Minidoka on My Mind is a series begun in 2008, inspired by the Shimomura family’s imprisonment in the Minidoka Relocation Center in Idaho and the diaries kept by Roger Shimomura’s grandmother. The American-born artist was only three years old when he moved there, staying for two years. Minidoka was one of ten internment camps established in the western region of the U.S., to contain and isolate 110,000 Japanese Americans. More than half of the prisoners were American citizens. On February 19, 1942, following the December 1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order to establish military areas along the West Coast, from which all “aliens” would be excluded. Although German and Italian nationals were included in this category, the biggest group rounded up was Japanese immigrants and their descendants. Shimomura subsequently devoted his career to shedding light on racial prejudices in World War II, and the discrimination and misunderstanding experienced by Asian Americans now. His works remind us to be mindful of how war, and the fear bred by it, can cause human beings to mistreat one another.
acrylic on canvas
The series features signature characteristics, such as large fields of highly saturated colors without shading, which mimic the look of print advertisements and classic comic books. The style, and sometimes the subject matter, also evoke ukiyo-e (of the floating world) wood block prints, which were produced in Japan in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and became a major Japanese export to Europe after Japan was forced to open its doors to foreign trade. Partial glimpses into private interiors are typical in ukiyo-e prints, but in Shimomura’s Block Party, for example, the viewer catches a glimpse, through nail-studded metal walls, of Japanese men and women in the latest American fashion, dancing the swing or jitterbug. A professor at the University of Kansas for thirty-five years, Shimomura is a significant and distinct voice from the Midwest region, reflecting with irony and humor on what it means to be Asian American.
For more information on this exhibition please visit the exhibition page on the museum’s website.
Related Programs
All programs take place at the Beach Museum of Art and are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, April 7, 5 p.m.
Opening Reception for “Behind the Glass Eye: Photographs by Toyo Miyatake” and “Minidoka on My Mind: Paintings and Prints by Roger Shimomura”
Guest curators of “Behind the Glass Eye,” Hirokazu Kosaka and Alan Miyatake, will make brief remarks, and Kosaka, a master of Japanese archery, or kyudo, will perform an arrow ceremony in honor of all those affected by the Alien Registration Act of 1940. Musical performances highlighting the artistic and social connections among American artists affected by World War II and its aftermath will be offered.
Saturday, April 9, 2016, 2 p.m., Leadership Studies Building, Town Hall (Room 114)
You People: Mistrust of the Other
Inspired by the exhibitions “Behind the Glass Eye” and “Minidoka on My Mind,” this forum offers an opportunity to unpack moments in American history when entire ethnic groups were marginalized and classified as inferior and/or dangerous by the mainstream population. Join a panel of scholars and artists for an informed discussion of the lessons we can learn from history, and participate in a dialogue about racial profiling and stereotyping, then and now. Panelists include Roger Shimomura, artist and University of Kansas professor emeritus; Dr. Steven Dandaneau, vice provost for undergraduate studies, Kansas State University; and Hirokazu Kosaka, guest curator of “Behind the Glass Eye.” Moderated by Dr. Zelia Wiley, interim associate provost for diversity, Kansas State University.
Thursday, April 14, 5:30 p.m. , Pelton Gallery
Saxophone Expressions: An Exploration of Musical Turmoil
Thursday, April 21, 5:30 p.m., Pelton Gallery
Hip Hop Dance Workshop
Workshop fee $5.00. Advance registration required, call 785-532-7718 or email beachart@k-state.edu.
Optional Post-Workshop Photo Shoot, 7-8 p.m.
Thursday, May 5, 5:30 p.m., UMB Theater
Film Screening: The Cats of Mirikitani (2006), with director Linda Hattendorf