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 two 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. Read Part One of this three-part series to learn more about this exhibit and the version on display in the Japanese Fishermen’s Benevolent Society building in Steveston, BC.
In preparation for the special showing of this exhibition in Steveston, the team also researched the City of Richmond Archives collection for related archival photographs, and explored the Harada family photo albums donated by Jeanne Ryan in 2023. These albums capture the rich history of the Harada family, local Japanese Canadian community, and coastal fishing industry throughout the 20th century.
Among the albums, the team identified one photograph labelled “Picture Butte, AB (Evacuation)”, with an inscription on the reverse reading “E. Harada// 1942”. This rare moment captured by Eiichi Harada, Jeanne Ryan’s father, reveals Japanese Canadians disembarking a train at the Internment site of Picture Butte, surrounded by piles of beddings and baggage.
In discussions with Jeanne, she shared how her father Eiichi Harada went through great effort to either conceal his camera or acquire one, while the government was enforcing confiscations of cameras and radios from Japanese Canadians in 1942, and document rare moments during the Internment period such as this.
This moving image was selected as the central photograph in an archival photograph display, appearing alongside the personal belongings in the large display case.
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 One and Part Three of Nadin’s The Suitcase Project: Steveston Stories series to learn about the oral histories and photographs featured in the exhibit.
