Washington, D.C
Refik Anadol's AI tribute to Czech composer Antonín Dvořák takes the stage in Washington, DC
Installed in Prague last September, Refik Anadol’s “data painting” paying homage to Antonín Dvořák in his birthplace was installed near a sculpture of the Czech composer at the Rudolfinum music hall. In Washington, DC, where Dvořák Dreams (2023) is on view at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (until 24 September), it appears near sculptures of former president John F. Kennedy and, less than half a mile away, Avard Fairbanks’s busts of George Washington on the campus bearing his name.
The work’s installation in the District makes sense, according to Elle Anastasiou, who commissioned Dvořák Dreams and directs the new media art organisation 0xCollection, which is backed by the billionaire Czech lottery and gambling businessman and philanthropist Karel Komárek.
“Dvořák was the first renowned composer to involve African American spirituals and African American culture into a western musical canon, and was an incredible supporter of the African American community and culture,” Anastasiou, who is based in Basel and London, tells The Art Newspaper. “Particularly in Washington, at this time of year, [the work] conveys a message that we would like to share—that art, and music, and both of those things put together, even if you don’t fully understand it and it’s not your native context, it is a place of community and it is a language which is fundamental to driving humanity forward.”
Audiences experience Dvořák Dreams by Refik Anadol, presented by 0xCollection and the Kennedy Center at the Reach Plaza Photo: elman studio. Courtesy of 0xCollection and The Kennedy Center
The installation reflects “a very American legacy that reflects values that, upon coming to America, are espoused about this country being founded on immigrants and on the excellence of people from all walks of life and on opportunity and that being the basis of American exceptionalism”, Anastasiou says, “whether or not one can claim those are factually true in today’s day and age”.
The installation is a curated, pre-recorded projection of imagery and sound that plays in a 60-minute loop on a 32ft square screen on the side of a cube in a courtyard beside the Washington performance centre. Depending on the day, the piece runs either from noon or 4pm until midnight. In coordination with music, dizzying waves of colour dissolve and come back together, as if seen from above in a box. At various points, representational imagery—whether a cityscape, the Statue of Liberty or Dvořák composing—fade in and out of view, at times as if seen through a rain-covered or cloudy window.
The public display has drawn picnickers in lawn chairs who have come to see Dvořák Dreams in its US premiere, which began last week. The California-based artist tells The Art Newspaper that one way that he measures the work’s impact is that he has already received three emails from students asking if he would discuss their artificial intelligence (AI) and art theses with them.
Refik Anadol with his work Dvořák Dreams, presented by 0xCollection and the Kennedy Center at the Reach Plaza Photo: elman studio. Courtesy of 0xCollection and The Kennedy Center
“In his hometown, when we unveiled the project for the first time, it was very emotional,” Anadol says of the work’s debut in Prague, where he says Dvořák is a hero. “What I felt in the Kennedy Center—now it became a form of art. Now it became like his other works that travel around the world.”
Anadol and his studio of neuroscientists and AI coders have taken pains to focus the sound to create an “immersive experience” at the Kennedy Center, but the artist says he appreciates the background noise, as airplanes fly to and from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport over the adjacent Potomac River, and the nation’s capital bustles.
“It was loud enough that it was the prime experience. Not the planes. Not the public. But there’s also beauty in hearing the city,” he says. “Cities are probably the most important living organisms that we have that connect society and the culture.”
Audiences experience Dvořák Dreams by Refik Anadol, presented by 0xCollection and the Kennedy Center at the Reach Plaza Photo: elman studio. Courtesy of 0xCollection and The Kennedy Center
Dvořák Dreams is split into four parts representing the musician’s youth in the Austrian empire, his move to New York where he directed the National Conservatory of Music, his return to Europe and his love for composing. Its presentation in the US capital is fitting because “when he came to the United States, his breakthrough happened”, Anadol says.
The artist’s AI “fed” on around 200 works by Dvořák and pored over his notes and art to compose a new piece in the musician’s style. Anadol has done the same for other luminaries, including a projection on Antoni Gaudí’s Casa Batlló in Barcelona, which drew around 65,000 people in May 2023, a work about the poet Rumi in Istanbul in June 2022 and works on Zaha Hadid and Mozart.
“For me it’s an ongoing series,” he said. “What I am advising is we will need independent AIs for each genius or for topics. It is a way of respecting data and respecting the person who left a legacy behind for humanity.”
- Refik Anadol: Dvořák Dreams, until 24 September, Reach Plaza, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC
4 things to know about the weather:
- Abundant sunshine
- Temps slightly cooler than average
- No rain in sight — again
- Mid-week warmup
May is drawing to a dry, comfortable close, in stunning contrast to the very soggy Memorial Day weather we saw last weekend.
That 10-day stretch of rain put a definite dent in our drought, according to the weekly national drought monitor, but it seems that was the end of the improvement for a while: There’s almost no clouds in sight for the DMV for several days.
Enjoy the many hours of sunshine on Saturday. The high pressure coming in from the Hudson Bay brings a stiff north wind, but the day will also be sunny and comfortable, with highs in the mid 70s.
Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.
