Ubaldo Vitali's Tureen for "Risotto alla Pescatore" (2001). Image: Gift of the James Renwick Alliance/Smithsonian American Art Museum

Each year the MacArthur Foundation embraces “genius” in many forms, providing a $500,000 no-strings-attached five-year fellowship to select individuals that show an innate creativity in their respective fields. Plus, of course, the potential for more of that creativity in the future.

Proudly, one of this year’s recipients has a Smithsonian connection. Silversmith Ubaldo Vitali, age 67, was one of four artists featured in the recent Renwick Gallery exhibition History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational (March 25 – July 31, 2011).

Vitali fuses old-world style craftsmanship with modern design. I spoke with him this past spring and he told me that silver was in his blood, and that it “always kept pulling me back.” The Italian-born and trained, Vitali came up in the old-school guild system in Rome, later emigrating to New Jersey in the late 1960s. And he maintains those roots, still a member of a Roman goldsmith’s guild. In fact, he’s the only member allowed to reside outside of Rome. Read the full interview.

Congratulations Ubaldo Vitali!

The Barakaat Middle Eastern Dance Company. Photo by Stereo Vision Photography/Stereovisionphotography.com

Looking to infuse your nightlife with a little culture? Then maybe it’s time to get your Asia After Dark on this Thursday evening, July 28, at the Freer and Sackler Galleries. The “One Thousand and One Nights”-themed event kicks off at 6:30 p.m. and features Arab beats courtesy of DJ Turbo Tabla and a belly dancing performance by the Barakaat Middle Eastern Dance Company. Cocktails and finger foods will be provided available for purchase, and each guest gets one free drink with his or her ticket. Themed attire is encouraged, naturally.

But let’s get back to the belly dancing, shall we? As a newbie to this graceful, flowing genre, this was the perfect chance for me to uncover the meanings behind those mysterious hand gestures the dancers make, as well as find out if dancing really does work the abs. I caught up with Mariza, a seven-year belly dance veteran and one of the members of the six-person Barakaat Middle Eastern Dance Company, via email below:

Why were you initially interested in belly dancing?

I’ve always loved dance and took classes here and there as a kid, but as a very tall kid I always felt like the lumbering giant in the back. Belly dance does not require a certain body type, nor does it require that you begin training at the age of three. So as a very tall adult I was glad to finally find a place where I could enjoy dance movement without feeling too weird.

What style of belly dancing do you practice, and what makes your style distinctive?

I have trained in Egyptian Cabaret, Tribal Fusion and Oriental style belly dance. My style is a conglomeration of everything I’ve learned plus things I make up and other stuff I see on America’s Best Dance Crew.

Are there levels of certification, like belts in karate?

There is no generally accepted certification or credential system in belly dance. Some individuals have taken it upon themselves to create certification programs but these are particular to that individual and their philosophy. The vast majority of belly dancers do not possess any certification, and it is far from required.

Mariza strikes a pose. Photo by Stereo Vision Photography/Stereovisionphotography.com

Are there specific meanings attributed to the body motions and movements?

Dancers will at times make gestures, such as pointing to their heart, but belly dance movements themselves are not imbued with any particular meaning.

What are some popular misconceptions about belly dancing?

One common misconception is that belly dance is inappropriate for certain audiences. Belly dance is fun for the whole family. Kids in particular love the joyful nature of the dance and often get up and try to dance along. Another is that the dance is derived from some mystical fertility dance. Belly dance as it is today arose out of the social dances of the Middle East, which were then stylized for the stage.

What’s your favorite dance move, and why?

“The Shopping Cart” because it’s awesome.

What do you find the most challenging about belly dancing in general?

A lot of the movements require you to isolate the lower abs and obliques, muscles that we don’t consciously use in our day-to-day life. It can be difficult, particularly at first, to access these muscles. After their first belly dance class, many people comment that they can feel muscles they never knew they had!

Do you think belly dancing offers benefits that other types of dancing don’t?

Belly dance offers the same benefits as other types of dance—a great way to get moving and increase strength and flexibility. Belly dance is also a very accessible, low-impact form of dance. Dancers are often very grounded and movements are usually within the body column so it is not as stressful on the joints as other dance forms. Plus, in any city of decent size, there is often a friendly, supportive dance community.

And are you limited in the type of music that you dance to?

Dancers who choose to perform a very specific folkloric style of dance would be limited to the culturally appropriate music for that dance, but many belly dancers–particularly American belly dancers–dance to a variety of music, including Middle Eastern traditional music or pop music, Western pop and rock or the Muppets’ “Mahna Mahna.”

What kind of dances should the audience expect to see at Asia After Dark?

Barakaat has prepared a modern sword fusion piece; we’ll also be improvising with drummer/DJ Turbo Tabla. It’s going to be a great night!

Asia After Dark takes place this Thursday, July 28, from 6:30-10:30pm, at the Freer and Sackler Galleries. Tickets are $22 in advance and $25 at the door. Purchase them here.

Images courtesy of Don McClellan and NMAI, SI.

This Sunday, July 24, two chefs will enter the American Indian Museum’s outdoor amphitheatre, but only one will leave victorious. They won’t be squaring off in hand-to-hand combat, but knives will be drawn as they compete in an Iron Chef-style showdown from 2-5 p.m. as part of the museum’s 2011 Living Earth Festival. As for the competitors. . .

Smithsonian’s own Chef Richard Hetzler, the executive chef for the museum’s Mitsitam Café, does battle on his home turf once again. He stands undefeated at 1-0, after carving out a victory at last year’s event over L’Academie de Cuisine instructor Brian Patterson. The good-natured Hetzler likes to push the envelope, and is “not afraid to take risks and do some fun stuff with molecular gastronomy.” Whether that will be possible in the heat of the amphitheater kitchen remains to be seen.

His opponent, Chef Don McClellan (Cherokee), who will be competing for the first time, hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and what he lacks in battle experience, he makes up for in confidence. “I believe that I will win, yes,” he states. The executive chef at Atria Vista del Rio, McClellan prefers to keep his preparations simple and flavorful, and his southwestern style should mesh well with the battle’s not-so-secret ingredients.

