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Ai WeiWei's "Fragments" is now on display at the Sackler Gallery.

Between 1990 and 1995, floor space under construction surged by 750 percent in Beijing. This real estate boom, coupled with new housing deregulations, “radically changed the landscape of post-Tianenmen Beijing,” says Sackler Gallery curator Carol Huh. In the rush to modernize China, ancient structures were torn down and replaced with brand new houses and apartment buildings.

Chinese artist Ai WeiWei noticed the abundance of antique wood that flooded the market from this widespread demolition and began collecting pieces. Over the years, he incorporated this wood into various installations. The pieces that were left over he joined together in a structure called “Fragments,” on display in the lobby of the Sackler Gallery through April 7, 2013.

Using ironwood pillars and beams from dismantled Qing dynasty (1644-1912) temples, Ai worked with a team of carpenters to construct what he calls  an “irrational structure.” At first glance, the large installation does indeed resemble a randomly assembled jungle gym. But in fact, the beams form a deliberate system that maps out the borders of China. The tallest pole, at 16 feet, marks the location of Beijing. Through the marriage of the discarded past (in the form of the Qing temple building blocks) and modern aesthetics, Ai explores the spatial and cultural transformations of modern Beijing, China, and the world.

The beams are held together by wooden pegs, not nails, that must be fit together perfectly. The team of carpenters employed old-fashioned techniques to balance the complex structure. Huh explained the difficult “choreography” of installing “Fragments” at the Sackler: “It’s not so much about strength in size or force, but really just perfect alignment in order to put the pieces together.”

The relationship between past and present, tradition and modernity, fascinates Ai, especially during a time when China is struggling to find a balance between its explosion of urban development and the preservation of the country’s rich history. Thus far, Huh points out, creating a new world has meant the destruction of the old one, resulting in what she calls “our fugitive relationship to the past.”

“It’s in the midst of this simultaneous erasure and capture of heritage that Ai turned more to objects and traces of the past,” she says.

Ai, who is currently under house arrest in Beijing, is well-known in China and abroad as an outspoken critic of the Chinese government who is not afraid to express his protests through art. “In normal circumstances I know it’s undesirable for an artist to be labeled a political activist or dissident. But I’ve overcome that barrier,” Ai says in a statement he wrote to the Hirshhorn Museum, which will exhibit a survey of his work in October. “The suits that people dress you in are not as important as the content you put forth, so long as it gives meaning to new expression. The struggle is worthwhile if it provides new ways to communicate with people and society.”

The Hirshhorn is also currently hosting Ai’s “Zodiac Heads” installation, which explores similar themes of heritage and history. But while “Zodiac Heads” and “Fragments” both draw on the past, they have everything to do with the present. To explain this relationship, Huh quotes the artist himself: “The faster we move, the more often we turn our heads back to look how fast.”

“Fragments” will be on display at the Sackler Gallery through April 7, 2013.

Sliders served at last year's ZooFari benefit. Image courtesy of the National Zoo.

Tuesday, May 15 Words, Earth and Aloha

Celebrate Asian Pacific Heritage Month with the American Indian Museum’s May Daily Films. Words, Earth and Aloha celebrates the Hawaiian composers who flourished between the 1870s and the 1920s, exploring the poetry and play of Hawaiian lyrics as well as the places and features of the natural world that inspired songs that remain beloved to this day. The documentary is directed by Eddie Kamae, the legendary Hawaiian musician who helped launch the Hawaiian cultural renaissance. Free. 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. American Indian Museum.

Wednesday, May 16 merengue and méringue

Discover and celebrate the common traditions of island neighbors Haiti and the Dominican Republic at the Haiti-Dominican Friendship Concert, sponsored by the African Art Museum and the Smithsonian Latino Center. Enriquillo Tejada y Los Clarinetes Mágicos open with a set of Dominican merengues, boleros, and Latin jazz. Tabou Combo closes the show with konpa and Haitian méringue music. Both merengue and méringue stem from a blend of African and European roots. Free. 6:30 p.m. Baird Auditorium, Natural History Museum.

Thursday, May 17 ZooFari

Expand your palate at ZooFari, which has been called “D.C.’s foodie event of the year.” More than 100 of the best eateries in the area are participating this year. Add the fine wines, fabulous entertainment, animal demonstrations, and a great silent auction, all in the wild setting of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, and you have the recipe for a delicious evening. All proceeds will benefit the Zoo’s research, conservation and education programs. $150 for members, $200 for nonmembers. 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. National Zoo.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

If you haven’t yet seen Doug Aitken’s SONG 1, the nightly spectacle projected on the Hirshhorn‘s outside walls, tonight might be the right time to swing by. For one night only, the museum is shutting off the speakers and replacing the normal soundtrack with a special live concert called “SONG 1: A Happening.” Against the backdrop of the 360-film loop, the bands Geologist, High Places, No Age, duo Tim McAfee Lewis and Leo Gallo, sound collagist Oneohtrix Point Never, and minimalist composer Nicolas Jaar, all covering the Flamingos’ song “I Only Have Eyes For You.” Tickets are $25 here.

If you feel like doing some pre-concert homework, Aitken himself will be holding a free symposium at noon and 3 p.m. with several art and music experts, including Sasha Frere-Jones, Geeta Dayal, Dean Kuipers, Zabet Patterson, and Aaron Betsky.

