Museum Review: The Unfulfilling "Records of Rights" at National Archive

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Ed Rothenstien

WASHINGTON, DC---Before we explore the problems with the permanent exhibition that opened this month at the National Archives here, it might help to recognize the challenges it faced. The exhibition, “Records of Rights,” is the first attraction you see after passing through the building’s new marble-clad entrance. Magna Carta is this exhibition’s promissory note, in more ways than one; its gallery’s promise is also unfulfilled. What are we left with, as we head up to the Rotunda to see the founding documents? No context or perspective; only grim struggles and partially won liberties. This is a peculiar way for an institution that is a reflection of the government itself, to see the nature of its origins, the character of its achievements, and the promise of its ideas. [link]

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Arts Journalism Grants Awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB

The critical role of journalism gets lost in many of the national, and local discussions about arts audience development, and that's why yesterday's NEA arts journalism announcement was so significant. This latest round of recipients of Art Works grant awards named Indianapolis as one of only four communities nationwide receiving Art Works grant awards. The four communities are: Ann Arbor, MI ($45,000); Detroit, MI ($30,000); Fort Lauderdale, FL ($25,000); and Indianapolis, IN ($35,000). The awards are a partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and were announced as part of a webinar/press conference led by Sasha Anawalt, associate professor and director of arts journalism programs at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communications.

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The National Gallery of Art’s "Your Art App" Features Religious Art

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By TAHLIB

"Daniel in the Lions' Den" (1614-1616) by Sir Peter Paul Ruebens

WASHINGTON, DC---The National Gallery of Art has launched the Your Art app for iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android smartphones. Your Art is a free interactive mobile application that features 18 works from the museum's "Biblical" art collection; as well as 14 works from "Myths & Legends" collection, out of 130 total highlights. It's a quick and simple download designed to enrich the experience of visitors on-site, and outreach off-site by bringing its masterpieces to art lovers around the world. Your Art is designed for use on iOS and Android devices.

iTunes App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/your-art/id600049768
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.nga.yourart

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Yoga Exhibition Spotlights The Continuing Church-State Debate

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By Lee Lawrence

Bringing to life a constellation of yogas, from ascetic to esoteric to physical.

WASHINGTON, DC---It isn't every day that an art exhibition at the Smithsonian's museum of Asian art speaks (however unintentionally) to a continuing church-state debate in California. The issue is whether public schools should be teaching yoga: Do "downward dog" and "salutation to the sun" postures promote mental and physical well-being or do they constitute religious practice? Simply put, what is yoga? This is the question that "Yoga: The Art of Transformation" explores—or, rather, explodes. As curator Debra Diamond researched the topic, "it kept growing in depth and complexity," she says. Although meditation was always important, she found no single practice or belief that consistently defined yoga as it moved through India's religious and cultural communities for 2,000-plus years. [link]

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$1.47 Million Grant Launched New Jewish Arts Program at George Washington University

THE JEWISH DAILY FORWARD
By Renee Ghert-Zand

WASHINGTON, DC---Hot on the heels of a new graduate program in Jewish Cultural Arts, George Washington University has announced an additional new MA program in Experiential Education and Jewish Cultural Arts. Whereas the first program focuses more on arts administration and museum management, the second is meant to train educators for professional roles in today’s broad and varied Jewish cultural landscape. The program in Experiential Education and Jewish Cultural Arts, the first of its kind in the U.S., is set to begin this coming summer thanks to a $1.47 million grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation. [link]

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Exhibition Review: Iraqi Jewish Documents at the National Archives

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Edward Rothstein

An 1815 copy of the mystical Zohar is part of the "Discovery and Recovery" show at the National Archives.

WASHINGTON, DC---They are ragged, warped, torn, stained. And that is after extensive restoration. This new exhibition, “Discovery and Recovery: Preserving Iraqi Jewish Heritage,” presents just 24 artifacts (and some reproductions) selected from 2,700 volumes and tens of thousands of documents the American military found submerged in four feet of fetid water in the Mukhabarat, Iraq’s intelligence building. Those items, which had been collected by the Iraqi office investigating Israel and the Jews, span five centuries of Jewish life in Iraq. It took weeks for the American team to gather them, set them out to dry and ship them — in disarray and black with mold — to the National Archives. Much still awaits being restored and digitized at the archives’ laboratories in College Park, Md. [link]

National Archives: “Discovery and Recovery: Preserving Iraqi Jewish Heritage,” (Ends Jan. 5); Constitution Ave. NW [between 7th & 9th St.], Washington, DC; 866-272-6272; archives.gov

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Smithsonian Opens Exhibit on Art of Yoga

THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Yoga: The Art of Transformation" exhibit at the Smithsonian's
Sackler Gallery includes items that showcase the history of yoga.

WASHINGTON, DC - Yoga is moving from the studio mat to the museum gallery.The Smithsonian Institution has organized what curators believe is the first exhibition about the visual history and art of yoga, its origins and evolution over time. The Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery will showcase the exhibit, "Yoga: The Art of Transformation," through January. Later, it will travel to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco and to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Curators brought together Indian sculptures, manuscripts and paintings, as well as posters, illustrations, photographs and films to showcase yoga's history. [link]

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Byzantine Icons in ‘Heaven and Earth,’ at the National Gallery

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Holland Cotter

A processional sweep through Byzantine iconography, with about 170 items for many centuries.

WASHINGTON, D.C.---After arriving with no particular buzz, then being kept on ice by the government shutdown, “Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium From Greek Collections” has finally opened at the National Gallery of Art here, and it’s ambushingly resplendent, like a somber cloud with a fire inside. Like many government-sponsored treasure shows, this one — organized by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports in Athens, in collaboration with the Benaki Museum there — has a promotional angle: It would love to get us to go to Greece and spend some tourist dollars, especially given that country’s recent fiscal woes. I’m out the door, based on some of what’s here. [link]

National Gallery of Art: “Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium From Greek Collections” (October 6, 2013, through March 2, 2014); 2000B South Club Drive, Landover, MD; (202) 842-6353; nga.gov

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Ancient Jewish Tradition Meets Contemporary Design

NPR | WASHINGTON, D.C.

By Emily Siner

"Fractured Bubble" Sukkah by Architects Henry Grosman and Babak Bryan, Long Island City

WASHINGTON, D.C.---At Georgetown University this week, an outdoor religious display looks more like a public art installation than a commandment from the Torah, Judaism’s holy book. It’s called a Sukkah, a temporary dwelling — translated from Hebrew as a “booth” — where Jews traditionally eat and sleep during the weeklong harvest holiday of Sukkot. The holiday, which began last Wednesday night, also pays homage to the 40 years during which the Israelites wandered in the desert, living in temporary structures. Three years ago, Grosman and Bryan won the “people’s choice” award in a design competition called Sukkah City. The reinterpreted versions are clearly captivating Jews around the country. [link]

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