The Wende Museum

05/22/2026

Next Friday, May 29, is the return of Digitization Day! Bring your photographs, letters, slides, scrapbooks, and family ephemera to the museum, and digitize them for free between 12:30 and 3:30 p.m.

Reserve a timeslot in advance, or simply walk in! Staff will be on hand to guide you through the scanners and our oversized camera. Just remember to bring a portable USB-A or USB-C storage device, such as a thumb drive or external hard drive, to take your scans home!

Please give yourself extra time to find parking, as our parking lot will be closed this day.

05/22/2026

Family Day is tomorrow, Saturday, May 23, from 2 to 4 p.m. at The Wende Museum.
Join us for a hands-on workshop with Ellerali and Second Life Studio, where you will turn donated T-shirts into reusable tote bags. No sewing required. Clothing is generously donated by The Salvation Army Southern California.

This beginner-friendly activity is a creative way to learn about sustainability, reduce textile waste, and make something practical to take home. No experience needed. Adult supervision is required for children age 10 and younger. Participants may arrive anytime during the workshop period.

05/16/2026

The Wende Museum gets visitors from all over, but few arrive quite like this! These friends from the former East Germany shipped two vintage East German Trabants to Chicago, drove the length of Route 66, and pulled up at our door. Thanks for visiting!

05/15/2026

Tomorrow at the Wende: harp, viola, poetry, and electronics collide in Sonic Intersections, a live performance by Zora Nelson and Amira Zia Jafri. Part of our experimental music series FRAMEWORKS, this interdisciplinary collaboration draws inspiration from Accra, Ghana as a historic crossroads of cultural exchange and political imagination.

Doors open at 1:45 p.m. Performance begins at 2 p.m., followed by a garden reception. First come, first served. Free as always!

RSVP at wendemuseum.org/frameworks

05/14/2026

Tomorrow, our friends at The Philosophical Research Society are screening the Cuban/Soviet masterpiece I Am Cuba, a powerful and influential film. Learn more and buy tickets here:

The electrifying Cuban/Soviet masterpiece—a monumental socio-political work and one of cinema's most visually revolutionary films

05/14/2026

250,000+ objects have been waiting for a permanent home. The wait is almost over!

Los Angeles Times broke the news this week: the Wende is expanding to Hawthorne with a $16-million living archive. A place where historic objects are stored, studied, and shared. Where scholars, artists, and the curious public share the same room.

The Wende Institute for Archival Research, opening Spring 2028.

05/13/2026

Just announced: Cinema Under Pressure continues... and this one WILL sell out!!

Our screening series turns to one of the most contested films ever made: The Battle of Algiers (1966) was banned in France for five years, and has been studied by revolutionary movements and military strategists alike. The questions it raises about occupation, resistance, and state violence remain as relevant today as they were in 1966.

Screening + conversation. Monday, June 15 at 6 p.m. Free as always! RSVP at wendemuseum.org/algiers

05/09/2026

Victory Day: May 8 or May 9? It depends on where you were! Germany surrendered at 11:01 p.m. Central European Time, May 8, 1945. In Moscow, it was already past midnight. The Soviet Union therefore marked the end of the war in Europe on May 9, and has ever since.

This 1968 poster marks the occasion with striking force. A Soviet soldier gazes up at the Kremlin rising through fireworks. The black void behind him is the war he survived. The red sky ahead is the world he helped build.

📷: V. S. Rybakov and V. Votrin, 9 May 1945, Soviet Union, 1968

05/06/2026

We're having a party! KCRW Summer Nights returns to the Wende on Friday, August 14 from 6–10 p.m. for a free evening of Good Food-curated Night Market bites, live DJs Anne Litt and Nassir Nassirzadeh, and the museum open late, just for you. RSVP at kcrw.com/summernights