From our museums in Washington, DC and New York City, to our traveling exhibitions in venues closer to home,
to our website and mobile apps, you will always find something worthwhile to discover and enjoy.
This 2023 pocket guide offers a small sample of the thousands of things to see and do at the
Smithsonian this year, all made possible thanks to the support of people like you.
June 8, 2019 - Permanent, National Museum of Natural History
The new David H. Koch Hall of Fossils showcases the museum's unrivaled collection of 46 million fossils re-positioned in new, dramatic, more scientifically-accurate positions, and presents the most up-to-date scientific research on how life on Earth has evolved.
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September 24, 2016 - Permanent, National Museum of African American History and Culture
As the centerpiece of the museum, this exhibition explores the complex story of slavery and freedom, a story standing at the core of our national experience.
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Summer 2017 - Permanent, National Museum of American History
At the heart of this nation lies a great search for balance between unity and pluralism. Many Voices: One Nation presents the five-hundred-year journey of how many distinct peoples and cultures met, mingled and created the culture of the United States.
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January 18, 2018 – 2027, National Museum of the American Indian
American Indian represent less than 1 percent of the U.S. population, yet names and images of Indians are everywhere: military weapons, town names, advertising and that holiday in November. American invites visitors to take a closer look, and to ask why.
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October 14, 2023 - TBA, National Museum of African Art
Internationally renowned artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah addresses the global COVID-19 pandemic, murder of George Floyd, and worldwide protests in support of Black Lives Matter in this visual essay of our times. Drawing upon an extensive archive of images that mix iconic works of art with scenes shot and gathered in the globally fraught 18-month period between 2019 and 2021, Five Mumurations considers Akomfrah’s insights into post-colonialism, diasporic experience, and memory.
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October 20, 2023 - September 2, 2024, National Portrait Gallery
Forces of Nature: Voices that Shaped Environmentalism presents some of the key people–scientists, politicians, activists, writers, and artists–whose work has influenced attitudes toward the environment in the United States from the late 19th century until today. The exhibition traces a history of the movement from turn-of-the-20th-century conservationism to mid-20th-century environmentalism and its backlash to present-day action on environmental justice, biodiversity, and climate.
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October 28, 2023 - March 10, 2024, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Throughout Japanese cultural history, the boundary between the real world and the world of supernatural beings has been remarkably porous. Certain sites, states of mind, or periods in the lunar cycle made humans particularly vulnerable to ghostly intervention. The Edo period (1603-1868) was a crucial stage in the development and solidification of ideas about the supernatural. Many of the beliefs that gained currency at this time are still held as conventional wisdom in Japan today. Staging the Supernatural brings together a collection of vibrant, colorful woodblock prints and illustrated books depicting the specters that haunt these two theatrical traditions.
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November 3, 2023 - March 3, 2024, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
This exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of the richly layered work of Simone Leigh (b. 1967, Chicago) who is among the most respected artists of her generation. The exhibition surveys approximately twenty years of highly disciplined production in ceramic, bronze, video, and installation and features works from Simone Leigh: Sovereignty, the artist’s Venice Biennale presentation, providing audiences the opportunity to experience this landmark installation. Over the past two decades, Leigh has created works of art that situate questions of Black femme subjectivity at the center of contemporary art discourse and explore ideas of race, beauty, and community in visual and material culture.
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November 10, 2021 - November 30, 2023, National Museum of the American Indian
Why We Serve honors the generations of Native Americans who have served in the armed forces of the United States—often in extraordinary numbers—since the American Revolution. For some, the Indigenous commitment to the U.S. military doesn’t make sense. Why would Indians serve a country that overran their homelands, suppressed their cultures, and confined them to reservations? Native people have served for the same reasons as anyone else: to demonstrate patriotism or pursue employment, education, or adventure. Many were drafted. Yet tribal warrior traditions, treaty commitments with the United States, and responsibility for defending Native homelands have also inspired the enduring legacy of Indigenous military service.
