Bøger udgivet af Smithsonian Books (DC)

The first book dedicated to the contemporary Diné artist, featuring 80 stunning tapestries and essays exploring her life and legacy.Discover the unique weaving traditions of the Navajo Nation in this joyous celebration of Indigenous art and history.A fifth-generation weaver, DY Begay’s transformative tapestries reflect her family tradition, her Diné identity, and the natural beauty of the Navajo Nation reservation where she grew up. The first book devoted to Begay's career, Sublime Light reveals the evolution of her work with 80 gorgeous tapestries created between 1965 and 2022.To fully reveal her life and influences, the book draws on Begay’s journals, family photographs, and imagery from the Tselani, Arizona landscape that inspires her work. Begay first learned to weave watching her mother and grandmother process wool from the family sheep herd using tools made by male relatives and working at their looms. Over the years, she pushed her creativity and began combining her ancestral weaving techniques with modern design, as well as blending colors historically used in Navajo weaving with unconventional dyes made from fungi, food, and non-native flowers.Much of Begay’s deeply personal work pays homage to Navajo land— its red-streaked cliffs, indigo sunrises, dreamy desert tones—as well as her extraordinary lineage. On every page, Sublime Light enchants.

The drama of In Cold Blood meets the stylings of a Coen brothers film in this long-lost manuscript from musicologist Robert “Mack” McCormick, whose research on blues icon Robert Johnson's mysterious life and death became as much of a myth as the musician himself "This is a human and humane book, an insightful exploration of the biographer’s craft. [...] McCormick’s book makes you feel what we lost when Johnson died young." —New York Times "Reads like noir fiction. It's a detective story riddled with fatalism and ambiguity carried out by someone who, like the archetypal noir hero, isn't a detective but an ordinary guy in a dismal, often violent setting searching for what can't be found." —Wall Street JournalWhen blues master Robert Johnson’s little-known recordings were rereleased to great fanfare in the 1960s, little was known about his life, giving rise to legends that he gained success by selling his soul to the devil. Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey is musicologist Mack McCormick's all-consuming search, from the late 1960s until McCormick’s death in 2015, to uncover Johnson's life story. McCormick spent decades reconstructing Johnson's mysterious life and developing theories about his untimely death at the age of 27, but never made public his discoveries. Biography of a Phantom publishes his compelling work for the first time, including 40 unseen black-and-white photographs documenting his search.While knocking on doors and sleuthing for Johnson's loved ones and friends, McCormick documents a Mississippi landscape ravaged by the racism of paternalistic white landowners and county sheriffs. An editor's preface and afterword from Smithsonian curator John W. Troutman provides context as well as troubling details about McCormick’s own impact on Johnson’s family and illuminates through McCormick’s archive the complex legacy of white male enthusiasts assuming authority over Black people’s stories and the history of the blues.While Johnson died before achieving widespread recognition, his music took on a life of its own and inspired future generations. Biography of a Phantom, filled with lush descriptive fieldwork and photographs, is an important historical object that deepens the understanding of a stellar musician.

"Offering a unique glimpse into American history, this is the first book to celebrate the compelling work of the United States' first federal photographer"--

"A unique introduction to how understanding archaeology can support modern-day sustainability efforts"--

"A rich and compelling introduction to the history of Asian Pacific American communities as told through 101 objects from the Smithsonian collections"--

"An extraordinary journey to visit the oldest trees in the United States that beautifully reveals the connection between humans and natural history"--

"An essential walking tour guide to one of the most walkable and historic cities in the U.S.: Washington, D.C."--

The uplifting autobiography of a remarkable aviator who was the first African American and first double amputee licensed as a racing pilotIn 1926, a young Neal Loving saw a de Havilland DH-4 biplane that propelled his dreams of taking to the sky. Loving’s Love is the inspiring autobiography about his journey to get there. Only a recent high school graduate when he built his first full-size flying machine at a time when most flying schools, airports, and aviation jobs excluded African Americans, Loving went on to design and fly five aircraft, open an aviation school, and become the first African American to be licensed as a racing pilot.Loving faced no small number of obstacles. Barred by racist gatekeeping from serving in the Civil Air Patrol during World War II, Loving and a friend created an all-Black squadron to serve their country. And despite undergoing a double leg amputation after a glider crash, Loving shares his story with unflinching optimism. He got fitted with wooden prosthetic legs and was back to flying just two years after his accident. The book offers readers an intimate and engaging look at Loving's career, with a focus on his WR-1 Loving’s Love, a single seat, midget racer he built in 1950 that won him the 1954 Most Outstanding Design award from the Experimental Aircraft Association.At 40 years old, Loving enrolled as an aeronautical engineering student and after graduating spent the next 20 years as a civilian specialist for the Air Force. After retiring, he continued flying for almost a decade. Neal Loving experienced a lifetime of thrills and challenges, and Loving’s Love captures the candid life story of a courageous man who defied the odds again and again.