Each chef must prepare two appetizers, three entrees and two desserts using ingredients of the traditional Three Sisters–corn, beans and squash. They’ll also have other ingredients, including fresh proteins such as salmon, duck and buffalo, at their disposal. The chefs won’t have to go it alone, however, as they each will have assistants provided by the local organization D.C. Central Kitchen.

Judgment, the final part of the competition, will be handed down by a group of local chefs. This year’s panel includes Scott Drewno, executive chef at The Source by Wolfgang Puck and last year’s Washington, D.C. Chef of the Year; Brian Patterson, Hetzler’s opponent from last year; and Pati Jinich, executive chef at D.C.’s Mexican Cultural Institute and host of the cooking show Pati’s Mexican Table.

I spoke to both chefs below to gain some insight on their battle plans, their guilty pleasures, and whether or not they’ll be trash talking in the kitchen:

Briefly, how would you describe your style of cuisine?
Richard Hetzler: Kind of new age, and not afraid to take risks and do some fun stuff with molecular gastronomy.
Don McClellan: Good-flavored food utilizing the ingredients simplistically

What’s your favorite guilty pleasure food?
RH: Pizza
DM: Chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy

How do you plan on training for this match-up?
RH: That’s great! (Cracking up). I think that’s the first time I’ve ever been stumped on a question! I would say just a lot of general tasting and checking out the product and sizing up my opponent. No push-ups and sit-ups. And a couple glasses of wine.
DM: I plan on eating lots of corn, beans and squash to make sure my palate will be able taste what I need to do the day of the competition.

Which of your skills do you think will be the most advantageous for this kind of competition?
RH: My skills as a jokester!
DM: My ability to multi-task. And having a good sense of time-management.

How will you have to adapt your style, since you’re going to be cooking outside in the heat?
RH: I think definitely. The weather always takes a toll on anything we do, whether it’s items we’re cooking, or what we decide to make, or how we’re going to make things, because the temperature affects a lot.
DM: I’ll drink lots of water. And maybe bring a clean jacket so I look presentable once the actual judging stats.

Do you have any idea in what direction or style of preparations you’ll be going with?
RH: Not really, because I think in these competitions we try to go outside the box and give people something crazy they normally wouldn’t think of and really give them something wild.
DM: In my mind it’s going to be simple, flavorful food with a twist, most likely on Mexican and new Mexican style food, reducing lots of chilies, with a flavorful profile.

Will there be trash talking?
RH: In this type of event, I don’t know (laughing). I imagine it’ll stay pretty civil. Of course, there’s always some animosity whenever you’re dealing with chefs. . .
DM: There very well could be. I just found out, though, that I am going to be able to bring a posse of other chefs with me as well. Meaning probably two other chefs. So I’m hoping that the banter is shared equally both ways.

Why do you think you’ll win this weekend?
RH: Just because I’m going to pull out all the stops and all the tricks I’ve got! And we’re on our home turf–how can you not win when you’re on your home turf?
DM: I believe that I will win, yes. I know that I have stiff competition. My sources have told me that Chef Hetzler is very talented, and again, having been the winner of last year’s competition, there’s some big shoes to fill to make sure that his competition is stiff and that he has a run for his money.

Film still from Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956). Courtesy of Hirshhorn Museum, SI

You want camp? You got it! But don’t delay, kids. The final film of the Hirshhorn’s “Summer Camp: Sauceriferous” film series, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, the 1956 “classic,” will be showing tomorrow night at the Ring Auditorium at 7:00. Plus they’ll be giving out the last of the glow-in-the-dark Sauceriferous Frisbees!!! And yes, I did just use three exclamation points!

So what’s this movie about? Aliens, baby. And misunderstanding. Kind of like an episode of Three’s Company, minus Jack Tripper, but with laser beams. Basically, there’s an initial alien saucer visitation that goes awry–a “meet-cute” of sorts that ends up in death rays and destruction. Then the aliens come back with a bunch of their friends and invade, attacking five of the world’s largest cities. And it’s up to Hugh Marlowe’s character to stop them.

And how did the world feel about the Earth vs. the Flying Saucers back when it was released? It seems as though the film might have been exhibiting camp tendencies back in 1956, too. “If I have to see many more of these idiotic items,” panned the Chicago Tribune movie critic upon the film’s release, “I’m going to be in the market for a handy portable disintegrator myself.” Ahhhh…Camp at first sight.

Image courtesy of NMAA, SI

Vernon Reid is usually pushing the envelope. The British-born and Brooklyn-raised guitarist is the founder and primary songwriter of the hard rock band Living Colour. But Living Colour isn’t your typical hard rock band—its members are all African American, a rarity in the genre, and their music is heavily influenced by funk and jazz. The band hit it big with its debut album Vivid in 1988, and their Grammy-winning hit single, “Cult of Personality,” from that record. Reid’s versatile style of play and speedy chops propelled him to number 66  on Rolling Stone‘s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Living Colour has never been afraid to tackle social issues when it came to songwriting, and Reid co-founded the Black Rock Coalition in 1985, an organization designed to encourage the creative freedom of African American artists. This Saturday evening, June 18, at 6:30, Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art presents “Artificial Afrika,” Reid’s current multimedia project that examines the modern mythology of African culture. Computer-generated graphics and images that dilute Africa into the simplest, stereotypical terms, such as famine victims and child soldiers will serve as counterpoint to more modern images of Africa on the video display while Reid provides a soundtrack of live guitar and electronic sounds. Nicole Shivers, the museum’s education specialist, is excited at the prospect of bringing in a work that she says tries to “dispel all the misperceptions of Africa, that it’s not this dark continent.”

I was able to speak with Vernon Reid about his inspiration for the project, his thoughts on the state of African American rock today, and the current status of Living Colour below:

It seems like there may have been a specific catalyst that started you down the road on this project—a visit to Africa, perhaps?

