Making a Valentine’s Day card in the ImaginAsia classroom.

Last Saturday, more than 120 people of all ages made their way to the ImaginAsia classroom in search of love. First, visitors viewed a digital slideshow of images of love in Asian art. Then it was time to roll up their sleeves. Participants used printing blocks that say “love” in more than a dozen Asian languages as well as symbols of love to print vivid Valentines to take home. Languages included Arabic, Bengali, Cambodian, Chinese, Farsi, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Tamil, Thai, and Turkish.

No matter how you say it, Happy Valentine’s Day!

The Moongate Garden

The theme of this year’s Garden Fest, presented by Smithsonian Gardens, was healthy living, inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign. ImaginAsia decided to get people up and moving through the Moongate Garden, right outside of the Sackler pavilion, by handing each visitor a brochure outlining the many benefits of walking. Participants then created dioramas using images of the garden during different seasons, whether covered with a flurry of flowers or that other kind of flurry we get in winter. Some people stuck with one season, while others mixed things up a bit as in the diorama pictured here: a view of spring blossoms opens up into a garden filled with snow-covered magnolias.

Learn more about ImaginAsia family programs and check out some other views of the Moongate Garden.

In the Imaginasia Classroom: Tatebanko, Japanese Paper Dioramas

Rock. Paper. Scissors. Mount Fuji Style. In the Imaginasia classroom, people of all ages are learning how to make Tatebanko, Japanese paper dioramas, featuring landscapes from Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.