The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2014 43 ian worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development, State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and other partners to preserve the country’s rich cultural heritage, an important component of national identity and stability. • With funding from ECA’s Cultural Heritage Center and the Department for Homeland Security, the Smithsonian hosts training for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to prevent illicit trafficking of cultural heritage items—expertise that has led to the return of antiquities to China, Egypt, Italy and other countries. • The National Museum of American History’s Lemelson Cen- ter for Invention and Innovation worked with the U.S. embassy in Ukraine to install the first overseas Spark!Lab at Kyiv’s Art Arsenal Gallery. There, Ukrainian children learned about cre- ative problem-solving by inventing such contraptions as gliders, gyroscopes and hydroponic gardens. • The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra performs around the world, and the Jazz Appreciation Month program’s wealth of resources gives diplomatic missions celebrating Inter- national Jazz Day access to the Smithsonian’s trove of record- ings, websites and activities. • In a project with historical antecedents, Smithsonian staff members are helping the Bureau of International Information Programs reimagine and redesign model American Spaces, where foreign visitors can connect and learn about the United States. Drawing on the Smithsonian’s exhibit expertise and content riches, this collaboration echoes the institution’s earlier contributions to cultural diplomacy, introducing American life and institutions to foreign audiences. International Exhibitions The Smithsonian Institution has long been central to U.S. participation in international expos and world fairs, starting with its leading role in the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. According to Martin Manning, curator of the Public Diplomacy Historical Collection, the Department of State and U.S. Infor- mation Agency worked with the Smithsonian on international exhibitions dating back to the 1940s, organizing art exhibitions abroad and supporting American participation in international art shows: • In 1952, with partial funding from the State Department, The sheer number of shared interests between State and the Smithsonianmake the detail assignment I held an important investment for both sides. Ukrainian children learn by inventing at Spark!Lab, an installation from the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for Invention and Innovation. The September 2012 project, in cooperation with Kyiv’s Mysteskyi Arsenal Gallery, was supported by funding from the U.S. embassy. Courtesy of the Smithsonian