Exhibition Spotlight: "I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli

Learning through food histories is a fascinating & compelling way to explore the past and learn about peoples, regions, and cultures. For instance, a few years ago I wrote a 60 minute food histories of DC program for a client and through this strictly food-based research, I learned so much more about the District of Columbia itself. A new exhibition at the Capital Jewish Museum titled "I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli encapsulates all of that same sentiment and more.

From exploring the effects of 20th century immigration, to defining the actual foods served in delis, to surprisingly relevant modern day pop culture movie references, this exhibition is more than just a food history. It showcases how American Jews, through delis, created new American food traditions, ensured continuity of important established traditions, and practiced a time-tested, cross cultural social exercise — sitting down together to have a meal.

Of course, since this is the Capital Jewish Museum —as in Washington, DC— there is a solid emphasis on the DC area history in deli culture from present day and years past. That includes the suburbs of Washington, too. Not to mention the existing interactive computer display of delis and other Jewish owned business, schools, places of worship, and significant sites in the ongoing exhibition (Connect. Reflect. Act.).

I loved the mix of laying groundwork through immigration histories while showing present day ephemera that makes every individual deli that particular deli — uniforms, menus, equipment, signage, and advertisements. We have all seen these places in everyday city life, but the context and meaning make seeing the exhibition more of a journey. And of course, if you explore it all from beginning to end, you'll get to watch the namesake, payoff “I’ll have what she’s having” film scene in the final gallery. Admittedly a somewhat hilarious sounding clip if you haven't seen the movie and you hear it while making your way through the adjacent room in the exhibition.

“I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli” is on view through August 20, 2024. As a special exhibition, it does require an entrance ticket of $15. The rest of the museum is free with timed ticket. Walk-ins are excepted as space permits. 575 3rd St NW.

Exhibition Spotlight: Brilliant Exiles

Josephine Baker est aux Folies-Bergère. Lithograph, 1936. ByMichel Gyarmathy (1908-1996).

Happy belated birthday Josephine Baker! The singer, dancer, and actor who captivated Paris in the 1920s was born 118 years ago this week, on June 3, 1906.

Baker was but one of many innovative and creative American women who moved to Paris in the early 20th century seeking personal autonomy along with professional agency and success.

Some of these “brilliant exiles” are profiled in the new National Portrait Gallery exhibition by the same name, “Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900-1939.” The exhibition is open through February 23, 2025.

Loïs Mailou Jones 1905-1998. Charcoal and chalk on textured paper, c. 1940. By Céline Tabary (1908-1993) .

Gertrude Stein 1874-1946. Oil on canvas, 1905-6. By Pablo Picasso (1881-1973).

The show is made up of nearly 80 works of art, mostly in the form of portraits. The portraits are of, and sometimes also by these Americans who shifted and elevated the Paris culture through literature, visual, arts, dance, drama, and philosophy.

Portraiture has a way of annunciating identity in a more evocative way than even the written word can. This exhibition does that in a simple way, letting the paintings speak for themselves.

Baker, like the other American women featured in the exhibition, did not leave the U.S. and land in Paris by accident or coincidence. Crushing legal and social limitations in the U.S. left little room for freedom expression for independent and talented women. Restrictions were based not on just gender, but sexuality, race, economic stratifications, and politics. Paris was not a panacea for all U.S. societal ills, but the artistic climate offered more independence, agency, and freedom to an extent that, for these women, the U.S. could not compare.

Mercedes de Acosta 1893-1968. Oil on canvas, 1923. By Abram Poole (1882-1961).

Baker herself moved to Paris in 1925. She did return to the U.S. for short stints in theatrical productions, and more extensively to lend her aid to the cresting civil rights movements in the 1960s. But by then she was a Parisian through and through, having gained French citizenship way back in 1937. Baker died in Paris, passing away in her sleep on April 12, 1975, just days after performing in a show marking her 50th year of her Paris debut.

This exhibitions is about more than Baker herself. The portraits that make up the show give a luminescent view into the personality, and dare I say, aura, of the people captured. This is high recommend to visit before the show closes in February of 2025!

This and all Exhibition Spotlights are brought to you by our wonderful Patrons. Patrons get monthly insight into new and upcoming museum exhibitions, DC history posts, photographs not shown anywhere else, and more. If you like this post, there’s way more at Patreon.com/AttucksAdams! Memberships start at just $3/month.

