The Art of Gaman: Arts & Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946

The Art of Gaman: Arts & Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946 | Delphine Hirasuna, Kit Hinrichs | Crafts behind the wire

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The Art of Gaman: ...

	The Art of Gaman: Arts & Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946 Delphine Hirasuna, Kit Hinrichs Ten Speed Press, 2005 - 128 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In 1942,Executive Order 9066 mandated the incarceration of 110,000 Japanese Americans, including men, women, children, the elderly, and the infirm, for the duration of the war. Allowed only what they could carry, they were given just a few days to settle their affairs and report to assembly centers. Businesses were lost, personal property was stolen or vandalized, and lives were shattered. The Japanese word gaman means "enduring what seems unbearable with dignity and grace. "Imprisoned in remote camps surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by soldiers with machine guns, the internees sought courage and solace in art. Using found materials at first and later what they could order by catalog, they whittled and carved, painted and etched, stitched and crocheted. What they created is a celebration of the nobility of the human spirit under adversity. THE ART OF GAMAN presents more than 150 examples of art created by internees, along with a history of the camps.

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The Art of Gaman by Hirasuna

This work documents the extensive detainment of Japanese
citizens during the later period of WWII. These prisoners
were kept in whitewashed horse stalls in California, Oregon
and the State of Washington. The camps emphasized education
including arts/crafts with a shortage of teachers.

Fine works of art include:
- The Natural Form of a Snake by Obata
- Kobu by Matsuhiro
- A Bonsai Notebook by Iseyama
- Shell Broaches and Corsages by Iwa Miura and Shintaku

The volume is a solid value for the price charged. It is a must
for serious students of WWII and historians everywhere.

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Crafts behind the wire

Delphine Hirasuna is to congratulated on producing a fascinating and moving tribute to the 120,000 Japanese who were interned, firstly in makeshift Assembly Centers for a few months then in Relocation Camps until 1946. It took until 1988 before a Presidential apology was forthcoming for the blatant violation of their civil rights by the federal government.

I think the strength of the book is the background to why the art and craft was produced. Hirasuna explains the rounding up process and public perceptions towards the Japanese only a few months after Pearl Harbor, the locations of the camps (as remote as possible it seems) and daily struggle in a hostile environment.

On page seventeen there is a map of the US and some camp statistics including a reference to Crystal City in Texas which bizarrely held 2264 ethnic Japanese from Latin and South America (1811 from Peru) who, having been forcibly taken to the camp, were then accused of entering the country illegally! After the war the Peruvians were not allowed to return home until Congress sorted out this injustice in 1953.

Look at the paintings, sculpture, craftwork and furniture and be amazed that most of it was created from whatever materials were available, discarded wood, sacking, vegetation, rocks, shells and anything that could be cut, woven or molded. My favorites are twenty-two brooches made from shells, ribbon and wire and they look just stunning. On pages 104-5 you can see a Buddhist shrine, five foot tall, with the most intricate carvings and hard to believe that it was probably made from firewood.

In the back of the book there is some background information about Japanese history museums and a short bibliography which strangely misses out Manzanar: Photography by Ansel Adams, Commentary by John Hersey. A more recent look at the subject is Impounded: Dorothea Lange and the Censored Images of Japanese American Internment a portfolio of photos by Dorothea Lange. Unfortunately the reproduction and design of the book don't do the photos justice.

The Art of Gaman is beautifully printed and designed (by Kit Hinrichs of Pentagram) and a suitable tribute to creativity in hard times.

***FOR A LOOK INSIDE click 'customer images' under the cover.

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Well done!

This book shows artwork done with minimal supplies in the Japanese-American concentration camps of the western US during WWII. The images are high quality, in color, and very thought-provoking.

I was moved to tears

The heart and spirit of the japanese internees continued to shine within the walls of their confinement. They found beauty and admiration of beautiful things living in desolate and inhumane conditions of the prison camps. This is a understated book with touching stories to tell.

THe Human Spirit Defined

This book will have you in tears with its beauty in the face of diversity so extreme you can't imagine unless you've talked with a survivor of these internment camps. The level of the art is very fine, museum quality. It is hard to believe they had to scrounge the materials from dump piles and surplus. Anyone who doesn't think art can save lives should get this book.

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