PERSEVERANCE PRESERVED. "The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Hands of Interned Japanese Americans" is on display at the Oregon Historical Society through January 4. (Photos courtesy of the Oregon Historical Society)

From The Asian Reporter, V17, #47 (November 20, 2007), page 15.

By Julie Stegeman

You are told by your government that because of your race, you have one week to settle your affairs and report to an internment camp, taking with you only what you can carry. How do you cope with confinement?

In the exhibit, "The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Hands of Interned Japanese Americans," on display at the Oregon Historical Society through January 4, 2008, we learn how many of the 120,000 Japanese Americans who were forcibly imprisoned in internment camps between 1942 and 1946 answered that question: they persevered through art. The exhibit is based on the book The Art of Gaman by Delphine Hirasuna, who defines gaman as "enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity."

A first impression of the exhibit is the amazing variety and craftsmanship of the pieces. Items range from the beautiful, such as colorfully-painted, carved birds; to the useful, including teapots, tools, and furniture; to the spiritual, Buddhist butsudan shrines.

A closer inspection of the works reveals that not only were these artists talented, but they had to be very creative in finding materials to use for their art, as they were at first limited to recycled items and materials found inside the camps. Examples of found materials are the shells that littered the Tule Lake and Topaz internment camps in Utah. Internees bleached and painted the shells and turned them into lovely pins or corsages, which were sometimes worn at weddings or funerals.

Although some of the works were produced by professional artists, many of the pieces in the exhibit were created by individuals with no prior art experience. Some of the professional artists taught art classes for the other internees, with topics ranging from drawing to fashion. There were several drawings in the exhibit by Chiura Obata, who had been an art professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and was interned at the Tanforan Assembly Center in Topaz, Utah. Mr. Obata opened the "Tanforan Art School" in a mess hall and recruited other artists to teach fellow internees.

Some of the art in the exhibit gives a glimpse into internment camp life. Several drawings and paintings depict the evacuation and internment of Japanese Americans. Because photography was not initially allowed in the camps, these works are important to history.

One piece — a series of watercolor pictures of the camp at Tule Lake by George Tamura — was ironically painted on the backside of a discarded army evacuation notice. Next to the work, a placard explained the absence of people in Mr. Tamura’s art: "I felt that this was simply no place for people to be living."

A small model of the barracks made of scrap wood and toothpicks created by an internment camp resident known only as Mr. Toshima illustrated the cramped nature of the living quarters that each family shared.

Boredom was prevalent in the camps. Men often took up carving wood to help pass the time. There are several excellent examples of these items in the exhibit, from bears to samurai. Women took up crocheting, knitting, and embroidery, both to keep busy and out of necessity.

Many works of art were discarded after the internment camps closed and several of the pieces in the exhibit were created by artists whose names were not known. A number of items were in storage and forgotten until Hirasuna’s book was published and people remembered they had them.

"The Art of Gaman" is full of a wide variety of impressively crafted and beautiful items. More importantly, however, it provides a glimpse into the lives of the Japanese Americans who were imprisoned by the United States during World War II, and is a testament to the perseverance of their spirit during an adverse time.

The Oregon Historical Society is located at 1200 S.W. Park Avenue in Portland. Exhibit hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00am to 5:00pm, and noon to 5:00pm on Sunday. To learn more, call (503) 222-1741, e-mail <orhist@ohs.org>, or visit <www.ohs.org>.