Currently on display until January 23, 2008
Exhibit Hall: "Treasures of American History"
National Air and Space Museum
Independence Ave at 4th Street, SW
Metro: Smithsonian or L'Enfant Plaza
Got speed? Apolo Anton Ohno undoubtedly does! And now the latest Asian Pacific American acquisition makes a speedy addition to the "Treasures of American History," currently on display.
The latest “Treasures” showcase houses the champion skates worn by Apolo Anton Ohno, a short-track speed skater and winner of five Olympic medals. Ohno wore these skates at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah where he won Gold in the 1500- meter and Silver in 1000-meter competitions. At the 2006 Olympics held in Italy, Ohno again won Gold in the 500-meter and Bronze in both the 1000- meter and 5000-meter relays.
Ohno is currently training for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. In between, he cut up the floor in 2007, winning top honors on season 4 of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars competition.
|
Saturday, February 23, 2008 3:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Meyer Auditorium
Freer Gallery of Art
12th Street and Independence Avenue, SW
Metro: Smithsonian or L'Enfant Plaza
To mark the 66th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt which led to the incarceration of 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II, the Smithsonian APA program proudly presents the critically acclaimed new play, Innocent When You Dream, by Ken Narasaki and directed by Alberto Isaac.
Fresh from its Los Angeles world premiere, the cast arrives intact to present a staged reading of their production, which was named a “Critic’s Choice” by the Los Angeles Times and a “Pick of the Week” by LA Weekly, and won the 2006 Kumu Kahua Pacific Rim Playwriting Award.
A Nisei father lies in a hospital bed, only partly aware of his two adult children who have arrived at his bedside, unsure their father will survive. While the father returns to his interned past searching for a lost first love, his children bicker and argue, not quite ready to let their last parent go. Playwright Narasaki, whose father was a 442nd veteran (the most decorated unit in U.S. military history, made up predominantly of Japanese American young men whose families ironically languished in camps, deprived of their civil rights), brings to life two disparate generations, separated by age and experience, bound together by misunderstanding and, ultimately, deep love.
The reading features the venerable Sab Shimono of stage and film acclaim as the father. Emily Kuroda and Ken Narasaki appear as his adult children. John Miyasaki, Sharon Omi and Mike Hagiwara round out the talented cast.
For more information about the production, please visit www.timescapearts.com.
This program is presented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program and co-sponsored by the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation, the Japanese American Citizens League, and the Japanese American Veterans Association.
|
Currently on display through May 2008
National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, Virginia
In 1955, Pan American World Airways sought to become the pre-eminent carrier for routes over the Pacific in part by recruiting Japanese American stewardesses as ambassadors to the growing tide of world travelers. The airline established an Asian language base in Honolulu and also expanded its “one-world” globe-trotting fleet with a record-sized order of airliners—20 Boeing 707s and 25 Douglas DC-8s.
The National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center remembers the role of the Japanese American stewardesses who helped launch the Jet Age with an exhibition of memorabilia and period photographs.
The materials displayed, including uniforms, flight bags, and scrapbooks, come from the exhibition “Airborne Dreams,” which recently closed at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai’i in Honolulu. Christine Yano, a Guggenheim Fellow at the National Air and Space Museum and an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Hawai’i, served as curator for the exhibition.
The Udvar-Hazy Center version of the exhibit will be on view for one year. The Udvar-Hazy Center is located near Washington Dulles International Airport off of Route 28 and is open daily from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. (closed December 25). Admission to the Udvar-Hazy Center is free, but there is a $12 fee for parking. For more information, please visit www.nasm.si.edu.
|
