May 2nd, 2023
Help us preserve Mukai Farm & Garden and the stories it tells through quality programming and events that celebrate the important contributions of Japanese immigrants to our island community and the region. Thank you for your contributions during GiveBIG 2023. Your support makes all the difference.
Mukai Haiku Festival – Winners!
Mukai Haiku Festival 2023 received over 570 haiku from 13 countries around the world. Prizes were awarded in five categories: Heritage, Nature, Reflections, Social Justice, and Young Poets. The Chautauqua Elementary School library submitted over 180 haiku alone! If you would like to read them, they can be found on the front porch of the main house at Mukai.
Haiku from the festival have been displayed around the farm providing a place to experience a ginkgo – a purposeful walk outdoors in nature to see, hear, smell, touch and taste, and jot notes on your thoughts and feelings. Use a gingko to compose haiku “…when you and the object have become one” as Matsuo Basho, a renowned Japanese master of haiku, described the connection between a surface experience and its deeper meaning. With the Japanese garden budding into spring and eight cherry trees in bloom, Mukai Farm & Garden is a perfect place to experience your own ginkgo!
A huge “Thank You!” to everyone that submitted haiku and/or donated to Mukai during our 4th annual Haiku Festival.We couldn’t have done it without you!
For a complete list of the festival entries, view the winners, and vote for the “People’s Choice Award,” click here:
Upcoming Events
Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month
Come meet co-curator June Sekiguchi and other artists exhibiting in May show “Scanning the Room”. We invited June to create the concept and co-curate a show for VCA for May, which is Asian American Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander (AANHPI) month, which is observed annually in the United States to reflect upon and celebrate the contributions and influence of AANHPI Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the US.
Scanning the Room presents visual art from 20 AANHPI artists that speaks to identity, politics, or experience of how they view their place as the ‘Other’ in predominantly white spaces. Exhibition conceived by and co-curated with June Sekiguchi.
To scan a room is an automatic response for many people in the AANHPI community to gauge the racial makeup of a space upon entering. Is it a factor of safety in an environment of increased Asian hate or simply as an observational awareness that is physically, emotionally and psychically increased when navigating spaces that have a majority Caucasian racial makeup.
The art is compelling and thought-provoking; an artistic expression of a timely topic.
Speaker and acclaimed UW educator Dr. Anu Taranath explores the role of the hair in our cultures. Anu poses the question, “Why is one kind of hairstyle understood as “better” than another?” Her thoughtful discussion encourages us to go deeper, to take a surprising look at beauty, bias, belonging and examine the cultural and racial perceptions which influence our judgement of hair and the individual.
As the daughter of immigrants who has grown up between two cultures, Dr. Taranath draws on personal experience to connect with and amplify the voices of those who have historically not been heard. As a scholar and academic, she knows that racial equity work is challenging, emotional, institutional, and personal. Her new book, Beyond Guilt Trips is a great topic for building awareness as we travel through communities, even at home.
