Visual Resources Association 2019 Annual Conference

The Japanese American National Museum promotes understanding and appreciation of America's ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the historical and contemporary experiences of people of Japanese ancestry. The first museum of its kind in the United States, JANM opened in a new facility in 1999 (two blocks from the VRA conference hotel). The museum has a permanent collection of art works, artifacts, photographs, written records, oral histories, and other materials documenting the lives of Japanese Americans before, during, and after the World War II mass incarceration. Changing exhibitions have ranged from America's Concentration Camps to Ansel Adams at Manzanar to a focus on artists like Isamu Noguchi and Ruth Asawa to popular culture icons like Hello Kitty and George Takei, the latter of whom donated his personal collection in 2016. Recent digital projects of interest, which incorporate items from the JANM collections, include Exploring America's Concentration Camps and Enemy Mail.

$15.00 | Limited to 10 participants.
Online registration is closed. Sign up for this tour at the conference registration desk.
(Adding this tour to your schedule here does not guarantee registration.) 

Itinerary:
1:00 - 2:00: Docent led tour of Common Ground
2:00 - 2:15: Staff introduction to Gambatte
2:15 - Self-guided time in Gambatte or other areas of museum

MARCH 2019 EXHIBITIONS:
Common Ground: Incorporating hundreds of objects, documents, and photographs collected by the Japanese American National Museum, this exhibition chronicles 130 years of Japanese American history, beginning with the early days of the Issei pioneers through the World War II incarceration to the present.

Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit features modern and historical photographs documenting the stories of Japanese Americans who were forcibly incarcerated during World War II. Large-format contemporary photos taken by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Paul Kitagaki Jr. are displayed next to images shot 75 years ago by such noted photographers as Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, and others; each pairing features the same individuals or their direct descendants as the subject matter. Inspired by the Japanese concept of gambatte—to triumph over adversity—the exhibition chronicles the strength and legacy of a generation of Japanese Americans who persevered over unimaginable hardship.