Encyclopedia Smithsonian

Examines how images by Euro-American photographers created and perpetuated ideas and sentiments about the peoples of central Africa.

For the first time, many of the most important codices in the world from the 2nd to 10th centuries are on view.

This exhibition of some 700 works of Native art from throughout North, Central, and South America demonstrates the breadth of the museum's renowned collection and highlight the historic importance of many of these iconic objects.

This is the first comprehensive exhibition that addresses the interaction between African art and the communicative power of graphic systems, language, and the written word.

Features the work of nine contemporary artists from the museum's collection.

Approximately 60 objects in this exhibition focuses on revolutionary and enduring changes that took place in Iraqi ceramics during the 9th century as Islamic pottery responded to a wave of luxury Chinese goods imported by Arab and Persian maritime merchants.

Best known for his abstract stone sculpture and public plazas, Japanese American artist Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) also produced ceramics during short sojourns to Japan in 1931, 1950, and 1952.

Explore the first permanent English, French, and Spanish settlements in the New World -- Jamestown, Virginia (1607); Quebec, Canada (1608); and Santa Fe, New Mexico (1609) -- and the societies that emerged to approximately 1700.

This exhibition features the work of six contemporary African artists and explores the important histories of migration and the negotiations of artistic, cultural, personal, and group identities among African artists who make up the growing and significant diaspora of practicing artists now living in Europe and America.

In this exhibition, 26 illustrated manuscripts, detached paintings, and several textiles, dating from the 15th to 17th centuries, highlight some of the central mystical and moral themes in Persian poetry and painting and explore the relationship between text and image.

Selections from Kano Kazunobu's 100-painting series depicting Buddhist disciples at work are featured.

Witness the full range of the Mexican presence in the Smithsonian's collections through art and artifacts that span several centuries.

To evoke the meanings of clouds within Asia and the fluidity of those meanings for people who inhabit multiple cultures, Chinese American artist Mei-ling Hom created this serene and contemplative installation of 30 cloud-like forms.

Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang explores how past and present artistic expression is driven by contact between cultures and peoples.

For both the serious collector and those who know little about the renowned hobby of stamp collecting, this gallery highlights some of the best philatic collections in the world.

Through objects, photographs, and video presentations, Playful Performers is the first exhibition to look at children's masquerades in Africa.

Examples of Puerto Rican poster art from the late 1940s to the late 1980s are on view.