Smithsonian Latino Center Presents an Evening of Bilingual Poetry and Music

The Smithsonian Latino Center continues to document Latino presence in Washington, D.C., with “Celebrando las Raíces, Creando Comunidad: Una Noche de Música y Poesía Bilingüe” (Celebrating Roots, Creating Community: An Evening of Bilingual Music and Poetry) Nov. 30 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the National Museum of the American Indian’s Rasmuson Theater. Admission is free.

The program features some of Washington’s finest bilingual poets sharing their stories and experiences of being Latino in the United States. Poets include Alberto Avendaño, Quique Avilés, Naomi Ayala, José Ballesteros, Consuelo Hernández, Samuel Miranda, Egla Morales and Carlos Parada. Luis Alberto Ambroggio, award-winning poet and co-editor of Al Pie de la Casa Blanca/At the Foot of the White House, a bilingual anthology of the work of Washington-based poets, moderates the evening, which also includes music by Patricio Zamorano and his band.

“The experience of immigration—of reinventing home—has nourished the work of these artists,” said Ranald Woodaman, Latino Center director of Exhibitions and Public Programs. “Their poetry offers intimate and powerful perspectives on the creation of community in our nation’s capital.”

This presentation is part of the Latino Center’s ongoing Latino DC History Project that documents and shares unheard stories of Latinos in the institutions, culture and economy of the nation’s capital. This project offers opportunities for understanding the connections between local and global history and responds to the need to develop stronger Latino curriculum for schools.

The Smithsonian Latino Center ensures Latino contributions to arts, sciences and the humanities are highlighted, understood and advanced through the development and support of public programs, scholarly research, museum collections and educational opportunities at the Smithsonian Institution and its affiliated organizations across the United States. For more information, visit www.latino.si.edu.

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SI-506A-2011