Photograph the FUTURES Exhibit at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building!

Washington Photo Safari is pleased to announce we are taking advance reservations for the exciting November 2021 reopening of Smithsonian’s classic Art and Industries Building on the National Mall, which will feature a special exhibit entitled “FUTURES!

The Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building opened in October 1881 as the National Museum and established itself a first-of-its-kind palace of wonders, wowing global audiences for nearly a century and a half. It’s where Thomas Edison first showcased his lightbulb, people first gazed upon the telephone and saw the first cast of a blue whale.

And now, after being closed for nearly two decades, the Smithsonian is reopening the building this fall with a forward-facing exhibit, and WPS Director E. David Luria we will be there to help you get the most unique photographs of the exhibits, giving you the techniques of handheld indoor museum photography without tripods.

Called “FUTURES,” the 32,000-square-foot exhibit will offer guests the chance to see themselves as an emoji, meditate with an AI robot, and watch water being harvested from thin air. Or, visitors can try on a spacesuit that fits like a second skin, play a video game with their eyes, or (how appropriate?) meet a COVID-friendly support robot that helps you handle loneliness. The exhibit even explores futures of the past — that is, early robot models, art from groundbreaking artists throughout history, and a prototype for an Alexander Graham Bell telephone.

Architect David Rockwell’s award-winning firm designed the four exhibit halls, while a team of scientists, historians, and art experts curated the 150 items on display. The point, it seems, is to make a case for focusing on emerging trends, human connection, and pushing the boundaries of imagination. (Think flying cars, new ways of structuring cities, and befriending intelligent technology.)

Here is a description of what awaits us in this newly reopened building: