Press

The New York Times

For children under 12, Andy Warhol may never have been famous – not even for 15 minutes. But young visitors to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan are likely to form a more lasting impression of him now, thanks to “The Art of Andy Warhol,” a new exhibition that allows them not only to explore Warhol’s work but also to imitate it.

“We’re interested in using technology in conjunction with creativity,” said Andrew S. Ackerman, the museum’s executive director, noting that this was also Warhol’s passion. He added, “The mixing of media and the combinations in Warhol’s art – kids just get it.”

The exhibition, organized by the Andy Warhol Museum and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, proves that Warhol meant them to. It partly recreates “Paintings for Children,” a 1983 Zurich show whose silkscreened images include mechanical toys like a parrot, a drumming panda and a “moon explorer robot.” A case displays Warhol’s inspirations: vintage toys from his collection. Children will also smile at the silkscreen portraits of pets, like a magenta cocker spaniel, both adorable and avant-garde.

Another wall features examples of Warhol’s 1981 “Myth” silkscreen series, in which he portrayed cultural symbols like Superman, Mickey Mouse and the Wicked Witch of the West. This is also a section where children can “become” the art. The museum provides costumes for them to dress up as a “Myth” subject, and an area, sponsored by Fujifilm, where they can make souvenir photographs and see digital images of themselves repeated several times, à la Warhol, on a video screen. Before leaving, they can each create a cut-paper design and take it to a museum staff member, who will immediately turn it into a silkscreen print.

The museum has also added a case of Warhol books for browsing visitors, including “Uncle Andy’s,” by James Warhola, Warhol’s nephew. (Warhol dropped the final “a” from his name.) It recalls the fun of childhood visits to Uncle Andy and hide-and-seek with his 25 cats, all named Sam. You walk away with an impression of Warhol as an irresistible figure, a kind of real-life Willy Wonka. And he even had his own factory.

“The Art of Andy Warhol,” through May 28 at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, Tisch Building, 212 West 83rd Street, (212) 721-1223. Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: $8; 65+, $5.

Soaring Hopes From Afar

Among incendiary, subversive and revolutionary activities, kite flying doesn’t usually rank high. What could be more innocuous than this playful pastime? Yet kite flying was banned in Afghanistan under the Taliban, who considered it frivolous. Now it is back, and its return – and all that that joyful revival represents – will be celebrated tomorrow in an unexpected place: the Long Island Children’s Museum.

“A Kite’s Tale” represents an unusual collaboration between the Bond Street Theater of New York and the Exile Theater of Kabul. It is the first children’s project they have done together, and this will be its American premiere. Previously, the troupes had presented versions of the show in Afghan schools, where they discovered that clowning was a universal form of communication.

“We’ve kind of specialized in using masks, pantomime and choreography,” said Michael McGuigan, a member of Bond Street. “We haven’t needed to rely on language.” And Afghan children are amused by the same pratfalls as Americans, he added. “They like clowns falling down, chases, water spitting, that type of thing.” The play does have a little dialogue, in English and Dari, one of Afghanistan’s two main languages. (The Dari will be translated.)

The members of Bond Street and Exile first encountered one another in Pakistan, where both groups were offering cultural programs for Afghan refugee children. Their collaboration concerns two kites, Mahmoud and Salim, who notice a man trying to plant a new garden. The kites decide to give a party to celebrate, but humorous complications ensue.

“Kite flying is very big there,” Mr. McGuigan said of Afghanistan, noting that as soon as the Taliban were gone, kites reappeared. He sees their presence as a sign of renewal, much like the garden. “There was all this color,” he said. “It was not only a symbol of the plenty of the earth, but it was like seeding the sky as well.”

“A Kite’s Tale,” tomorrow at 1 and 3 p.m. at the Long Island Children’s Museum, 11 Davis Avenue, Garden City, N.Y., (516) 224-5800. Tickets: $5 (show only); $3 with museum admission ($8 and 65+, $7); members, $2.

Let There Be Light

A runner couldn’t speed through a tunnel if he kept colliding with the walls. The same can be said of light – if it’s directed through a tube, it loses its intensity through refraction, or bending. The beauty of fiber-optic cables, said Corinne Doron, program manager of the Sony Wonder Technology Lab, “is that they can bring light energy from one point to another without losing any of it.”

On Sunday, young scientists 8 and older are invited to explore this principle in Fiber Optic Forms, the lab’s latest Sci-Tech Workshop. Ms. Doron plans to show how different surfaces affect light, and she will demonstrate how specialists ranging from mechanics to doctors use fiber optics.

As for the workshop participants, “they’ll be able to touch fiber optics, cut them, play with them and make a picture using them,” Ms. Doron said. That last project will involve a black surface impregnated with light-emitting diodes. (With fiber optics, as with any trailblazing scientific technology, art isn’t far behind.)

Fiber Optic Forms, Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. (two sessions) at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab, 550 Madison Avenue Annex, at 56th Street, (212) 833-4875. Fee: $5. Free tickets for lab admission: available at noon, first come first served.

By LAUREL GRAEBER