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September 12, 2022 - December 31, 2023, National Museum of African American History and Culture
Eleven objects—books, videos, and more—significant to the African American story are featured in this exhibition of highlights from the National Museum of African American History and Culture Library, part of the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. They span over a hundred years and a variety of formats—from an 1886 biography of Harriet Tubman to a 2009 artists’ book celebrating the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
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May 27, 2023 - January 1, 2024, National Museum of the American Indian George Gustav Heye Center
Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch celebrates more than a half century of Shelley Niro’s paintings, photographs, mixed-media works, and films. Accessible, humorous, and peppered with references to popular culture, Niro's art delves into the timeless cultural knowledge and generational histories of her Six Nations Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community to provide purpose and healing.
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November 4, 2022 - January 7, 2024, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
A Window Suddenly Opens: Contemporary Photography in China is the Hirshhorn’s first survey of photography by leading multigenerational Chinese artists made between the 1990s and 2000s. The exhibition showcases 186 artworks made between 1993 and 2022 of which 141 are a landmark promised gift to the Hirshhorn from pioneering collector of Chinese art Larry Warsh. The exhibition’s title is drawn from a 1997 publication, a near manifesto, by Rong Rong and Liu Zheng that celebrated the possibilities in shifting the practice of photography away from realism toward a conceptual art practice.
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National Museum of the American Indian
This cafe features Native foods found throughout the Western Hemisphere, including the Northern Woodlands, South America, the Northwest Coast, Meso America and the Great Plains.
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National Museum of African American History and Culture
Sweet Home Café showcases the rich culture and history of the African American people with traditional, authentic offerings as well as present-day food traditions. * Access to the museum is limited and entry pass may be required
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Smithsonian Castle
An assortment of fresh baked goods, gelato and fresh fruit makes the Castle Café the perfect place for a quick snack. The café also offers a seasonal selection of sandwiches, salads, and soups.
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Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden
Located in the courtyard of the museum, Dolcezza offers locally sourced and handcrafted gelato, specialty espresso drinks, and gourmet pastries in a stunning contemporary setting designed by world-renowned artist Hiroshi Sugimoto.
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Woody Guthrie Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
October 10, 2023 - January 14, 2024
This exhibition is a vivid, intimate, compelling photographic portrait of Billie Holiday, the consummate jazz and blues singer and one of 20thcentury music’s most iconic figures, in April 1957 at a significant moment in her life and just two years before her death at the age of 44. Beautifully captured through the lens of photographer Jerry Dantzic, the 375 running foot exhibition provides a rare glimpse into Billie Holiday’s public and private life through 65 pigment prints with labels, curated panels, ephemera, projected video, and vinyl excerpts from the work of renowned writer and author, Zadie Smith.
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Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
October 12, 2023 - January 14, 2024
Girlhood (It’s complicated) features rarely seen objects and new acquisitions from the National Museum of American History. The exhibition unpacks the diversity of girls’ experiences at the intersections of gender, race, and class. Visitor testing during exhibition development has demonstrated the power of this content to engage audiences and stimulate inter-generational discussions. Girlhood provides many opportunities for venues to customize the installation by showcasing their own objects and local stories.
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Lincoln County Public Library, Brookhaven, Mississippi
October 14, 2023 - November 26, 2023
In 1900, about 40% of Americans lived in rural areas, By 2010, less than 18% of the U.S. population lived in rural areas. In just over a century, massive economic and social changes moved millions of Americans into urban areas. Yet, only 10% of the U.S. landmass is considered urban. Crossroads: Change in Rural America offers small towns a chance to look at their own paths to highlight the changes that affected their fortunes over the past century. The exhibition will prompt discussions about what happened when America’s rural population became a minority of the country’s population and the ripple effects that occurred.
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Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
October 14, 2023 - January 7, 2024
Life in One Cubic Foot reveals the amazing variety of life found by people using "biocubes"—one-cubic-foot frames for surveying the animals and plants living in an ecosystem. Featuring stunning photographs by David Liittschwager, the exhibition includes biocube-related objects and tools, animal models, hands-on interactives, and videos. Host venues will also receive digital files to produce multiple wall quotes and background imagery and a graphic design template that can be used to display local biocube results. What can you discover in just one cubic foot? As it turns out, a whole lot!
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