I think that there were several catalysts that inspired it. One thing was the images of Africa when I was coming up. Everything from cannibalism to “Yum Yum Eat ‘Em Up.” Then there are images that are representative objects of black people. Sort of “darky art.” That was another thing. And then there’s a certain way that I was supposed to feel about these things. They were supposed to be shut away. I was supposed to feel ashamed about them. And the sheer absurdity of the representations started to grab a hold of me. It was as if I went to the other side of what that is. I have been to Africa twice . . . . and I was struck by how there was supposed to be an epiphany, the sense of coming home, and that didn’t exactly happen. But what did happen was my fascination deepened . . . . And that’s where it all kind of congealed into the impulse to start making the work . . . . using my Macintosh and some public domain footage and eventually doing my own textures. It’s been described to me as paintings that move, as opposed to linear animation.

Vernon Reid performing in 2008. Image courtesy of Flickr user ildiva

What do you think is the most surprising thing you learned about yourself during this project?

My goodness, that’s a great question! I’ve learned that there is no ultimate answer. That the culture is always going to change, that things that seemed very solid can shift completely . . . . I think for all of us there’s a way we’re supposed to feel about Africa. We’re supposed to be concerned, and it’s a serious situation. And one of the things I’ve had to stay with is that looking at Africa aesthetically is still worthwhile. Even with everything else that’s been happening, aesthetics and beauty, the collisions are still worthwhile to pursue for their own merit because they are still a part of the whole. I don’t think I actually used the footage, but there’s some footage I saw from the BBC about child soldiers. And there’s a bunch of child soldiers literally dancing with their AK-47s. Like they adopted a ritual dance in a march with their AK-47s. And the dance was beautiful. And that’s the thing that struck me. That this is something of aesthetic merit, but it’s also horrible. And the two things coexist. That’s something that I struggled with.

You’re known for pushing the envelope when it comes to guitar style—how do you stay ahead of the curve?

I just try to follow my own impulses toward things that interest me. I’ve been known to use a lot of effects and guitar processing. And my interest in that is kind of multi-faceted. And of course hearing Jimi Hendrix and the things he did with guitar just opened my head completely up to what’s possible. And at the same time, there’s something to be said for the sound of the instrument unadorned. And the kind of effects that can happen with that–extended techniques. It’s kind of a balance between those two things. There are amazing things going on. I always keep an eye towards not just what’s for the moment, but what’s really truly innovative.

You co-founded the Black Rock Coalition back in 1985 to encourage African American rock artists. How do you feel about the current state of African Americans in rock?

You know, I’m not totally satisfied, but I will say that TV on the Radio is a band that I dreamed about back then. Literally, TV on the Radio is the reason why the coalition started. This is what it’s all about. It’s fantastic to me. Could there be more? Should there be more? Yes, but I couldn’t be prouder of that . . . . I think it’s wonderful, and there needs to be much more. And I am very happy with the creativity.

Speaking of music, what’s Living Colour’s current status?

Yeah, we’re literally in a transition, a management transition. We had done a bunch of work with the Experience Hendrix project. We’re gearing up to work on our next record. We are still functioning–or dysfunctioning! (chuckling)

Artificial Afrika will take place in the McAvoy Auditorium of the National Portrait Gallery at 6:30, Saturday, June 25, 2011.

George Clinton performing in May of 2007. Photo courtesy of Flickr user Spector1.

“Oh, pretty good. Went and did a little bit of fishing yesterday,” said George Clinton, chuckling slyly in his oh-so-raspy voice on the other end of the telephone line, when I asked him how he was feeling.  And it was exactly how I expected the influential funkster to sound. Though the 69-year-old Clinton was recently hospitalized at the end of May, he’s apparently ready to give up the funk again and resume touring.

The colorfully-coiffed George Clinton is best known as the ringleader, singer, songwriter and producer of the Parliament and Funkadelic bands during the 1970s and early 1980s. The two groups had an incestuous relationship, sharing and swapping players, and both were known for their influential groove-based funk, elaborate stage shows and costumed members. Clinton followed that up with a solo career, and still records and performs with various backing band incarnations. The influence of his music carries on, often serving as building blocks for different genres, as he is among the most sampled artists in hip-hop today.

Earlier this May, Clinton donated a replica of his stage prop extraordinaire, the Mothership, to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), which will open on the National Mall in 2015. The original Mothership was a life-sized, smoke-spewing spaceship-for-one with flashing lights that transported Clinton down to the stage during Parliament-Funkadelic shows during the late 1970s and very early 1980s. “It’s a large iconic object [that] resonates with so many people,” said Dwandalyn R. Reece, the museum’s curator of music history. “Not only the group itself and George Clinton, but also the message. . . .This whole concept of being in outer space, in terms of liberation and living in a different level of consciousness.”

The initial idea for the prop came from Parliament’s classic 1976 album Mothership Connection. Instead of an unrelated collection of singles, there was an underlying narrative theme to the record, incorporating characters such as “Starchild,” an alien funk messiah who has come to spread the funk. “After West Side Story, Sgt. Pepper’s, Hair, Tommy–after those—they made them like rock operas,” said Clinton. “We wanted a funk opera. And so I figured that characters live longer than rock stars do.”

The Mothership served as “Starchild’s” mode of interstellar transport, and the original version made its first appearance at a 1976 Parliament gig at the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans. On that tour and future tours the ship would light up and descend upon the stage from 40 feet in the air like a UFO, spewing smoke. Upon its landing, George Clinton would emerge in full regalia, strutting out as “Starchild,” (or on later tours, sometimes as “Dr. Funkenstein”) often dressed in furs, sunglasses and carrying a cane, like a space pimp ready to spread the funk to those who needed it.

Audiences ate it up. “A lot of cats just came to see the spaceship,” said Parliament-Funkadelic guitarist Mike Hampton in a 1978 Rolling Stone interview. “It’s hard to think you’re doing something musically when you’re competing with that.

And even the band was impressed with the prop. “It was phenomenal, man. You couldn’t describe it,” recalled keyboardist Bernie Worrell to The Washington Post. “I can play and not look at the keys. I watched it every time it would come down.”

