Watch, Read, Listen

Hiroki Ohara, fifth-generation headmaster of the Ohara School of Ikebana, presents a lecture-demonstration of the Japanese art of ikebana flower arranging in celebration of the school’s 50th anniversary in Los Angeles. Hiroki Ohara is a practicing contemporary artist, whose large-scale, site-specific works have blurred the boundaries of ikebana, land art, and performance art.

Award-winning landscape architect Steve Martino is joined by Caren Yglesias, author of Desert Gardens of Steve Martino, for a discussion about landscaping for arid climates. Martino’s pioneering designs combine dramatic man-made elements with native plants in gardens that honor the natural ecology of the desert, inviting spaces of beauty and color while solving problems such as lack of privacy or shade.

This interdisciplinary conference focuses on the transatlantic dynamics of food and power in the long 18th century. Historians, historical geographers, and literary scholars will assess the significant role of food in shaping interpersonal and geopolitical relations during this period, focusing in particular on the perceived and real impact of scarcity and social unrest.

Documenting one of the most creative and influential periods in Southern California architecture, “Architects of a Golden Age” spotlights about 20 original drawings and plans selected from The Huntington’s important Southern California architecture collection. The exhibition highlights renderings that helped bring into existence some of the most extraordinary buildings in the greater Los Angeles area, including Downtown L.A.’s Union Station, Mayan Theater, and Chinatown structures, as well as seminal examples of the California Bungalow.

Paul Theroux, travel writer and novelist, explains how Jack London’s experiences and observations in the Hawaiian Islands still resonate today, based on Theroux’s own experiences and observation as a 30-year resident there.