My Visit

Added to My Visit Removed from My Visit

A Century in the Making: Building the National Museum of African American History and Culture Added

~~A Century in the Making: Building the National Museum of African American History and Culture~~ Removed

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A Century in the Making: Building the National Museum of African American History and Culture

This exhibit explores the journey toward fulfillment of the long-held dream of building the museum.

September 24, 2016 – Permanent

African American History and Culture Museum
My Visit

Explore More!

This interactive, multifaceted space is dedicated to helping visitors connect and engage with African American history and culture.

September 24, 2016 – Ongoing

African American History and Culture Museum
My Visit

Cultural Expressions

This exhibition serves as an introduction to the concept of African American and African diaspora culture.

September 24, 2016 – Permanent

African American History and Culture Museum
My Visit

Musical Crossroads

This exhibition tells the story of African American music from the arrival of the first Africans to today’s hip-hop.

September 24, 2016 – Permanent

African American History and Culture Museum

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