Roger Shimomura’s “American Infamy #3,” 2008, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 96 in. Courtesy of Kathryn Minette and Stan Biderman (Image: © Roger Shimomura | Photo: Carrie Haley)
‘Reclaiming the Future: The Legacy of Japanese American Incarceration’ Runs Through May 31
By Aiko Allen
Educational outreach continues in New Mexico in the form of New Mexico Living History Readers Theatre productions under the creative directorship of Nikki Nojima Louis (Minidoka camp survivor) to Victor Yamada’s coordination of the Confinement in the Land of Enchantment programs focused on the Department of Justice internment camps in the state. Both Louis and Yamada are members of the New Mexico JACL.
The “Reclaiming the Future: The Legacy of Japanese American Incarceration” at Vladem Contemporary Art Museum in Santa Fe adds to ongoing efforts by bringing together a multigenerational group of Japanese and Japanese American artists whose works confront one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history: the forced incarceration of more than 125,000 people of Japanese descent during World War II, including at four DOJ camps in New Mexico. Machiko Harada, who has served as chief curator at the Akiyoshidai International Art Village, curates the exhibition. Harada is a writer and cultural mediator based in Santa Fe.
“This exhibition brings together contemporary artists who transform the legacy of Japanese American incarceration into urgent reflections on memory, justice and our shared future,” said Harada. “The show invites us to confront the past as a way of reimagining a more responsible tomorrow.”
From Ruth Asawa’s delicate wire sculptures to Patrick Nagatani’s photographic meditations and new works by contemporary voices, the exhibition examines displacement, resilience and intergenerational memory. These artists reimagine the landscapes of confinement and give form to stories long silenced. Through acts of remembrance and speculative imagining, the exhibition calls on viewers to recognize injustice’s enduring impact while envisioning a more just and inclusive future.
Community collaboration through fundraising is requested to support the catalog, printed in both English and Japanese, that is accompanying the exhibition. The production goal is $20,000. Why is the catalog important? The publication is a lasting resource that endures long after the exhibition concludes.
It documents and contextualizes the artworks featured in the exhibition, as well as contributes to the growing body of literature that ensures our histories are written from our perspectives and cultural values.
To donate online, visit: GIVE NMMOA – MNMF. Select “Exhibition Development Fund. In the box below Name of Exhibition or Education Program, type in “Reclaiming the Future Catalog.” For more information, contact Angelique Kuenstler, director of leadership giving at the NM Museum Foundation, at angelique@museumfoundation.org.