The Suitcase Project is a traveling exhibit by Kayla Isomura in collaboration with the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre, on display in the Japanese Fishermen’s Benevolent Society Building – now extended to September 1, 2024. Admission is free.
This mini-exhibit explores cultural identity and dispossession in the context of Japanese Canadian and Japanese American internment during the Second World War, including some personal stories and artefacts from past and present Steveston residents.
The Suitcase Project asks yonsei and gosei (fourth and fifth generation) Japanese Canadians and Americans what they would pack if uprooted from their homes in a moment’s notice.
While these descendants of the internment and incarceration may never have to endure the same forced uprooting as their ancestors, Kayla Isomura’s work examines how they, and those descended from families who experienced other forms of discrimination, remain affected by this history today through a series of photographs and interviews.
Learn More
Visit “The Suitcase Project” website for more details on the original 2018 exhibition, photographed and curated by Kayla Isomura with the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre in Burnaby BC, which displayed photographs, short films and interviews collected from over 80 subjects across Canada and USA.
Read the behind-the-scenes stories about this mini-exhibit::
Part Three – The Oral Histories
Resources
Download this digital resource for The Suitcase Project. Explore a timeline of Japanese Canadian and Japanese American history, as well as language and terminology guidelines for the exhibition. Produced by the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre.
