WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

Exhibition Reviews | Maddy Howard

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The beginning of February saw the opening of a new exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM).

Being Japanese Canadian: Reflections on a Broken World  offers visitors a poignant, thought-provoking, and heartbreaking view into the injustices suffered by Japanese Canadians during the 1940s.

REIKO, ALBERTA 1945- Lillian Michiko Blakey. Photo courtesy of Maddy Howard.

Being Japanese Canadian features artworks from eight contemporary Japanese Canadian artists, whose works are interspersed throughout the Sigmund Samuel Gallery of Canada. These incredible artists are Lillian Michiko Blakey, David L. Hayashida, Emma Nishimura, Steven Nunoda, Laura Shintani, Norman Takeuchi, Marjene Matsunaga Turnbull, and Yvonne Wakabayashi.

These artists reflect on the exile, dispossession, and internment that 22,000 Japanese Canadians faced during the 1940s. From those who experienced the history first hand, to those who are still coming to grips with the experiences of their parents and grandparents, these installations provide visitors with an intensely emotional, and often overlooked, piece of Canadian history.

Ghostown & Ladder to the Moon- Steven Nunoda. Photo courtesy of Maddy Howard.

In a similar fashion to the Zodiac exhibition at the Gardiner Museum, Being Japanese Canadian is spread out within the Canadian gallery. This encourages visitors to confront these histories and stories within the larger narrative of Canadian history. Visitors can use a guide map that is on the entrance panel to find the artworks, or they can wander the gallery and find them on their own.

Interior Revisited- Norman Takeuchi. Photo courtesy of Maddy Howard. 

Located in the center of the gallery is a space where visitors can watch short video clips regarding the internment of Japanese Canadians, as well as flip through different books on the subject. I found this to be an excellent touch, as it gives visitors the chance to better educate themselves about the topic while in the space.

Also on display is the official acknowledgement from the Government of Canada to Japanese Canadians that the events of internment were wrong and unjust. Other objects from the 1940s, such as drawings, photographs, a cedar chest, and poetry are also on display to better articulate this awful piece of Canadian history.

The Reading Station. Photo courtesy of Maddy Howard.

The Enemy That Never Was. Photo courtesy of Maddy Howard.

And now time for a shameless plug-in. Laura Shintani and Lillian Michiko Blakey are also on display at my own exhibition at Campbell House Museum. This exhibition, as my capstone project for the Master of Museum Studies program, is entitled Redefining Home: A Story of Japanese Canadian Resettlement in Toronto. This project was put together by myself, Meghan Drascic-Gaudio and Hailey Graham.

This exhibition follows the story of Harold and Hana Kawasoe, a young Japanese Canadian couple who lived in the attic of Campbell House from 1948-1951. Redefining Home follows their story as they strove to make new lives in Toronto, and includes contemporary artwork from Lillian Michiko Blakey and Laura Shintani who reflect on their own experiences of being Japanese Canadian.

Redefining Home runs from March 1- April 1, 2019.

Original Artwork from Lillian Michiko Blakey. Photo courtesy of Maddy Howard.

Redefining Home. Photo courtesy of Maddy Howard. 

Being Japanese Canadian allows the artwork from these incredible artists to speak more than a thousand words. Each work speaks to a horrid history that is often overlooked, and encourages visitors to reflect on the generational ramifications that have come as a result of this great injustice. These artworks also ask visitors to reflect on what it means to be Canadian.

Being Japanese Canadian opened February 2, 2019 and is on display at the ROM until August 5, 2019.

Canadian Born, Alberta 1943- Lillian Michiko Blakey. Photo courtesy of Maddy Howard.