What to Know
- First Fridays at the Natural History Museum
- The lively series spotlights "Giant Monsters/Giant Robot” on Friday, May 5 starting at 5 o'clock
- $20 non-members; free for museum members; reserve your ticket through the NHMLA site
The Natural History Museum delves into all sorts of extreme and extremely fascinating realms, but one of the most striking elements of the elements found within the Exposition Park institution is how small, and conversely how big, some of its treasures really are.
Look to the museum's mineral collections, where several gems are best observed by microscope, then turn your gaze to the Dinosaur Hall, where great beasts, or at least their behemoth-sized bones, hold colossal court.
You could say, then, that it is rather perfect that the museum will host both its famous Bug Fair later in May — a time of tiny creatures — as well as a night devoted to mega monsters early in the month.
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And we do mean "mega": The "Giant Monsters/Giant Robot" celebration, which is part of the museum's popular First Fridays series, will pay awesome homage to some of the most sizable fictional icons around.
The theme for all of the 2023 First Fridays is "Fandoms & Fantasy," and the May 5 event will ponder "The Natural World vs. Fantasy Worlds" through engaging talks and other events.
"Giant Monsters/Giant Robots: The Rise of Asian Pop-Culture and the Legacy of 'Giant Robot Magazine'" is the sure-to-be-sensational centerpiece discussion.
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Oscar-nominated filmmaker Renee Tajima-Peña will moderate the chat, which will feature "the founders of 'Giant Robot Magazine,' Eric Nakamura and Martin Wong, artist James Jean, and filmmaker Dylan Robertson," too.
A documentary about "Giant Robot" will be screened during the event, which will also include DJ tunes and live performances. Oh yes: And cool Kaiju costuming, courtesy of artist Krystopher Baioa, a Godzilla cosplayer.
In fact, cosplayers are welcome, and dressed-up guests may enjoy "(e)xtra points for representing this month's theme" at the Cosplay Contest, a sartorial showdown set to delight onlookers and participants at 7:45 on the Nature Gardens Main Stage.
There's lots more afoot — a very large foot, since we're talking about Godzilla and all sorts of mondo mechanical characters — during the fantasical festivity, which is $20 for non-members and free for museum members.
