Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity

View an exhibition examining the history and use of traditional kente cloth in Ghana and exploring the impact contemporary kente production has had in other African countries and the United States.

September 12, 1999 – January 2, 2000

African Art Museum

Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity

See nearly 200 textile art works that illustrate the rich diversity of traditional kente cloth, its historical role in African societies, and its growing popularity in the United States.

September 12, 1999 – January 2, 2000

Anacostia Community Museum

Woven by the Grandmothers: 19th-Century Navajo Textiles from the NMAI

See 40 19th-century Navajo textiles, woven between 1840 and 1880, including boldly patterned chief blankets, poncho sarapes, biil (traditional two-piece dresses), women's striped shoulder blankets, bordered mantas, and diyogi (loosely woven blankets).

October 6, 1996 – January 8, 1997

American Indian Museum New York

Worthy of the Nation: Planning America's Capital

See photographs and illustrations that depict the challenges associated with planning Washington, D.C from the end of the bicentennial era to post-9/11, from the 2006 second edition Worthy of the Nation: The Planning of Washington, D.C., from L'Enfant to the National Capital Planning Commission .

October 10, 2007 – February 14, 2008

Ripley Center

Worshiping the Ancestors: Chinese Commemorative Portraits

View 38 nearly life-sized, brightly colored portraits of members of the Qing dynasty imperial family and the social elite that range in date from 1451 to 1943.

June 17, 2001 – September 9, 2001

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

Worlds within Worlds: Imperial Paintings from India and Iran

See 50 of the finest folios and paintings from the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery collections, which form one of the world's most important repositories of Mughal and Persian paintings.

July 28, 2012 – September 16, 2012

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

World's Fairs

Illustrating the impact of world's fairs on modern life, this exhibit covers fairs from London's mid-19th-century Crystal Palace through fairs and expositions in Paris, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, and others up to 1940.

February 12, 1992 – September 26, 1992

American History Museum

World on the Horizon: Swahili Arts Across the Indian Ocean

World on the Horizon explores Swahili arts as objects of mobility, outcomes of encounter, and as products of trade and imperialism.

May 9, 2018 – September 3, 2018

African Art Museum

World War II: Sharing Memories

View items such as paintings of wartime scenes commissioned by the U.S. armed forces, ration books, and war bond posters that reflect experiences of people on the battlefield and on the home front.

June 15, 1995 – November 12, 1995

American History Museum

World War II Photographic Perspectives

To commemorate the opening of the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, a selection of photographs taken between 1941 and 1945 are on view to document Americans both at war and at home.

May 27, 2004 – May 30, 2005

American History Museum

World War II GI: The American Soldier's Experience

The experience of the average GI (government issue) World War II soldier is examined.

October 29, 1993 – June 1, 2002

American History Museum

World War II Aviation

The story of World War II is too big for a single gallery, so this one focuses on land-based fighter aviation.

July 1, 1976 – January 2, 2019

Air and Space Museum

World War I Field Utility Chest of Kaiser Wilhelm II

See the contents of the case, which include the Berlin dog license issued to the Kaiser's dachshund.

December 1, 1974 – December 31, 1974

American History Museum

World War I Aviation

Explore the technological advances of WWI aviation set against a background of a front-line, allied airstrip somewhere in France in 1918.

July 1, 1976 – 1987

Air and Space Museum

World Wall: A Vision of the Future Without Fear

A mural-in-progress by Chicana artist Judith Baca, addresses such contemporary global issues as war and conflict, cooperation, interdependence, and spiritual growth.

July 17, 1991 – September 3, 1991

Arts and Industries Building

World View: Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

See 50 finalists from over 17,000 entries submitted from the United States and around the world to the Smithsonian magazine for its 6th Annual Photo Contest.

July 1, 2009 – April 11, 2010

Smithsonian Castle

World Exhibition of Fine Art in Miniature

See more than 1,100 miniatures by some 630 contemporary artists that include landscapes, portraits, and still lifes done in watercolor, oil, and acrylic paint; scrimshaw; sculptures; enamel; porcelain; and figurative abstracts.

June 19, 2004 – July 12, 2004

Ripley Center

World Aerobatic Championship Trophies

See 3 trophies won by U.S. Aerobatic Team in the 1988 world competition.

December 1, 1989 – May 31, 1990

Air and Space Museum

Works on Paper

See works on paper from the HMSG collection.

August 1, 1983 – September 30, 1983

Hirshhorn Museum

Works from the Hirshhorn Collection

View about 50 paintings and 9 sculptures from both the 19th and 20th centuries.

July 3, 1980 – January 4, 1981

Hirshhorn Museum

Works from the 1979 Annual Exhibition of Art Depicting Birds

Admire 47 works including paintings, drawings, watercolors, and wood carvings, chosen from an annual juried exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, Wisconsin.

February 1, 1980 – June 8, 1980

American Art Museum