Rising on the National Mall next to the Washington Monument, the National Museum of African American History and Culture is a tiered bronze beacon inviting everyone to learn about the richness and diversity of the African American experience and how it helped shape this nation. Begin with the Past: Building the National Museum of African American History and Culture is the story of how this unparalleled museum found its place in the nation’s collective memory and on its public commons.   Begin with the Past presents the long history of efforts to build a permanent place to collect, study, and present African American history and culture. In 2003 the museum was officially established at long last, yet the work of the museum was only just beginning. The book traces the appointment of the director, the selection of the site, and the process of conceiving, designing, and constructing a public monument to the achievements and contributions of African Americans. The careful selection of architects, designers, and engineers culminated in a museum that embodies African American sensibilities about space, form, and material and incorporates rich cultural symbols into the design of the building and its surrounding landscape. The National Museum of African American History and Culture is a place for all Americans to understand our past and embrace our future, and this book is a testament to the inspiration and determination that went into creating this unique place.

This kaleidoscopic catalog, and first book in English dedicated to Ay-Ō, celebrates the avant-garde artist’s first major museum exhibition in the United StatesKnown as the “Rainbow Artist” for the prominent bright motif in his work, Ay-Ō has long referred to this compulsion as his “rainbow hell.” Ay-Ō Happy Rainbow Hell invites readers into the vibrant world of his brilliant art, mind, and imagination, featuring artwork from the first major US museum exhibition devoted to his work.Printed on heavy 100# paper and in 7 colors (with added green, orange, and metallic gold inks, plus 2 spot colors and spot varnish) to achieve Ay-Ō’s vibrant color palette, the book is its own stunning art object. The dustjacket, printed and silkscreened on uncoated, felted art board, is die-cut to reveal the rainbow-printed caseside. Ay-Ō Happy Rainbow Hell presents approximately 140 gorgeous illustrations from the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, home to the largest US collection of Ay-Ō’s silkscreen prints, and loans from other US institutions along with enlightening catalog entries to better appreciate each piece. Additionally, the book includes:An essay from Kit Brooks, the Japan Foundation Assistant Curator of Japanese Art, that provides a biography of Ay-Ō; explores the artist’s fluctuating explanations for his rainbow fixation and its simultaneous liberation and restriction; and emphasizes his legacy as an eminent member of Fluxus, an experimental art group in the 1960s and 1970s.An illustrated essay from Ay-Ō’s longtime printer Sukeda Kenryō, where he describes his painstaking work to translate the artist’s designs onto prismatic silkscreen prints, work that can take up to a year to accomplish.A message from the artist Ay-Ō himself.Ay-Ō Happy Rainbow Hell is a colorful and comprehensive book that pays tribute to an extraordinary career and legacy as luminous as the art itself.

"Epic in scope, yet filled with detail, this illustrated guide takes readers through the whole of our human past. Spanning the dawn of human civilization through the present, it provides a tour of every site of key archaeological importance. From the prehistoric cave paintings of Lascaux to Tutankhamun's tomb, from the buried city of Pompeii to China's Terracotta Army, all of the world's most iconic sites and discoveries are here. So too are the lesser-known yet equally important finds, such as the recent discoveries of our oldest known human ancestors and of the world's oldest-known temple, Gobekli Tepe in Turkey. A masterful combination of succinct analysis and driving narrative, this book also addresses the questions that inevitably arise as we gradually learn more about the history of our species. Written by an international team of archaeological experts and richly illustrated throughout, Archaeology: A Comprehensive Guide to Our Human Past offers an unparalleled insight into the origins of humankind"--

"Stunning photographic guide to bugs, from the beautiful to the bizarre and every bug in between"--

"Meet the incredible animals that have disappeared due to competition, mass extinctions, hunting, and human activity"--

"An illustrated history of plants presented through the stories of 50 key fossil discoveries"--

"Charts color exploration and expression from the 1600s to the present day through painters' tools, art, ephemera, and literature"--

Is humankind on a fast track to self-destruction? Can society develop ways to live in concert with the environment? Are our environmental problems as grave as they seem? The included essays address these issues and much more.International scientists offer empirical case studies of prehistoric human-ecosystem relationships—some of short-term exploitation, others of long-term sustainability—offering lessons for today. Charles L. Redman introduces the trend to re-examine the environmental impacts of prehistoric peoples and the contexts of contemporary decision-making about natural resources.