Submitted by N.Hassan, Curatorial Assistant, a behind-the-scenes look at the installation of The Suitcase Project travelling exhibition, with a connection to Steveston’s Japanese Canadian history. Part one of a three-part series.
The Suitcase Project, a travelling exhibition by Vancouver-based artist Kayla Isomura, is now on display at the Steveston Museum and Post Office, on loan from the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre.
The exhibition is the result of a project Isomura conducted in 2018, asking fourth- and fifth-generation Japanese Canadians and Japanese Americans what they would pack if forced to leave their homes in a moment’s notice – just as thousands of people experienced when forcibly uprooted and interned during the Second World War.
In 1942, over 2,000 Japanese Canadians were forcibly uprooted from Steveston and interned, and forced to make the difficult decision of what to pack as they headed off into uncertainty. To help tell this story, the team developed complementary displays, bringing together belongings, oral histories, and archival materials from Steveston’s Japanese Canadian community.
Artifacts
From the City of Richmond Permanent Collection, the curatorial team identified this pair of geta sandals, originally belonging to Kikuko Tazumi and recently donated by her sister Grace Eiko Thomson. When ordered to leave Steveston in 1942, their mother Sawae carefully packed these geta and preserved them through the years, from the internment site at Minto Mines, BC, to rural Manitoba, and later Winnipeg. The geta stand today as a rare personal belonging that Sawae was able to salvage amidst baggage restrictions and challenging conditions. The team reached out to Grace Eiko Thomson to learn more about her family’s story and collaborate on the interpretive text.
The display also includes boatbuilding tools on loan from Glenn Kishi, a descendant of the Kishi family who contributed significantly to Steveston’s boatbuilding heritage. In discussions with the curatorial team, Glenn shared about the boatbuilding tools passed on to him, some of which his grandfather Saeji Kishi had salvaged and brought to the Internment site of Christina Lake in 1942. Glenn Kishi loaned a selection of tools from his private collection, and collaborated on the associated interpretive text.
The Suitcase Project is on display until September 1, 2024, in the Japanese Fishermen’s Benevolent Society building at Steveston Museum and Post Office. Operating hours are 9:30am-5pm Mondays-Saturdays, and 12-4pm Sundays. Admission is free.
Read Part Two and Part Three of Nadin’s The Suitcase Project: Steveston Stories series to learn about the oral histories and photographs featured in the exhibit.
