Workshop Wednesdays
Swahili Arts: Music and Dance
1:30–3:30 p.m.
Get ready to dance with artist, actress, poet, and performer Ana Mwalagho! East Africa’s coast has been a vibrant arena of global cultural convergence for over a millennium. Its location on the Indian Ocean has brought together people from the Arabian Peninsula, Asia, Africa, and Europe to form something unique: Swahili, or WaSwahili, culture. Join us for a workshop featuring the incredible, diverse music and dance of the Swahili coast. Come prepared to move!
This workshop is presented as part of the museum’s series of Workshop Wednesdays. Every first Wednesday of the month, stop by the museum for drop-in classes from trained teachers. Stay for as little or as long as you like to complete your masterpiece. All skill levels and ages welcome; participants under age 16 must be accompanied by an adult. No registration is required, but please remember that these events are first-come, first-served. Visit here for a full list of upcoming workshops.
Free and open to the public.
See Me
A Program for Adults with Dementia and their Care-partners
Fumban, Grassfields region, Cameroon
Male figure
Late 19th century
Wood, brass, cloth, glass beads, cowrie shells
160 x 39.4 x 36.8 cm (63 x 15 1/2 x 14 1/2 in.)
Gift of Evelyn A.J. Hall and John A. Friede, 85-8-1
Photograph by Franko Khoury
2–3:30 p.m.
Registration is required for this program
Recommended for audiences 18+
The experience of looking closely allows us to appreciate beauty, exchange ideas, share memories, or simply respond to the work in front of us. Every fourth Tuesday of the month, the National Museum of African Art invites individuals living with dementia, together with their care-partner, to join us for special tours highlighting the joy of close-looking.
Each month’s interactive and multisensory tour will feature a different theme:
- April 24: Afrofuturism: African Art in Pop Culture
- May 29: Snapshot: Art and Selfie
- June 26: Making a Splash: Water in African Art
- July 24: Repurposed: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Art
- August 28: Dance Off: African Art in Motion
Registration is required for this program. Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate drop-in participants. For more information and to register, please contact the Smithsonian Accessibility Program at access@si.edu or 202–633–2921.
