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World Culture Festival

The Met presents ‘Epic Stories’ as theme of its World Culture Festival

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
A performance by the East-West School of Dance in celebration of Diwali, the annual Indian Festival of Lights. Photograph by Don Pollard © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
A performance by the East-West School of Dance in celebration of Diwali, the annual Indian Festival of Lights. Photograph by Don Pollard © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

NEW YORK – The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present its first ever World Culture Festival on Saturday, Nov. 5, from noon to 5 p.m. with the theme of Epic Stories. Through performances, art-making activities and storytelling, participants of all ages will discover larger-than-life characters and tales from cultures around the world.

The festival is free with museum admission. Unless otherwise noted, experiences are best for those age 3 and up; special gallery conversations are geared toward 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.