Smithsonian seeks images of Asian Pacific way of life

Take a photo or video of "A Day in the Life of Asian Pacific America" on Saturday and your effort could wind up in the Smithsonian.

The national museum group is planning an exhibit documenting "the transnational scope of Asian Pacific America" and is seeking contributions that may be selected for an online photo/video exhibition by the institution’s Asian Pacific American Center for display from late May to December.

Professional or weekend photo buffs can participate as long as photos and videos are taken Saturday, which coincides with the 145th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.

According to the Smithsonian, although Chinese workers built the entire western half of the railroad, "they were not included in the historic photographs marking this monumental achievement."

Participants do not have to be in the United States, and the content "can fit your own interpretation of Asian Pacific American," according to curators.

Upload up to five photos and/or a three-minute video to your personal Flickr or Instagram account and tag them with location, time of shoot and a description. Don’t forget to add the hashtag #LifeAPA.

Curators will search for photos taken Saturday that use the hashtag and consider them as submissions for the project.

Visit www.smithsonianapa.org/life2014 for information, to learn how to take and upload photos and video, and see sample work.

Arboretum sale will offer variety of items for garden

Celebrate National Public Gardens Day at Lyon Arboretum’s Spring Plant Sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The 193.5-acre rain-forest botanical garden, administered by the University of Hawaii at Manoa, is at 3860 Manoa Road.

Various nurseries will sell colorful ti varieties, Hawaiian plants, new anthurium varieties, heliconias, gingers, cactuses, succulents, tillandsias and other bromeliads, herbs, vegetable plants and many other plants for homes and gardens.

Arboretum volunteers from Hui Hana Hawaii will sell head lei suited to Mother’s Day, and jams, jellies and Hawaiian honey will be available for purchase.

Arboretum staff and volunteers will provide free garden tours, displays and keiki activities. A free shuttle service to the arboretum has pickup and drop-off points at the intersections of Poelua Street and Manoa Road, and Nipo Street and Manoa Road.

Call 988-0456 or visit www.hawaii.edu/lyonarboretum.

Okinawan folk dance showcased at festival

The local Okinawan community will hold the fourth annual Eisa Drum Festival on May 17 at Kapiolani Community College.

Eisa, a folk dance unique to Okinawan culture, typically involves youths playing three kinds of taiko drums, accompanied by music on the sanshin, a plucked lute. The Buddhist-inspired dances are aimed at giving repose to the deceased, and in Okinawa and Hawaii, Eisa is often performed at Obon ceremonies.

Groups from Hawaii and Okinawa will perform at the free festival on the college’s Great Lawn. The event will feature food vendors starting at 4:30 p.m. and performances from 6 to 9 p.m. KCC is at 303 Diamond Head Road. Visit www.pigsfromthesea. com.