The elaborate stage show and costumes, however, came with a price, and by 1981, increasing debts and dissatisfaction among band members, among other things, led to a breakdown in the band and a period of inactivity. Some of the group’s equipment was brought back to Washington, DC and placed in storage, but with no revenue coming in, it soon had to be sold.

One of the group’s promoters, Brooks Kirkendall, was forced to store the Mothership in his mother’s garage in Clinton, MD. After six months she demanded that it the Mothership be removed. Unable to make contact with any band members, including Clinton, Kirkendall loaded the Mothership into a U-Haul in 1982 with the help of a co-worker and left it at a junkyard in Seat Pleasant. The Mothership has been off the radar ever since.

The replica that Clinton donated this past May is a 1,200-pound aluminum hunk of funk that was constructed in the 1990s. It had been sitting in his recording studio back in Florida. But is it as hip on that ship as the original? “It’s the exact same,” says Clinton. “Same blueprint, same everything!” And he thinks it’s quite appropriate to have the NMAAHC serve as his Mothership’s final resting place. “Our music’s the DNA for the hip-hop and dance music in general,” says Clinton. “Smithsonian is a fitting place for the spaceship.”

Country artist Victoria Blackie (Navajo). Photo courtesy of the artist.

Country artist Victoria Blackie (Navajo) may only be 23-years-old, but she’s been performing for decades. This 5’1” Salt Lake City native packs a deceptively powerful voice, and likens herself to more traditional country greats like Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn. You can catch her this Saturday, June 11, performing outside the National Museum of the American Indian, with two other country singers, Rebecca Miller (Six Nations, Ontario, Canada) and Becky Hobbs (Cherokee) from 5-7 p.m.

Things started out early musically for Blackie. Her singing talent was first discovered by her aunt, Martha Chavez, who then ended up doubling as her babysitter and vocal coach. By the time Blackie was 1 and a half years old she was receiving singing lessons, and by the time she was 3 years old, she was performing in public. Blackie even got a taste of international touring at a young age, traveling to Japan with a teen pop band at age 13. Later that year she went on to perform at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Despite Blackie’s precociousness, mainstream country remains a tough industry to break into, and one where minorities have historically been under-represented. “Have you ever seen a Native American country singer?” Blackie responded to Utah’s City Weekly regarding the ease of acceptance into the country scene.

Regardless, 2010 was a big year for Blackie, as she was nominated in eight categories in the Native American Music Awards for her first album, Wanted Man, capturing the prestigious “Debut Artist of the Year Award.”

She’s currently working on a new album of originals as well as covers of traditional country songs.

Victoria Blackie (Navajo) will be playing along with Rebecca Miller (Six Nations, Ontario, Canada) and Becky Hobbs (Cherokee) outside of the main entrance of NMAI this Saturday, June 11, from 5-7pm.

Bluebrain – The National Mall – Location Aware Album from Brandon Bloch on Vimeo.

Brothers Hays and Ryan Holladay, better known as the DC’s electro-pop group Bluebrain, have embraced the creative constraints of iPhone GPS technology on their just-released location-aware music project, The National Mall.

This “soundtrack” is actually an app that will only work while strolling around Washington, D.C.’s ample National Mall. Ambient music, percussion and sound effects surge and sigh, synced to the sights, landmarks and monuments at hand, smoothly changing as the listener moves throughout the 264 possible music “zones” across the Mall.

The app is available free at the Apple App Store for iPhone, even though there’s nearly three hours of music included in total. “It’s the Mall,” Ryan Holladay told the The Washington Post. “You don’t pay for anything down there.”

Android and iPad versions of The National Mall are pending, and the band is working on a new app for Flushing Meadows, in Queens, New York, the location of the 1964 World’s Fair. I caught up with Bluebrain’s Ryan Holladay for a few questions via email below:

Hays and Ryan Holladay of Bluebrain. Photo by Ben Chetta

What was the initial inspiration behind The National Mall?

The National Mall is the first in a series of location-aware albums that we are working on. We grew up here in Washington and with this park, so it seemed fitting to start with this one! Not to mention it was much easier to go back and forth everyday from our recording studio to the Mall to test it out than, say, drive to New York City where the next one is planned!

Do you think any areas of the Mall received preferential musical treatment, compositionally?

There were areas we knew would be visited more than others. For instance, the Washington Monument we spent a great deal of time with. That said, we really wanted to make sure that you could explore endlessly and discover new things. So really we took a lot of time to consider every area of the Mall.

Is music continuous during transitions between zones?

It depends. Sometimes the music will dip to near silence, but for the most part, it should be a continuous musical experience where one musical motif seamlessly blends into the next.

Which match-up of music and location are you most proud of and why?

Don’t make me choose! I think the Washington Monument really worked out well. We spend a great deal of time on this one, and I’m very proud of it.

So how do you and your brother usually divvy up musical responsibilities?

While we both write and play all the instruments between the two of us, except for violins and cellos and such, Hays is certainly the producer of the two of us. He records other bands in our studio, Iguazu, and has recorded a number of incredible records.

Do you think your app might distance the listener from the surrounding environment and from other people?

Interesting question! Perhaps. I guess it’s not exactly conducive to social interaction, but maybe sometimes you need a bit of solitude.

Image courtesy of National Museum of African Art.

Planning on going out this evening, but looking for something a little…different? Then check out the nightlife at the second installment of the “Africa Underground“ events series at the National Museum of African Art from 7 to 11. There will be a feast of activities for the senses at this West Africa-meets-Caribbean themed night.

Lively up yourself as Kurow and the All Stars lay down a live reggae groove to start things off, and then get a little funkier as DJ Spyda spins Caribbean and West African beats into the later evening. Check out traditional African dance numbers performed by the Farafina Kan dance troupe and drummers. And the Moko Jumbie stilt dancers? They’ll most likely be doing things that will make my knees hurt just thinking about it.

But if you do have to sit down for a bit, you can take a break and listen to some traditional West African and Caribbean storytelling, and learn a few fashion tips at Yehie Moudou’s African textile headwrapping demonstration. And don’t worry, there will be specialty themed cocktails and finger foods available to keep you going.

