Three Short Films Highlight Historic and Contemporary Traditions
The Library of Congress celebrates the 2021 National Cherry Blossom Festival by debuting a new video series that highlights both historic and contemporary traditions of springtime flower viewing. “Cherry Blossom Viewing over the Centuries” features three short films that showcase a stunning variety of artifacts from Library collections, including watercolor drawings, colorful woodblock prints, vintage photos and beautifully designed posters from Japanese and American artists.
Developed to support the festival’s 2021 efforts to “blossom safely,” the four-to-five-minute videos can be enjoyed by viewers everywhere during the festival March 20-April 12 and beyond through the Library's YouTube site and on the Library of Congress website.
There are three videos in the series:
- “Cherry Blossoms in Japanese Culture” explores Japan’s centuries-old blossom viewing traditions.
- “Tokyo’s Gift of Friendship” recounts the origins and events surrounding the 1912 gift of 3,020 cherry trees to the city of Washington.
- “Fleeting Beauty, Enduring Traditions” highlights the Library’s National Cherry Blossom Festival collection, which includes posters from 1987 to the present and Cherry Blossom Princess programs from 1949 to the present.
In 2020, the Library published the new book, “Cherry Blossoms: Sakura Collections from the Library of Congress,” with Smithsonian Books, featuring the rich history of the springtime celebration illustrated with prints, drawings and photographs from the national library.
Artists of all ages can celebrate the season by downloading and coloring six pages of outlines from the Library’s extensive collections of Japanese woodblock prints and drawings. Find the link to these and other activities for families at loc.gov/families.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is one of the world’s great celebrations of spring. The 2021 Festival, March 20-April 12, will include three weeks of events featuring diverse and creative programming promoting traditional and contemporary arts and culture, natural beauty, and community spirit. Visit nationalcherryblossomfestival.org or call 877.44.BLOOM for more information.
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.
Press Contact: Brett Zongker, (202) 707-1639, bzongker@loc.gov