Nov
17

“Commemorate and Celebrate Freedom”

For three nights only, the National Mall will be alight with a beacon reminding us of the journey to freedom.

 

"Commemorate and Celebrate Freedom" Nov. 16, 2015 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Photo by Eric Long)

“Commemorate and Celebrate Freedom” Nov. 16, 2015 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Photo by Eric Long)

Kicking off the countdown to its grand opening next fall, the National Museum of African American History and Culture celebrates the anniversary of three significant events in our history with a special event Nov. 16 through Nov. 18. “Commemorate and Celebrate Freedom” marks the ratification of the 13th Amendment, which officially ended the institution of slavery (1865), passage of the Voting Rights Act (Aug. 6, 1965) and the end of the Civil War (surrender at Appomattox, Va., April 8, 1865) with a spectacular display of moving images projected onto the museum’s façade.

Featuring state-of-the-art digital projection imagery, the south (facing Madison Drive) and west (facing 15th Street and the Washington Monument) façades will be transformed into a five-story-tall, one-block-long 3-D canvas. The video display will be seven minutes long and run continuously all three nights from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. The projection mapping is a collaboration between Quixotic Entertainment, a Kansas City, Mo.-based hi-tech and performance arts company, and noted documentary filmmaker Stanley J. Nelson (Freedom Riders, 2010; Freedom Summer, 2014; and current film, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution, 2015). The live program is produced and directed by Ricardo Khan, former artistic director of the Tony Award-winning Crossroads Theatre Co.

This special event ends Nov. 18 at 9:00 p.m.

 

"Commemorate and Celebrate Freedom" Nov. 16, 2015 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Photo by Eric Long)

“Commemorate and Celebrate Freedom” Nov. 16, 2015 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Photo by Eric Long)

 

"Commemorate and Celebrate Freedom" Nov. 16, 2015 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Photo by Eric Long)

“Commemorate and Celebrate Freedom” Nov. 16, 2015 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Photo by Eric Long)

 

"Commemorate and Celebrate Freedom" Nov. 16, 2015 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Photo by Eric Long)

“Commemorate and Celebrate Freedom” Nov. 16, 2015 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Photo by Eric Long)

 

"Commemorate and Celebrate Freedom" Nov. 16, 2015 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Photo by Eric Long)

“Commemorate and Celebrate Freedom” Nov. 16, 2015 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Photo by Eric Long)

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Posted: 17 November 2015
About the Author:

Alex di Giovanni is primarily responsible for "other duties as assigned" in the Office of Communications and External Affairs. She has been with the Smithsonian since 2006 and plans to be interred in the Smithson crypt.