The first “Africa Underground” event, which had an Africa meets Brazil theme, was a sold out, so make sure you order your tickets in advance here! As a little preview, I spoke to Yehie Moudou about the art of traditional African headwrapping below:

How did you learn the art of headwrapping, and how long have you been practicing the art?

I was born and raised in Africa before my family sent me out to live abroad, so it’s kind of the culture of a young girl to learn to wrap her head growing up for different occasions and different seasons. Headwrapping is a language, actually. It’s a way of communicating. To me, you cannot talk about Africa or African culture without talking about headwrapping.

What exactly does the headwrap symbolize or represent?

For an African woman, the headwrap says her age, her status and it communicates her wealth, which is different from status. Status is matriarchal position, and wealth is a woman who is very well-off. Two women can have the same status or they can both be matriarch. But sometimes you will have a matriarch who has wealth and one that doesn’t. And the headwrap communicates that clearly to the African society. That’s why I have to communicate that headwrapping is a non-verbal communication in African society. It’s a way, just like a tom beat will tell a village at dusk that it’s time to listen to the elders. The headwrap of a woman walking down the street will tell you if she’s a widow, a grandmother, or if she’s a married young woman.  It’s an element in the daily living of an African woman.

What types of materials do you use for the wraps, and do you stick to certain colors?

Yes. We go with bright and shimmery colors, basically. [Sometimes] satin, but mainly cotton based material. In Africa the weather allows, or does not allow, leeway for most material. We go with cotton-based material because it’s comfortable and available and affordable.

And which wrap styles will you be doing Friday night?

I will cover different kinds. When Africa is spoken about it’s usually vague and unstructured. Africa covers so many cultures and tribes and languages, it’s a variety of headwrapping that’s readily available. What I’m going to do is touch on a couple of different styles that are particular to West Africa. You will have a style from Mali, a couple from the Ivory Coast, one from Benin, and the coast of Nigeria as well.

And can these be translated into everyday fashion for the average woman?

Absolutely! The headwrap is still in style. You will have a grandmother wearing a dashiki cloth with a headwrap, and her granddaughter will wear the same headwrap with a pair of jeans in a different style that still communicates the same femininity of an African woman. It’s timeless and still trendy.

A 25-year-old Ethel Galagan modeling the Hope Diamond at an Evalyn McLean party in 1944. Image courtesy of John Langlois.

Many a museum-goer has fantasized about the Hope Diamond. How would it feel to have the cool weight of that walnut-sized blue pool of a diamond dangling at your neck?

But not many people have gotten to wear the famous jewel. So when Smithsonian reader John Langlois sent us this 1944 image of his mother, Ethel Galagan, with it around her neck, we were intrigued.

Galagan was an employee of the Government Printing Office during World War II. For some reason, and Langlois isn’t sure why, but Galagan was invited to a party at the Washington, D.C. home of the wealthy socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean, the owner of the Hope Diamond at the time.

McLean’s parties were legendary. According to Richard Kurin, in his book, Hope Diamond: The Legendary History of a Cursed Gem, McLean spared no expense and the guest list included “diplomats and dignitaries, royalty and national leaders, New Dealers and Republicans, scholars and entertainers.” Kurin is the Smithsonian’s Under Secretary for History, Art and Culture.

According to Langlois, his mother always maintained that General Omar Bradley, who at that time had achieved three stars out of his eventual five star ranking, and the influential Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Hugo Black were among the elite attendees that night.

Despite Galagan’s non-A-lister status, McLean asked her new friend to stand in the receiving line and greet guests as they entered.

The Hope Diamond will be on display in its new temporary setting at the National Museum of Natural History until November 18, 2011. Image: Don Hurlbert/NMNH, SI

Later that evening, McLean found Galagan and complained, “This thing is so damn heavy–you wear it for awhile!” And draped the necklace around Galagan’s neck. A friend had a camera, so her encounter with the Hope Diamond was captured on film for posterity.

And how did such a huge rock come to be in the possession of such a party girl like Evalyn McLean, you might ask? “Unconventional, young, rich, and spoiled” were the words Kurin used to describe the McLeans­—Evalyn and her then-husband, Edward Beale McLean–at the time of their purchase of the gem in 1911.

The two had had more money than either knew what do with, and prior to their marriage Evalyn wrote that her fiance “had never been other than rich.” After joining their inherited mining and publishing fortunes in 1908 through marriage, they agreed to buy the stone from jeweler Pierre Cartier for a cool $180,000 in January of 1911. Aware of the supposed curse, as well as her inner desire for the gem, Evalyn wrote in her autobiography, “Then I put the chain around my neck and hooked my life to its destiny for good or evil.”

Evalyn McLean (c. 1914) wearing the Hope Diamond. Image: LOC

By the time of McLean’s death in 1947 at age 60, she had experienced a string of misfortunes that included her alcoholic husband running off with another woman, the bankruptcy of the family business and the early deaths of two of her children. All of these events added to the Hope Diamond’s reputation. McLean herself may not have bought into the mystique, however. “What tragedies have befallen me,” she wrote in 1936, “might have occurred had I never seen or touched the Hope Diamond. My observations have persuaded me that tragedies, for anyone who lives, are not escapable.”

After her death, the gem was sold to settle debts in McLean’s estate, to diamond merchant Harry Winston in 1949. In 1958, Winston donated it to the Smithsonian Institution. With a weight of 45.52 carats and an estimated value of more than $200 million, the infamous Hope Diamond remains one of the Smithsonian’s most popular and most iconic items.

A Small Act

A Small Act (2009): 6:00, Hirshhorn Museum
One person can make a difference. Chris Mburu grew up in an impoverished environment in Kenya, yet he went on to become a Harvard-educated human rights lawyer, thanks to a primary and secondary education sponsored by an anonymous Swedish woman. Jennifer Arnold’s inspiring documentary tells Mburu’s story, and how he hopes to pay that generosity forward.

