The Art of Gaman

Event Description

The Art of Gaman showcases arts made by Japanese Americans in U.S. Internment camps during World War II. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, all ethnic Japanese on the West Coast—more than two-thirds of whom were American citizens by birth—were ordered to leave their homes and move to internment camps for the duration of the war; including a camp in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Art making became essential for simple creature comforts and emotional survival. 

These objects—tools, teapots, furniture, toys and games, musical instruments, pendants and pins, purses and ornamental displays—are physical manifestations of the art of gaman, a Japanese word that means to bear the seemingly unbearable with dignity and patience. The traveling exhibition is organized by San Francisco-based author and guest curator Delphine Hirasuna, and is based on her 2005 book The Art of Gaman, published by Ten Speed Press. The exhibition closes in Santa Fe October 7, 2012.

Gaman: to bear the seemingly unbearable with dignity and patience.

Exhibit shows July 8 - October 7, 2012