This exhibit presents photographs of the physical remnants of the ten American concentration camps that were used to incarcerate Japanese Americans during World War II. In 1942, approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans that lived within the western United States were forcibly removed from their homes, imprisoned in American concentration camps for up to four years, and denied their constitutional rights because of their Japanese ancestry. This body of work explores the themes of memory and forgetting, particularly in regards to the loss in our understanding of this history that will inevitably occur when the last of those who went through this experience pass away and their lived memories vanish.

Acknowledgments:

John Matsunaga is a fiscal year 2017 recipient of an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Additional funding for this exhibit is provided by the Twin Cities Japanese American Citizens League through the Les and Karen Suzukamo Fund, the Donald S. Maeda Fund, and the Helen Tsuchiya Fund.

For more information regarding the exhibit and related programming please visit: http://eastsidefreedomlibrary.org

When: Friday, October 13, 6-10 PM
Saturday, October 14, 12-8 PM
Sunday, October 15, 12-5 PM

Where: East Side Freedom Library
1105 Greenbrier St.
St. Paul, MN 55106

I will be one of the participating artists in this year's St. Paul Art Crawl at the East Side Freedom Library location.

When: Saturday, September 23, 2-4 PM

Where: Historic Fort Snelling Visitor Center Auditorium
200 Tower Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55111

Please join John Matsunaga, Steve Ozone, Wing Young Huie, and Leslie Barlow in a discussion moderated by Kerry Morgan where they will talk about their artistic work that focuses on the histories, identities, and experiences of the communities to which they belong. These artists engage with the lived experiences of these communities, especially in regards to marginalization, invisibility, stereotyping, racism, and historical trauma. This program, co-sponsored by the Twin Cities Japanese American Citizens League and the Minnesota Historical Society, is associated with the photography exhibit, “Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit: Japanese American WWII Incarceration, Then and Now,” by Paul Kitagaki Jr. which is currently on view at the Historic Fort Snelling visitor center.