Book Signing and Presentation -- The Art of Gaman by Delphine Hirasuna, October 19, 2007, Portland, Oregon

The Art of Gaman by Delphine Hirasuna
Friday, October 19, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center
121 NW 2nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97209

The Japanese word gaman means "enduring what seems unbearable with patience and dignity." In this spirit, 120,000 Japanese Americans—including men, women, children, the elderly, and the infirm—survived the internment camps of World War II. Despite these hardships, they whittled and carved, painted and etched, stitched and crocheted—fashioning furniture from scrap lumber, carving teapots from slate, and making pendants from toothbrush handles—to add beauty to the bleak surroundings and purpose to their daily life. What they created is a celebration of the nobility of the human spirit in adversity.

Delphine Hirasuna, a third-generation Japanese American whose family was interned at the Jerome and Rohwer camps in Arkansas, delivers a powerful tribute to this triumph of spirit. Featuring more than 150 examples of art gathered from individuals and museum holdings, The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946 presents a moving and diverse assemblage of internment art never before shown in one collection.

Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center will host Ms. Hirasuna on Friday, October 19th from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. as she presents a slide show and signs copies of her book. Light refreshments will be served. Copies of The Art of Gaman are available to purchase at ONLC or in our online gift shop.

Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center
121 NW 2nd Avenue
Portland, OR 97209
503-224-1458
www.oregonnikkei.org
onlc@oregonnikkei.org