Yama Project is a documentary of a Japanese farming and arts community in Brazil known as Comunidade Yuba. The farm is located in a rural agricultural region in the western part of São Paulo state. Ranging in age from fourth-generation newborns to first-generation Nikkei immigrants now in their 90s, the farm of seventy members is home to several related families. Known for its annual theatrical Christmas performance and modern dance troupe, Comunidade Yuba warmly welcomes visitors throughout the year.

Photographer Scott Smith of Charlottesville, Virginia and writer Janet Ikeda of Lexington, Virginia made their first exploratory trip together to the Yuba Farm in December 2002.

Ikeda and Smith plan to produce a unique portrait of Yama through an anthology of image, voice and text. The outcome of the first trip culminated in an exhibition by Smith at the McGuffey Arts Center in Charlottesville, VA. Ikeda and Smith plan to hold a more extensive exhibition in the U.S. and abroad, and to produce a book of photographs, haiku and an essay about Yama.

More information about YAMA project >>
Read the article about YAMA: A Nikkei Community in Brazil by Janet Ikeda>>

Comunidade Yuba Homepage (Japanese): http://brasil-ya.com/yuba/index.html