The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946

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. This exhibition shows the amazing range of their creativity.

Based on the book The Art of Gaman, by Delphine Hirasuna, the exhibition originated and was first shown at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in San Francisco.

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR 97205
(503) 222-1741
www.ohs.org
orhist@ohs.org