Can’t make it tonight? The project, originally meant to conclude tomorrow, has been extended to May 20.

Lalla Essaydi's photographic series challenge traditional ideas of femininity and empowerment. Image courtesy of the African Art Museum.

Every year, Lalla Essaydi returns to her childhood home in Morocco: a huge, elaborate house that dates back to the 16th century. Occasionally, she goes alone. More often, she brings 20 to 40 of her female relatives with her.

“There’s a part of that house that was for men only,” Essaydi, who now lives in New York, explains. “And there is a specific room that women were not allowed in, or were only allowed when there were no men in the house.”

Essaydi and her sisters inhabit this room for weeks at a time. She does a rather odd thing there. She covers the space in white cloth and starts writing Arabic calligraphy in henna on the cloth, on the walls and even on the women, in a free flowing to the conversation and activities around her. At the end, she shoots photographs of the women. But to Essaydi, the period of setting up the room and being with women is equally, if not more important, than the end result. It is an act of rebellion against the world she grew up in: filling a room that traditionally belonged to men with the words of women, written in calligraphy, an art that was historically restricted to men, and in henna, a dye used to adorn women.

“The experience is so intense that the photography doesn’t really convey what happens during these times,” Essaydi says.

In an effort to capture this experience, the exhibition “Lalla Essaydi: Revisions,” on view at the National Museum of African Art starting today through February 24, brings together Essaydi’s well-known photographic series with her rarely exhibited paintings and a video of the process. It is the first solo exhibition to bring together these different media. The labyrinth of rooms, which includes an intimate section filled with silk-screened images of women (some of them naked) on banners, encourages the visitor not simply to observe, but to engage with the art.

Essaydi covers her models with henna calligraphy. Image courtesy of the African Art Museum.

“It really does invite you into the space,” says guest curator Kinsey Katchka. “It creates a dialogue between the viewer and the artist and the model, too, who is included in the conversations during the process.”

Other photographic series on display are Essaydi’s “Harem” series, shot in Marrakesh’s historic Dar el Basha Palace, and “Les Femmes du Maroc,” in which she recreates 19th-century European and American paintings of an Orientalist fantasy. Her paintings, too, emphasize the disconnect between the Western romance of the East and the reality of women’s lives.

Essaydi is well-positioned to scrutinize these different cultural perspectives. Born in a Moroccan harem, she has lived in Paris, Saudi Arabia, Boston and New York. Her father had four wives and her mother covered her face with a veil for most of her life. After experiencing the harem life firsthand, Essaydi is troubled by the Western depiction of a sexual space full of nude, lounging women.

“I can hardly imagine my mother and sisters walking naked all day long in our home,” she says. “Because our religion allows the man to marry more than one woman, the harem is just a large house full of children. And everyone has chores in the house.”

But now, the Western fantasy has flipped. “Instead of seeing the women as naked and walking in a harem, now we see women as being oppressed and covered, without any say, and she’s not doing anything about it,” she says, emphasizing the assumption that oppressed women passively accept their fate without resistance. “I am one of the millions of women who are fighting every day for their life and their identity.”

But Essaydi’s meditations on objectified Arab women always seem to return to that childhood home. At the heart of her work is her dialog with her cousins and sisters, as they struggle to make sense of their own upbringing and identity.

“It really changes our life,” she says. “Every year we get together and talk about things that were taboo in our culture. We meet even if I’m not shooting. It’s just become a tradition.”

“Lalla Essaydi: Revisions” opens today at the African Art Museum and runs through February 24, 2013.

The Encore Chorale at the Kogod Courtyard at last year's popular performance.

Tuesday, May 8 Carolyn Morrow Long

Carolyn M0rrow Long, conservator at the American History Museum, will be signing copies of her two books, Madame Lalaurie, Mistress of the Haunted House and A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau. Both nonfiction books explore the myths surrounding infamous women in New Orleans. Madame Delphine Lalaurie, a wealthy society matron who had to flee the city after rumors that she abused her slaves started to spread. On the other side of the spectrum, Marie Laveau, the “voodoo princess,” became legendary for her charisma and charity in caring for yellow fever victims and condemned prisoners alike. Long traveled the country to untangle the roots of these stories and separate truth from sensationalism. Free. 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. American History Museum.

Wednesday, May 9 Encore Chorale: A Spring Concert

Enjoy a lunchtime performance by the Encore Chorale for Older Adults, directed by Jeanne Kelly and featuring baritone David Williams. The concert features lively renditions of pop songs, including “When I’m 64,” “Rockin’ Jerusalem,” “Shenandoah,” and Gilbert & Sullivan show tunes. Free. 1:00 p.m. American Indian Museum.

Thursday, May 10 The Unknown Aaron Burr

He was a Revolutionary War hero, a prominent New York politician, and a U.S. vice president, but Aaron Burr is best remembered today as the villain who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Discover the full story in this talk by Pulitzer Prize finalist and best-selling author H.W. Brands, whose new book, The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr, depicts a man ahead of his time, tragically ensconced in political scandal. Brands draws on Burr’s extensive, witty correspondence with his daughter Theodosia to trace the arc of Burr’s scandalous political career, but also includes the touching story of a father’s love for his daughter. $20 for general admission, $15 for members. 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.