In Exaltation of Flowers: Rose- Geranium; Petunia-Caladium-Budleya; and Golden-Banded Lily-Violets. Katharine Nash Rhoades 1885-1965. Marion H. Beckett 1886-1949. Mercedes de Cordoba Carles 1879-1963. Tempera and gold leaf on canvas, 1910-13. By Edward Steichen(1879-1973).

Exhibition Spotlight: Afrofuturism

Surprisingly, one of the more intriguing parts of my recent visit to the Afrofuturism exhibition was the exhibition booklet. Typically, the exhibitors booklet --if there even is one-- is a mostly ephemeral folded pamphlet with obligatory, but duplicate information. I will usually pick one up whenever I first enter a new exhibition, but if it looks like I won't get anything out to it, I put it back in the rack for the next person.

Not so with Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures. Just as the NMAAHC has done with their exhibition websites, they have created a booklet that compliments and extends your experience beyond exhibition. It is deemed a "Cosmic Companion" and that rings true. 

The booklet helps you plan your walk through the exhibitors with "Discover Treks," offers prompts and questions to enhance your visit beyond the objects, and even offers tips on how to interact with the museum itself; from defining the word "object" wo helping you manage the time you have to see it all. I really loved the booklet and have been flipping through it the past few days admiring the work that went into it. 

As for the exhibition itself, it is a vast, but also focused on the evolving concept of Afrofuturism. Yes, it does concern the future, but also the past. It posits past and present struggles for freedom as afrofuturist in nature; reimagining a future of freedom and autonomy. 

The exhibition delves into multiple disciplines such as music, movies, television shows, literature, comics, commentary, and poetry. 

The objects and displays are broken up into three "Zones" -- 1) The History of Black Futures 2) New Black Futures 3) Infinite Possibilites. In between the Zones are "Portals," a tiny transitional story to the next section. There is even a looping replay of Gil Scott-Heron's "Whitey on the Moon" looping in one of the portals. Love it.

It's a vast exhibition that explores multiple aspects of what "future" has meant, and could mean as concept. This is a great follow up to the Smithsonian's FUTURES exhibition last summer at the Arts & Industries Building. 

Afrofuturism will be open for exactly one year: March 24, 2023 - March 24, 2024. It's located on Concourse Level C1, the first thing you see on the left after talking the escalator from the ground level down to the lower level exhibitions. 

Reserve tickets to the Museum here (link).

Exhibition Spotlight: Block by Block

I *loved* with this tiny exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery on the origin of DC street names. The material only touches on a few streets, but I appreciated the bits of history covered.

At just about 1,000 square feet, it won't take long to see the entirety of the exhibition, but for DC area residents, it is pretty neat learning about the people behind the names of streets we live, work, and play on. For example, the exhibition includes Gales Street NE, a narrow, ginkgo tree lined side street not far from my home neighborhood of Carver Langston. For the first time I learned about its namesake, Joseph Gales, Jr. Gales was a journalist & one time mayor of DC in mid 1800s.

Other historical figures featured are Benjamin Banneker (Banneker Circle SW), Otis Howard (Howard Pl NW), and Clara Barton (Clara Barton Parkway). Block by Block: Naming Washington is located on the second floor on the F Street side of the building. Open though January 2023.

OutaTime: Cars on the Mall

1980s movies fans have a reason to head to the National Mall in the next few days. A company that specializes in insuring collectible cars is showcasing four cars from the National Historic Vehicle Register. 

The first car to be displayed is the 1981 De Lorean DC-12, more popularly known as just Delorean. The car was a commercial and economic failure, but lives on in popular culture due to its starring role in 1985's Back to the Future and its two sequel films. 

If you'd like to see the Delorean specifically, you have until September 9 (Thursday). The display will move on to three other cars in the coming weeks: the 1970 Dodge "Qualls" Challenger, a 1921 Straight Eight "Castle Duesenberg," and the 1979 Lamborghini Countach from Cannonball Run.

I'm not a huge car person, but I am a huge 80s person, so seeing this weird and unexpected display on the Mall was a fun surprise. The display is located on the National Mall between 4th and 7th Streets NW (and b/t the National Gallery of Art and National Air and Space Museum. 

More photos on Patreon.