JUNE 23-27 & JUNE 30-JULY 4
2022
NATIONAL MALL
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Wavelength is an art project that demonstrates how humans have been interconnected with the ocean and its life since the beginning of time.
Throughout the 2-week Smithsonian Folklife Festival, join a collective of artists in interactive activities that help us understand how we can be stewards of a thriving marine ecosystem for generations to come.
Fold origami whales and dolphins with Peggy Oki
and learn how human activity affects the well-being of cetaceans.
For nearly 5 decades Peggy Oki, has been inspired through surfing and profound encounters with Cetaceans (Whales and Dolphins). During studies as an Environmental Biology major, Peggy became a passionate advocate wanting to give back to these marine mammals.
LEARN MORE ABOUT PEGGYBased on a strong background in visual art, Oki has been working with schools and youth programs, empowering children of all ages (including adults) while raising awareness about the plight of Whales and Dolphins through visually powerful public Environmental Art projects and exhibits all over the world.
Since 2004, the Origami Whales Project (OWP) has worked to raise awareness concerning threats to cetaceans (dolphins and whales) through its stunning and memorable “Curtain of 38,000 Origami Whales.”* Created by thousands of concerned citizens across the globe and exhibited throughout the world, this large-scale public art project serves as a powerful visual statement and memorial for the thousands of individual whales killed since the 1986 ban on commercial whaling.
Since its inception, “the big curtain” is updated each year by adding 2,000 more Origami Whales (the number of real whales reported killed each year).
Peggy will be at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival for both weeks
Shape shark sculptures from soapstone with L. Frank Manriquez
and participate in the revival of Tongva history, language, and traditions.
L. Frank Manriquez (Tongva/Ajachmem), an award-winning Native California Indian artist working in many media and a tribal scholar, community activist, and language advocate, has exhibited her artwork in museums and galleries nationally and internationally.
LEARN MORE ABOUT LShe has served or serves on a number of boards, including that of the California Indian Basketweavers Association (for 15 years) and the Cultural Conservancy, and is a founding board member of the Advocates for Indigenous California Languages.
L will be at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival from June 30 to July 4
Collect 'ōlelo Hawai'i stickers and interact with a life-sized baby humpback whale sculpture with Jane Chang Mi
and discover how traditional and contemporary understandings of ocean life converge.
As an artist and ocean engineer, Jane Chang Mi assesses the post-colonial ocean environment through interdisciplinary research. She examines the narratives associated with the underwater landscape considering the past, present, and future.
LEARN MORE ABOUT JANEMi most often focuses on the occupation and militarization of the Pacific Ocean by the United States. Specifically, her practice is centered around the topics of militourism—the creation and protection of tourist economies by military or paramilitary forces—and scientific colonization. This interest emerges from her background as an ocean engineer, a field that is inextricably linked to the American military complex.
Mi was the inaugural artist in residence at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument (2016), researching the pre-contact history of Pearl Harbor. The project concluded as a part of the first Honolulu Biennial (2017). Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, most recently at Santa Mònica in Barcelona, Spain (2022) and Te Uru Waitakere in Aotearoa (2019). She has been a scientist at the Arctic Circle Program (2010), a recipient of the University of California Institute for Research in the Arts grant (2014), and a fellow at the East West Center at the University of Hawaii, Manoa (2012).
Mi is based in Honolulu and Los Angeles.
Jane will be at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival from June 30 to July 4
Select custom origami designs live screen printed by Soul & Ink
to help create an installation that raises awareness concerning threats to cetaceans.
Soul & Ink's participatory live screen printing experiences reshape traditional relationships between art and audiences.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SOUL & INKSoul & Ink is the brainchild of husband and wife design team, Frankie and Sherry Meneses. Passionate about design for social change, they wanted to create an avenue to step away from the computer and into the community. They were inspired to create a mobile screen printing set-up after seeing how thrilled their friends were at screen printing parties they hosted at home.
Today, Soul & Ink provides a fun, interactive art experience at a range of events. Their dream is to create artwork that can be shared with anyone, anywhere.
Soul & Ink will be at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on June 25 & 26
Location
Wavelength is part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on Washington D.C.'s National Mall, from June 23-27 & June 30-July 4 (10-5pm each day)
Find us in the Festival's Earth Optimism space near the American History Food Kiosk, just south of the Constitution Ave entrance of the National Museum of Natural History!
Special Events
Check back often for updates to the schedule.
All events are subject to change.
ASL interpretation provided at all events.
Saturday June 25
11am-12pm: Soul & Ink live screen printing origami paper
12-1pm: Origami Workshop with Peggy Oki
1-2pm: Soul & Ink live screen printing origami paper
2-3pm: Origami Workshop with Peggy Oki
3-4pm: Soul & Ink printing
4-5pm: Origami Workshop with Peggy Oki
Sunday June 26
11am-12pm: Soul & Ink live screen printing origami paper
12-1pm: Origami Workshop with Peggy Oki
1-2pm: Soul & Ink live screen printing origami paper
2-3pm: Origami Workshop with Peggy Oki
3-4pm: Soul & Ink printing
4-5pm: Origami Workshop with Peggy Oki
Thursday June 30
4-4:30pm: Formal Piscataway/Tongva greeting with Gabrielle Tayac and L. Frank Manriquez
Friday July 1
2-3pm: Jane Chang Mi speaks in Nature is beautiful!
Artists across time have taken inspiration from nature to create masterpieces. Join local artists and artisans as they share what inspires them and their creations.
Saturday July 2
1-2pm: Peggy Oki speaks in Creativity for the Planet
Earth Optimism × Folklife features artists, artisans, and creators who are helping transform perceptions of nature and how to conserve it. Hear from people who are using their art to inspire conservation of marine life, rainforests, and even spiders!
Sunday July 3
2-3pm: L. Frank Manriquez speaks in Living Together: Human-Animal Connections
Homo sapiens have developed complex interdependency with other species of animals with whom we share ecosystems. In this session, participants from the Earth Optimism and UAE programs discuss their meaningful relationships—some might even be described as partnerships—with various other species, both on land and in the sea and sky.