The wind will die down after dark, and Sunday morning will be bordering on chilly. Expect widespread mid/upper 40s in most of the D.C. area, with urban centers and bayside communities staying just above 50°. Sunday afternoon will be just a bit warmer, in the mid 70s, but with far less of a breeze.
Highs will be back around 80° for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with overnight lows in the comfy 50s. It’ll be a perfect start to meteorological summer (June/July/August).
QuickCast
TODAY:
Sunshine Abounds, Breezy
Wind: North 10-15mph, Gust to 25 mph
Chance of Rain: 0%
HIGHS: 70° to 75°
TONIGHT:
Clear Skies
Winds Diminish
Wind: Northwest 10-15 mph
Chance Of Rain: 0%
LOWS: 46° to 54°
SUNDAY:
Mostly Sunny Skies
Pleasant Conditions
Light Breeze
Wind: NW 5 – 10 mph
Chance of Rain: 0%
HIGHS: 70° to 76°
MONDAY:
Partly Cloudy
Seasonable
Light Breeze
Wind: West/Northwest 10 mph
Chance of Rain: 0%
HIGHS: 76° to 82°
Sunrise: 5:45 Sunset: 8:26
Average High: 80° Average Low: 63°
Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.
WASHINGTON – A man is in critical condition after falling into the Anacostia River in Southwestern Washington, D.C., Friday night.
What we know:
D.C. Fire and EMS reported the rescue effort shortly after 10 p.m. at James Creek Marina in Buzzard Point.
Crews believe a man fell from the dock into the water.
By 10:30 p.m., crews were able to pull the man out of the water.
Paramedics took him to the hospital in critical condition.
What we don’t know:
Officials did not identify the man who was rescued. No other information was immediately available.
The Source: Information in this story is from the D.C. Fire and EMS Department.
Washington, D.C
DC’s baseball team faces potential DOJ probe after exec allegedly admitted to religious discrimination
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FIRST ON FOX — Washington, D.C.’s professional baseball franchise could come under Justice Department scrutiny after a viral video showed a team executive appearing to admit to his religious discrimination against a Christian player.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., is urging Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon to investigate alleged religious discrimination against players for the Washington Nationals, according to a letter sent Thursday to and first obtained by Fox News Digital.
The letter comes after Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe published a secretly recorded video of Washington Nationals Director of Community Relations Sean Hudson saying the team does not include pitcher Trevor Williams in certain social media promotion.
He cited the player’s public criticism of another Major League Baseball franchise for hosting a drag group mocking Catholics.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., is urging the Department of Justice to investigate alleged religious discrimination within the Washington Nationals organization and across Major League Baseball. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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“According to the reporting by James O’Keefe, it appears the Washington Nationals are engaged in unlawful religious discrimination,” Boebert told Fox News Digital in a written statement. “I urge the DOJ to take immediate and decisive action.”
A spokesperson for the Justice Department said they received Boebert’s letter.
“The Department is reviewing the matter and will evaluate all appropriate next steps. As always, we remain committed to enforcing federal law and protecting civil rights,” they told Fox News Digital.
A spokesperson for the Washington Nationals did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hudson, in the clandestine recording, pointed to Williams’ public objections to the Los Angeles Dodgers honoring the Sisterhood of Perpetual Indulgence — a drag group that dresses as nuns — during the team’s 2023 “Pride Night.
The event also drew condemnation from multiple Catholic bishops, who described it as “blasphemous.”
Trevor Williams of the Washington Nationals sits in the dugout before a game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Wash., on May 28, 2025. (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
Williams said he found the group’s anti-Catholic demonstration featuring vulgar caricatures of the crucifixion and sacred rituals to be “deeply offensive,” in an interview with Bishop Robert Barron last year. The professional baseball player said he made the decision with his wife to speak out even though it would put “a target on our back.”
“Baseball stadiums should be a place where everyone feels welcomed, like 100%,” Williams said in the interview. “We should all feel welcomed there. But that was clearly against one certain religion. If you don’t draw the line in the sand, who’s gonna do it?”
According to Hudson, that public criticism of the drag group’s performance later affected Williams’ opportunities at the Nationals franchise.
“Because of that we don’t use him on social [media],” Hudson told an undercover journalist in the video. “When they’re like ‘is a hot dog a sandwich’ and the players come up, we don’t ask him.”
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Boebert said she is concerned that Hudson’s admission could mean the franchise violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on religion and other protected classes.
“Americans of faith should not face professional repercussions for objecting to the mockery of their sacred traditions,” the Colorado Republican said in the letter. “MLB’s privileged legal position should not become a license for exclusionary practices.”
“Sister Unity” and “Sister Dominia” of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were honored on Pride Night before the MLB game between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on June 16, 2023. (Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)
Hudson, in the video, described himself as “far-left leaning” and nonreligious. Meanwhile, he called Williams “super Catholic.”
The Washington Nationals executive also boasted about a Communist Party poster in his office and mused about pushing redistribution of wealth and other leftist agendas during baseball games at Nationals Park in Southeast Washington, D.C.
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“What a cool opportunity for us [Nationals] to also, be a little bit of like, the voice of reason,” Hudson said. “And a lot of people will tell you when I come to a baseball game, I don’t want to think about that s–t.”
“If you’re a sports fan and we piss you off, where else are you gonna go,” he went on. “I don’t give a sh–t.”
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