Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

At the Smithsonian / Exhibitions

Apple I computer, 1976, Steve Jobs (Patent no. 7166791) and Steve Wozniak (Patent No. 4136359). The Apple I computer became a leader in personal computing. Originally marketed to hobbyists only primarily as a fully assembled circuit board, purchasers had to add their own case and monitor in order to create a working computer.

Tracing the History of American Invention, From the Telegraph to the Apple I

More than 70 artifacts, from an artificial heart to an Etch A Sketch, grace the entryway to the American History Museum’s new innovation wing

Digital artist Jeremy Sutton's finished painting captured the many elements of the event.

This Is How You Live Paint an Event

Artist Jeremy Sutton painted on his iPad while musicians performed and visitors played virtual reality games at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Entrance to the new "American Enterprise" exhibition at the National Museum of American History.

How Curators Wrestled With the Complex Story of American Business

The broad and sometimes difficult history of business in the U.S., its rogues, heros, successes and failures, is the dynamic story in a new exhibition

Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster’s first book, was published in 1961 and came about accidentally, through procrastination and boredom.

Why Milo’s Sunrises Are a Symphony of Color in The Phantom Tollbooth

Author Norton Juster says one boon to his magical writing is that he was born with synesthesia and hears colors

From the Italian version of The Great Moon Hoax. Leopoldo Galluzzo, Altre scoverte fatte nella luna dal Sigr. Herschel (Other lunar discoveries from Signor Herschel), Napoli, 1836

Urban Explorations

The Great Moon Hoax Was Simply a Sign of Its Time

Scientific discoveries and faraway voyages inspired fantastic tales—and a new Smithsonian exhibition

Introduced in 1946, frozen orange juice concentrate was quickly adopted by consumers who welcomed its time-saving convenience.

What Makes the Orange Juice Can Worthy of Display in a Museum

A new exhibition explains why the everyday objects of today and the recent past are so important to understanding who we are

“The [museum] is a beautiful example of the strategic ‘borrowing’ that created the rich cultural environment we have all inherited from the African continent.”

Is Architecture Actually a Form of Weaving?

David Adjaye, architect of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, approaches building design as creating “fabric”

Rumi Colca gateway, Cusco, Peru, 2014

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Inca Road

How the Inca Empire Engineered a Road Across Some of the World’s Most Extreme Terrain

For a new exhibition, a Smithsonian curator conducted oral histories with contemporary indigenous cultures to recover lost Inca traditions

Monky’s street posters have become synonymous with the syncopated, high energy beat of a music genre, called Chicha.

When the Poster Promoting the Concert Is as Exciting as the Music, You Know You’re Listening to Chicha

The sounds, graphic art and the mestizo lifestyle that goes with the music is the latest revolt of the Peruvian masses

Katya and Blanca Canto pose with their carved gourds at their home in Cochas Grande.

A Look Behind the Peruvian Art of Gourd Carving

With magnificent hand carvings, artisans craft stories of celebration and tragedy into dried gourds—a tradition practiced for more than 4,000 years

Q'eswachaka suspension bridge. Q'eswachaka, Apurímac River, Canas Province, Cusco, Peru.

Urban Explorations

A Dozen Indigenous Craftsman From Peru Will Weave Grass into a 60-Foot Suspension Bridge in Washington, D.C.

The ancient technology used lightweight materials to create soaring 150-foot spans that could hold the weight of a marching army

This image, Elephants at Twilight, Botswana, 1989, writes Lanting, "is my homage to the primeval qualities of southern Africa's wilderness, the grandeur of elephants, and the precious nature of water in a land of thirst."

Wildlife Photographer Frans Lanting on the Difference Between Taking Pictures and Making Photographs

The National Geographic photographer has been described as having the “mind of a scientist, the heart of a hunter, and the eyes of a poet”

Stanford University Racing Team leader Sebastian Thrun celebrates with his team mates as their entry named "Stanley" is the first to cross the finish line at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) 2005 Grand Challenge in Primm, Nevada.

Does the Future Hold the Prospect of Outsourcing the Human Brain?

Bold thinker Sebastian Thrun is receiving a Smithsonian Award this week, so he regaled us with some of his ideas for changing the world

Filthy Lucre, 2013-2014, by Darren Waterston, MASS MoCA installation

Urban Explorations

Whistler’s Peacock Room is Reimagined in a State of Oozing and Broken Decay

In Filthy Lucre, a new installation at the Sackler Gallery, artist Darren Waterston deconstructs Whistler’s masterpiece

The 1856 British Guiana One-Cent Magenta, with its three-masted sailing ship, carries the postal clerk Edmond D. Wight's initials to deter counterfeiters.

Urban Explorations

The Remarkable Story of the World’s Rarest Stamp

The rarely seen, one-of-a-kind 1856 British Guiana One-Cent Magenta, which recently sold for a whopping $9.5 million, gets its public debut

Peter Dinklage by Jesse Frohman, 2003

Who Crafts the Image in Celebrity Portraiture?

Is it real or is it celebrity branding? A portrait exhibition of iconic celebs considers the question of who holds the upper hand—the artist or the star

“Table Bay Cape Town,” Table Bay in the 1790’s by Thomas Luny (1759-1837)

Breaking Ground

Smithsonian to Receive Artifacts From Sunken 18th-Century Slave Ship

In 1794, the Portuguese slave ship São José wrecked with 400 slaves aboard; iron ballast and a wooden pulley from that ship will come to Washington, D.C.

All Is Not Lost

At the Intersection of Dance and Portraiture, Vulnerability and Intimacy Prevail

Dance troupe Pilobolus and video portrait artist Bo Gehring teamed up to defy boundaries

Speechless (Women of Allah), 1996

Iranian Exile Shirin Neshat’s New Exhibition Expresses the Power of Art to Shape Political Discourse

An exhibition of the artist’s work at the Hirshhorn is an allegorical narrative framed against historical and political realities

Yasuo Kuniyoshi, in his New York City Studio in 1940, is at work on the painting Upside Down Table and Mask, currently on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Meet the Iconic Japanese-American Artist Whose Work Hasn’t Been Exhibited in Decades

A reexamination of the inventive artist, who blended American and Japanese traditions, brings rarely seen works from around the world to the Smithsonian

Page 35 of 42