19

SUNDAY

This evening’s “A Bash Fit for a King” pays tribute to the quixotic genius who was Jean-Michel Basquiat. The Metro Cafe may not be the Factory, Andy Warhol’s infamous studio/laboratory/party loft, but event organizers Madame Zenobia and D.C.-Artbeat hope to create a happening that would make the departed art-scene darling proud. It starts with a showing of the film Basquiat, followed by an informal discussion session called “A Rap on Jean.” Then a multimedia party kicks off, with DJs spinning hiphop and jungle, poetic tributes, live performance painting, slide shows, and video screenings. Basquiat lived for only 27 years, but in his brief career he blurred, rewrote, and crossed out the boundaries between downtown and uptown, high and low art, and the timely and the timeless. Spend a few hours remembering him beginning at 5 p.m. at the Metro Cafe, 1522 14th St. NW. $5. (202) 588-9118. (Holly Bass)