The Metropolitan Museum of Art will host its first ever World
Culture Festival this Saturday, November 5, from noon to 5 p.m.
with the theme of Epic Stories. Through performances, art-making
activities, storytelling, and more, participants of all ages will
discover larger-than-life characters
and tales from cultures around the world. The festival is free with
Museum admission. No RSVP required. Unless otherwise noted, experiences
are best for those age three and up; special gallery conversations are
geared towards adults who wish to have peer-to-peer
engagement. Exhibitions on view at both The Met Fifth Avenue and The
Met Breuer will be open during the festival.
World Culture Festival: Epic Stories is made possible by the Great Circle Foundation and the Tiger Baron Foundation.
Performances
Music, dance, and theater performances will take place at The Met Fifth
Avenue during the five-hour festival. Performances are all first come,
first served, and include:
- An energetic, kick-off performance by the all-female Afro-Caribbean music group Legacy Women
-
Music and dance performances by East-West School of Dance to celebrate
Diwali, the annual Indian Festival of Lights -
The Fifteen Minute Hamlet, Tom Stoppard’s rapid-fire retelling of Shakespeare’s classic, presented by Titan
Theatre Company - Cherokee and Choctaw songs performed by leading contemporary Native American singer/songwriter Martha Redbone
Art Activities and Demonstrations
Several hands-on art programs will be offered as part of World Culture Festival: Epic Stories. Activities include comic bookmaking with Women
in Comics Collective; large-scale, collaborative
weavings inspired by medieval tapestries; pop-up bookmaking inspired by
myths throughout time with author and illustrator Robert Sabuda;
and ancient Egyptian message decoding and hieroglyphic character writing.
Storytime
In a gallery of the American Wing that features art from the Civil War era, Brooklyn-based storyteller Tammy Hall will
inspire visitors with her remarkable recounting of the African American
journey. In the Nolen Library in the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for
Education, bilingual storytime will be presented in English and
Spanish.
Adult Programming
In addition to festival performances and art-making activities,
conversations in various galleries will give adults an opportunity to
explore the Museum’s collection through discussion.
Exhibitions and Installations
Exhibitions on view at The Met Fifth Avenue during the festival include Jerusalem
1000–1400: Every People Under Heaven (through January 8, 2017), Valentin
de Boulogne: Beyond Caravaggio (through January 16, 2017), and Max
Beckmann in New York (through February 20, 2017).
At The Met Breuer, the exhibitions diane
arbus: in the beginning (through November 27) and Kerry
James Marshall: Mastry (through January 29, 2017) will be on view.
A Stunning Season, a blog post by Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of
The Met, describes the Museum’s current season of exhibitions. It is available on The Met
website.
General Event Information
World Culture Festival: Epic Stories program
information and directions to events will be available at the
information desks in the Great Hall (at the main entrance at Fifth
Avenue and 82nd
Street) and the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education (at the
ground-floor entrance at Fifth Avenue and 81st Street). Large-print
schedules and assistive listening devices will also be available at the
information desks. The festival is free with Museum
admission.
World Culture Festival: Epic Stories is organized by The Met’s Department of Education.
The cafeteria on the Museum’s ground floor will celebrate World Culture Festival: Epic Stories by offering a special menu.
A full list of the programs offered as part of World Culture Festival: Epic Stories, along with further details and a schedule of events, is available on the Museum’s website at
www.metmuseum.org/culturefest.
The event will also be featured on the Museum’s Facebook, Instagram,
and Twitter accounts
using the hashtag #MetFest.