While things are quieter, there's still fun to be had, and of an international bent as well. So a few photos from the first half of July. We've a small family trip the end of the month, and I'll be back in NYC in early September. For much of the rest of the summer, I'm going to try to stay out of the miserable heat and distract myself (while not getting too depressed about being stuck in the swamp) by planning my fall break-out. Details to come! Just now, there are too many opportunities and not enough time for them all....
Every summer, the National Mall becomes a festival ground for two weeks, as the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage spotlights three world cultures. This summer they covered Mexico, local Asian-Pacific Americans, and Smithsonian Inside-Out, or behind-the-scenes at Smithsonian. Our museum had something there every day, but of interest to me/you is that my team and I ran the Family Activity tent on Saturday July 3. This was a way for us to start to promote the forthcoming Activity Center at the museum, try some activities, and begin prototyping some ideas. It was phenomenally successful, more than we'd dared hope, actually.
When I talked with our design and production staff, I said that I wanted a BIG basket for a communal weaving activity. The lead educator and I think it needs to be bigger still, but they did make a BIG and beautiful prototype for our start. It was wildly popular!
We had one table set up with a Hawaiian board game similar to checkers, called kōnane. It was packed all day! We also asked for feedback on some concept imagery for the new space.
We had a number of ring-and-pin style games from across the Hemisphere, each of which teaches hand-eye coordination skills. We even had a way for kids to make their own to take home, and these were spotted all along the Mall all day. :) This was early in the day, before we really were open, but as you can see, kids were already at the basket. It wasn't this quiet again until we put it on the cart to bring it back to the museum!
I didn't get to see much of the rest of the festival, but when I did finally stop for lunch, I was lucky -- the Seri band from Mexico was playing, and they were great!
The night before, we'd had several friends over for dinner--Lisa and William and Kristin and John. It was great fun! It had been far too long since I'd had the chance to cook and do a dinner party, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. And I love being able to connect people and start new relationships too. So I did it again on July 4! Two Australian women I'd met before were both at Smithsonian on fellowships, overlapping by a few weeks. Melina I'd met in Brisbane last year, and she was studying at the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center under the Queensland government's fellowship program. (This was the same program that brought Olivia to Smithsonian and NMAI.) We'd managed to meet up a few times and she did some research work with my colleagues in education and on our new center. Kylie was just arrived and is working for the summer/fall at NMAI and at American History, on a Smithsonian research fellowship. Since the 4th is a big deal in the States, and watching the festivities on the National Mall can be daunting, forget trying to do it all alone, we had them over for dinner and fireworks-viewing from our building's new roof deck.
Melina's camera did a fantastic job! (Yes, I'm still fighting with that little Nikon.) This is Kylie, Melina and me, and then one of the fireworks.
I managed photos of the big Bolivian festival, but nearly missed getting them for Peru! This past week we've been hosting a big festival of Peruvian culture called Makiykumanta. Beautiful work and people, and great fun, including pisco sour happy hours from 4:30 until 5:30 daily!
LOVE these little alpacas made from alpaca fur! He had many different animals, including hedgehogs and monkeys. The embroidery work was extraordinary -- all hand-done. I bought a bag similar to this one for traveling with my camera. The big camera, not the p-h-d one that I can't make work properly.
Incredible silver jewelry work too! Stunning designs. I feel like I've had some great opportunities to travel and meet great artisans, but this work was special. A quick sense of the space and crowds on a Friday afternoon.
Music too! This is the band Tahuatinsuya. There are a number of video clips on the museum's facebook page!
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