National Museum of African Art Launches “Smithsonian: Artists in Dialogue 2” App for iPhone and iPod Touch

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art has launched the “Smithsonian: Artists in Dialogue 2” app for iPhone and iPod touch on the App Store. Designed in association with Tristan Interactives Inc. of Toronto, this is the first app available by the Smithsonian in English and Portuguese.

“This app takes the exhibition beyond the traditional, physical boundaries of the building and makes it available in South Africa, Brazil and to users around the world using iPhone and iPod touch,” said National Museum of African Art curator Karen E. Milbourne.

The exhibit “Artists in Dialogue 2: Henrique Oliveira and Sandile Zulu” will run through Jan. 5, 2012, and is the second in a series of exhibitions that connects artists by bringing them together to create site-specific works of art at the museum. In the exhibit, the artists’ visual call and response includes Sandile Zulu of South Africa’s trademark control of fire to create streamlined paintings and sculptures in combination with Henrique Oliveira of Brazil’s bold and turbulent works made from the seemingly tame medium of wood.

The “Artists in Dialogue 2” app features a detailed tour of the exhibition guided by the curator, with exclusive videos available only on the app in which the artists describe their works of art, introduce one another and discuss their collaborative process.

The app lets users post artist questions and comments to Twitter or YouTube and to experiment virtually with the artists’ technique in an art-making game, which features strips of virtual wood, paint and fire. The app also allows users to test their knowledge of South Africa and Brazil with trivia quizzes and learn more about what is happening at the museum.

Other features include:

• Video interviews with the artists
• High-resolution images of their work and a tour of the gallery by the exhibition curator
• A Twitter feed that unites iPhone and iPod touch users onsite and beyond
• A game in which one can make and share art using the unusual techniques of the artists, including burning and laminating wood strips

The “Artists in Dialogue 2” app is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore.

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