Online Exhibitions: Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery
Browse the online adaptations of National Portrait Gallery exhibitions and collection highlights with Google Arts & Culture. Winold Reiss & the Harlem Renaissance is realy worth checking out. Reiss, who was born in Germany, challenged the convention of racial stereotyping by portraying African American, Native American, and Asian American subjects as dignified individuals. In 1924, Reiss was commissioned to make portraits of major figures of the Harlem Renaissance.
Other exihibitions include The Votes for Women, Portraits of African Americans, The Struggle for Justice, as well as American Origins a facinating collection that highliughts, among others, the hidden work of 19 century AfricanAmercians such as the talented dress maker Elizabeth Keckley, concert pianist Thomas Greene Wiggins, and actor Ira Aldridge.
https://npg.si.edu/onlineexhibitions
Five things to see or read this month
Sam Wanamaker Theatre: The staging of Richard II was one of the shows of the 2019. Prior to its opening, media attention was primarily focused on the fact that the cast consisted entirely of BAME women. Welcome though this is, Lynette Linton and Adjoa Andoh’s production has much more recommend it, including a bravura central performance from Andoh in the title role.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHr XAJ93hRU&feature=youtu.be
Sadlers Wells: German born choreographer Pina Bausch is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern dance. The founder of the Tanztheater Wuppertal, she created a series of groundbreaking works including Café Müller. Sadlers Wells is broadcasting a reimagining of her interpretation of The Rite of Spring, performed by 38 dancers from 14 African countries, performed on a beach in Senegal.
Dancing in the Dusk www.sadlerswells.com
BBC iPlayer: I May Destroy You follows writer, director Michaela Coen’s 2015 hit Chewing Gum. In it she tackles sexual assault in the age of dating apps and drug-induced blackouts. Funny with a surreal twist, the story sees 30-something-year-old Londoners navigate personal identity and trauma.
BBC iPlayer: Forget the nationalist nonsense that typifies its Last Night, the Proms really is one of the world’s great music festivals. The programme combines great classical concerts with orchestral interpretations of other genres including jazz, hip-hop and soul. Running over 8 weeks from 17 July, this year’s season will consist mainly of highlights from its archive, streamed on television, radio and online.
Artangel: In 2016 and 2018 arts organisation Artangel collaborated with artist Taryn Simon for ‘An Occupation of Loss’ which brought together professional mourners from around the globe. She has recently revisited these performers and recorded them in their homes for ‘Laments From Quarantine’. Their performances and comments about the impact of Covid-19 crisis are incredibly moving. The full series of videos can be viewed at www.artangel. org.uk/an-occupation-of-loss/ laments-from-quarantine/