Udaan (2010): 6:00, Freer Gallery of Art
In this Hindi coming-of-age film, 17-year old Rohan is expelled after being caught watching naughty movies with three of his friends. Forced to return home, he finds an untenable situation with a domineering, abusive father and they clash regarding Rohan’s desire for a more creative profession. But on the upside (there’s always an upside), Rohan eventually gets a chance to begin a relationship with a six year-old half-brother whom he never knew existed.

La Mission (2009): 6:00, Smithsonian American Art and National Portrait Gallery, McEvoy Auditorium
Acceptance is the theme here, as Benjamin Bratt grows the requisite tough-guy goatee to play a macho, rehabilitated ex-con living in the Mission District of San Francisco and who gradually comes to grips with the fact that his teenage son is gay. Oh, and the Bratt character likes driving and fixing lowriders, too.

BOY

BOY (2010): 6:15, National Museum of the American Indian
Director Taika Waititi’s film is set in 1984 New Zealand, where Boy, an 11-year old Michael Jackson fanatic, and his brother Rocky, are forced to rely on their abundant imaginations to create an epic version of their father while he’s in prison. However, Boy and Rocky must eventually face the actual version of their father upon his release and return home. Much more comedic than that last sentence implies, the film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Afghan Star (2008): 6:30, S. Dillon Ripley Center
There’s pop culture in Afghanistan? That’s what director Havana Marking set out to show in this documentary, as he followed the path of four contestants from start to finish on what is essentially the Afghanistan version of “American Idol.” The female contestants took their lives into their own hands, facing death threats and condemnation. Afghan Star picked up the World Cinema Directing Award for documentary film at the 2009 Sundance festival.

Last Train Home (2009): 6:30, S. Dillon Ripley Center
Millions of Chinese peasants leave their families and children behind to go to work in city factories for the majority of the year. And for many of them, the Chinese New Year holiday gives them their annual chance to return via railroad to the countryside to see their loved ones. This documentary focuses on one family’s story, including the parents’ 1,000-mile journey home as part of the world’s largest single human migration.

Amreeka

Amreeka (2009): 6:30, National Museum of American History, Carmichael Auditorium
When a Palestinian mother, played by actress Nisreen Faour, and her son leave a potentially dangerous area in the Middle East to go live with family in the United States, it’s not a smooth transition for anyone. They arrive shortly after the start of the war in Iraq, and must deal with anti-Arab sentiment, along with the rigors of fitting into a new society. Yet director Cherien Dabis deals with the potentially heavy subject matter in a heartwarming fashion, and the charismatic Nisreen Faour shines in a lead role.

Winter’s Bone (2010): 6:30, Natural Museum of Natural History, Baird Auditorium
Watch this and you’ll probably never think of the Ozarks in the same way again. Unless of course you already cook meth in the woods, or you usually have to track your daddy down with the help of Uncle Teardrop to make sure you and your siblings don’t get your house repossessed by the bail bondsman. This gritty Best Picture-nominated-film doesn’t pull any punches, and I for one, would have been happy if it had sent The King’s Speech home from the Oscars empty-handed.

Grazia Toderi, Orbite Rosse (Red Orbit), 2009. Installation view, The New Art Gallery, Walsall, UK. Courtesy of the artist.

Step into either side of the gallery theatre at the Hirshhorn to see the new exhibition, “Directions: Grazia Toderi,” and one is greeted by the faint aroma of fresh paint that’s indicative of a new installation. Yet the smell is strangely comforting and exciting at the same time. It makes for a perfect environment for the viewer to settle back in the darkness and take in Italian video artist Grazia Toderi’s two looped digital projection pieces, Orbite Rosse and Rossa Babele.

“Toderi’s images suggest glistening, breathing, atmospheres which appear to be both earthly and celestial,” says Hirshhorn curator Kelly Gordon, and this is evident in the mesmerizing, twinkling, rose-colored cityscape of Orbite Rosse. Viewed with a faded binocular pattern projected atop the footage, a nighttime vista is seen from high, while low, rumbling murky noises complete the hypnotic ambience. The distinctive pale rose-colored tint derives from the interaction between the city lights and the vapors in the atmosphere.

Toderi uses computer-aided digital manipulation of video footage and pictures to compose her final creations with, as Gordon says, “painterly finesse.” The projection screens for the second piece, Rossa Bebele are placed next to each other, like opposite pages of an open book. Both screens appear to be half-full of what looks like a sea of magma (one filled from the top, one filled from below), and from each sea, a pyramid of light gradually builds and subsides. Appropriately, a slightly harsher audio component accompanies this piece, with a combination of what sounds like swirling thunderstorm effects and caldera atmospherics filling the chamber.

“Directions: Grazia Toderi” will be at the Hirshhorn through September 5, and ATM’s Jeff Campagna spoke to Toderi last week about her work.

Why did you choose to use this medium for your art?

I chose to use video because it was the medium that has more possibility to communicate everywhere in the world, especially here. It’s a kind of Utopian idea, to just be energy that can be transmitted everywhere. I looked at the moon landing when I was young, and for me it was a very important moment, because every person in the world could see the same important thing. So it has this kind of power… So I’m interested in this kind of relation between personal memory and collective memory.

Orbite Rosse and Rosso Babele seem to be more abstract than your previous works–is there a reason for that?

I think one of the reasons is that something has changed. With some of my previous videos, I was interested in taking something from television and adding this kind of relation with collective memory. Now I think it is different, and I don’t believe in the power of television anymore [laughs]. This is my problem. And I come from a country [Italy] where television was really terrible during the last year. I started to use video in a different kind of way. Because I’m more interested in creating something completely by myself in this moment, I’m not interested in taking something from television. I want to be alone on the other side.

Is there a certain feeling that you’re attempting to convey to the viewer?

I like to leave the viewer completely free. The most important thing to art is that everyone can be free.

How long does it take you to complete an average piece?

Months. Sometimes I start to draw about one idea, and it takes months to focalize, drawing and drawing. And after, when I finish this kind of first step, I’m ready to go around and take photographs of things that I need… It could be one or two months again. It also depends where I need to go. And I start to elaborate and work on all the images and put them in an archive. So I have thousands of images that I put together, and after I start to do the animation in the computer. I do it step-by-step. It is very long.

