Richard Kurin

Acting Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture
Director, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D.C. 20560-0953

kurin@si.edu

Research Interests

Cultural policy, cultural presentation and representation, culture and development, the cultures of south Asia and the United States, indigenous knowledge systems, kinship, religion, ethnicity

Current Research Projects

Cultural heritage policy and practice

Current or Projected Exhibits

Oversight of the Anacostia Community Museum; Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art; Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum (New York City); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; National Museum of African American History and Culture; National Museum of African Art; National Museum of American History; National Museum of the American Indian and its George Gustav Heye Center (New York City); National Portrait Gallery; National Postal Museum; and Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery.

Oversight of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and the Smithsonian Latino Center, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Photography Initiative, Smithsonian's Center for Education and Museum Studies, the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), The Smithsonian Associates, and Smithsonian Affiliations Program.

Oversight of the Smithsonian Channel

Oversight of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, Smithsonian Global Sound, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

Hope Diamond: The Legendary History of a Cursed Gem (HarperCollins/Smithsonian Books, 2006)

Reflections of a Culture Broker: A View from the Smithsonian (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997)

Culture Of, By, and For the People: The Smithsonian Folklife Festival (Smithsonian, 1998)