David "Bio" Baranek today. Photo courtesy of David Baranek.

CDR David Baranek, USN (Ret.), actually lived the TOPGUN lifestyle as both a student and an instructor–yet not as a Maverick, but as a Goose. An F-14 radar intercept officer (RIO), Baranek whose callsign was Bio, eventually became commander of his own F-14 squadron.

Now the 20-year Navy man adds author to his credentials, with his recent book, TOPGUN Days: Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America’s Best Fighter Jocks.

The book details stints at TOPGUN, his deployments, and the part that he played in the film Top Gun. “I wanted to go back to that time and talk about the things I worried about and not do it from hindsight,” Baranek said.

Illustrations were easy to come by, since “Bio” always carried a camera with him on his flights. As a result, he was able to capture images of some of the Navy’s finest 1980s airpower from an intimate perspective. Check out a gallery of some of his shots here.

“Bio” will be at the National Air and Space Museum this Saturday, April 23, signing copies of his book, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.. I spoke to him about his time at TOPGUN, how he might have gotten the finger from Tom Cruise, and if he, as Maverick and Goose did , still feels the need–the need for speed.

You were an F-14 radar intercept officer (RIO), like Goose was in the film. What were your primary flight responsibilities–and were you capable of piloting an F-14, if necessary?

The primary flight responsibilities are spelled out in the F-14 operating manual. Those are navigation, communication and operating the weapons system. When the F-14 was designed, because of parts of its mission and state of automation, they still needed one guy to make the radar be most effective. In addition, the RIO shared responsibility for the safety of the airplane. And if we were in a dogfight, I shared responsibility [with the pilot]. He’d keep track of the people he could, and he’d hand people off to me. In terms of piloting the plane, that’s easy. One, the Navy did not train RIOs to fly. And two, the F-14 had no flight controls in the back seat. That was not an option.

Calm, cool and in control, that’s the stereotype of the fighter pilot, right? What was the tightest spot you’ve been in?

I thought you were going to say the stereotypical image was obnoxious, arrogant and loud [laughing]! The biggest adventure I had was when I ejected from an F-14 landing on an aircraft carrier. But the situation lasted one second, so there was no time to get nervous…

As a former graduate and a former instructor, what kinds of things were done to really push the buttons of  pilots selected for TOPGUN?

You get all kinds [laughing]. Most pilots and RIOs are good. They respect the instructors and know that they have things to learn. Of course they bring confidence, but they’re mature enough not to be offensive. But every once in awhile you get a student and he’s ready to take on his TOPGUN instructors, too [chuckling]. I have to tell you, TOPGUN instructors can handle that stuff! You’re coming into their arena, and although they appreciate a good enthusiastic fighter pilot, you’ve got to know your limits! They can put people in their place. If you don’t get the message the first time, they’ll do it again.

During your time as air-to-air combat instructor, what was the most important advice you passed on to your students?

For me, one of the things I tried to emphasize was that you’re not supposed to just sit in the back seat and play with the radar and talk to the pilot. There are times when you need to be directing things on the radios. You need to be assertive.

As an RIO, regarding the type of pilot you’d rather fly with, are you a Maverick guy or an Iceman guy?

I flew with a lot of talented pilots, and I have to say that I’m a little bit selfish. I liked flying with a good pilot who does his job. A lot of flying, especially back then, is pretty boring, so you want to fly with a pilot who’s funny and entertaining, so you can tell stories [laughing]. So kind of like with a personality of Maverick, but a flying style of Iceman.

An F-14 Tomcat climbs into the evening sky in full afterburner during a training mission over Southern California. Photo by David Baranek.

So is that why you started taking pictures, because you had time to kill during flights? (view image gallery here).

I just got that from my father. I started taking pictures in grade school, and it’s something I picked up. It was a few years after I started loving airplanes and wanting to fly. We all flew the same mission and had a lot of time in the plane, but some guys just never carried a camera. It just didn’t interest them.

You were on board for some of the aerial stunts in Top Gun–so was that you onscreen behind one of the black helmets in one of the enemy fighters?

[laughs] The close-ups were of pilots [not RIOs]. In terms of flying the black jets, I’m pretty sure that it’s me in the scene where Maverick is flying inverted above the MiG [Tom Cruise's character, "Maverick," gives the finger to the pilots in the enemy MiG while flying above them, upside-down.]. I went out there and flew that mission. But we filmed that, and later I found out that one other RIO did that, also.

And how did you help Paramount with the dialogue?

A pilot and I went up to Paramount for two days. We looked at the film clips over and over again, and we helped one of the film editors to stitch clips into logical sequences for dogfights. And the main purpose was to tell Paramount what they [pilots and RIOs] would be saying in situations. We just sat there and looked at the film and the pilot and I started talking to each other…And a lot of that was dialogue for the flying scenes of the movie. But then they threw in a bunch of Hollywood stuff, too… “You hook ‘em, I’ll fry ‘em?” Come on! That’s Hollywood writer stuff! [laughing]

Now with the increase of unmanned drones, do you think dogfighting is dead?

It’s hard to say. People have been predicting that for decades now. Nowadays there seems to be less dogfighting… I think it’s going to be awhile before we can turn everything over to unmanned vehicles. They’re great for some missions, but they can’t do everything. As long as you’ve got humans in tactical airplanes, they better be prepared to meet enemy airplanes. We’ve got to be ready to face a lot of countries around the world, and as long as they have fighters with people in them, we’ve got to be ready to duel with them and defeat them. I think dogfighting is going to be around for at least, certainly 20 more years–probably 50 more years.

It appears that most of your experience was in the F-14. Is there another particular airplane in which you’re still craving some quality flight time?

[Laughs] The planes that I want are gone. I always loved the F-8 Crusader, but you have to be a pilot to fly that. I loved the Air Force F-106. Just a huge, powerful, beautiful plane. But you have to be a pilot for that, and those are retired, too. One of these days I’ll get up in a biplane and that’ll be fun!

It’s fitting that legendary jazz songstress-extraordinaire Billie Holiday’s (1915-1959) birthday today falls during Smithsonian’s Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM). “Lady Day,” as she was known, made songs her own, lazily wrapping her emotive voice like wisps of smoke around passages with distinctive horn-like phrasing. Her trademark songs like “God Bless the Child,” which went on to sell over a million copies, and the haunting tale of lynching, “Strange Fruit” still resonate today. Unfortunately for Holiday, the rock star lifestyle was not a recent invention. Drug abuse and drinking took its toll on her voice, and her limited legal ability to collect royalties left her with $.70 in the bank at the time of her death from cirrhosis at age 44 in 1959. To learn more about the life and times of Lady Day, Smithsonian‘s Ryan Reed corresponded with John Edward Hasse, the American History Museum’s curator of American music and a founder of Jazz Appreciation Month.

Portrait of Billie Holiday, Down Beat, New York City, circa Feb. 1947 (Library of Congress)

Who gave Holiday the nickname “Lady Day?”

The great tenor saxophonist Lester Young, who was a musical soulmate of Holiday’s. She, in turn, gave him the nickname “Pres,” short for “President.”

April is Jazz Appreciation Month.  How did Holiday influence the genre?

Like Louis Armstrong, she influenced other singers to take familiar songs and make them their own, changing the melodies and rhythms to match the singer’s artistic sensibilities.

What made Holiday unique?

Billie Holiday ranks close to Louis Armstrong among the greatest jazz singers. Acknowledging great inspiration from him, she practiced an instrumental approach to singing as she ranged freely over the beat, flattened out the melodic contours of tunes, and, in effect, re-composed songs to suit her range, style and artistic sensibilities.  Her voice was physically limited, but she achieved shadings, nuances, color and variety by sliding along the thin line separating speech and song.

Smithsonian Folkways has the recording “Mean to Me.” What can you tell us about this particular song?

This recording marks an early stage of a remarkable partnership, one that Holiday forged with tenor saxophonist Lester Young.

In contrast to Coleman Hawkins’ big sax sound of the time, Young took a new approach. Young’s sound was a feathery, almost vibrato-less, lightly swinging style that moved improvisation away from the underlying harmonic sequence to focus more on the possibilities of melody.  He personified ‘cool’ and influenced the bebop, cool jazz, and rhythm and blues that were to come.

The elegant pianist Teddy Wilson introduces Mean to Me, Young takes the three eight-bar A sections, with trumpeter Buck Clayton taking the B section or bridge.  Holiday sings the second chorus, and then the band returns to play the second half of the chorus—Wilson solos on the bridge and Clayton on the final eight bars.

Holiday recomposes the melody of the A section, flattening out parts of it.  In the bridge, she largely sings the original melody but makes the rhythms and phrasing her own.  For her, such rhythmic conventions as eighth notes, quarter notes, and bar lines were merely guideposts, not fences.  Holiday leans on the beat, then catches up, demonstrating her impeccable sense of rhythm.  She makes a then-familiar hit song into something personal and fresh.

What made you choose an image of Holiday for the poster of the 2nd annual, national Jazz Appreciation Month in 2003?

I wanted a major figure who was widely considered one of the greatest on her instrument (the voice) and felt it was important to represent women, who have often been undersung in the annals of jazz.

Is there an artist today that reminds you of Holiday?

Holiday has influenced generations of singers, but one in particular has captured some of her style uncannily, and that is Madeline Peyroux.

What is your favorite song by Holiday and why?

“Mean to Me,” because it well represents Holiday as well as Lester Young and Teddy Wilson.

–Additional reporting by Ryan Reed

Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) has rolled around again, and that’s cool, baby, cool. The National Museum of American History kicked things off by having several original members of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm as guests at the JAM Launch festivities at the beginning of April. But whoever might these Sweethearts be, you ask?

As it turns out, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm were the first integrated all-woman’s band in the United States, and in their hey-day (the 1940s), they toured nationally, playing swing and jazz, featuring the top female players in the country.

Formed in 1937 and originally titled Swinging Rays of Rhythm, the band changed its name to “International Sweethearts of Rhythm” to fit the multi-ethnic composition of the group, as they’d continue to prominently feature and recruit women of all different races, including Mexican, Asian, Caucasian, Native American and African-American. The Sweethearts were founded at the Piney Woods School in Mississippi, an institution primarily for poor and African-American children. The band initially served as a way to raise funds for the school and for the students’ educations; however, in 1941, the band separated from the school and went pro.

Out on the tour circuit the Sweethearts faced the double-whammy of both gender and racial bias. And like any minority band of the time, they were forced to deal with segregation and the Jim Crow laws when touring in the South. But even though it was against the law for mixed-race groups to travel and perform in the South at the time, they went ahead and did it anyway. There were a few white women members of the band, and they’d occasionally disguise themselves by painting their faces for performances in order to blend in with their other band mates, so the police wouldn’t remove them from the stage or arrest them.

Four members of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm (circa 1944). Rosalind Cron, one of the group's first white members, is at the far left. Photo courtesy Archives Center, NMAH, SI

By performing with mixed race groups in the South, the white members of the group were rejecting the exclusive privileges granted upon them by Southern society. Consequently they were looked upon as traitors to their color. “I would either know, understand and learn how to live as a black girl, or I could go home,” recalled white saxophonist Rosalind Cron in an interview with NPR in March 2011. “Everybody knew this was dangerous territory.”

Sure, the Sweethearts were trailblazers, and they were named America’s #1 All-Girl Orchestra for 1944 by Down Beat magazine, but they also got the attention of other top musicians. Both Eddie Durham (of the Count Basie Band) and Louie Armstrong took an interest in the Sweethearts, according to original Sweetheart vocalist Anna Mae Winburn (1913-1999). “They would come and stand in the wings of the Apollo Theater and listen to the band,” she said in an interview with allabout jazz.com. “And I could see them back there smiling when the girls would take off on their instruments.”

The original International Sweethearts of Rhythm broke up in 1949, but pictures and mementos from the band are on display at the American History Museum during April as part of the 10th annual Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM).