As I mentioned in my first entry, one of the functions of this blog is to keep students informed of upcoming events and activities related to the program. They’re coming thick and fast this fall, so this is the first of several entries I’ll be doing over the next few days.
At 6:30 PM on Tuesday, September 16, a bus – hopefully groaning under the weight of a few dozen Carleton students – will head from campus to the Trinity Art Gallery in the Shenkman Arts Centre in Orléans. The destination will be an exhibition of (mostly architectural) photographs by Leslie Hossack, called REGISTERED: The Japanese Canadian Experience during World War II.
I attended the show’s opening a couple of weeks ago, and within five minutes was certain that I wanted to take our students there. Most of the images depict buildings in Vancouver that played a role in the internment of Japanese Canadians during WW2. For those who don’t know the story, multiple generations of Canadians of Japanese heritage were rounded up by authorities and sent to live in internment camps in the interior of B.C., their possessions confiscated by the Canadian government. The blatantly racist motivations and sheer cruelty of the episode make it a deeply troubling moment in our history to this day. Leslie Hossack decided to explore the story by photographing the buildings in which these events unfolded; buildings in which, she says, the stories of the men, women and children who experienced this abuse remain encoded.
This notion that our history and stories are encoded in our historic buildings struck a deep chord in me. It is this palpable, visceral connection to human lives that made me want to become an architectural historian. It is a key theme in much of my research, writing and teaching. So, I immediately knew I had to find a way to bring a group of our students to see this show, and through it, ponder the connection between ourselves and our forebears that architecture offers us.
I’d be less than completely honest if I didn’t disclose the other reason why this exhibition moved me so deeply. One of the children interned in these camps was my mother. It cast a very long – and very dark – shadow over her life. And, unavoidably, over mine.
Next Tuesday evening, Leslie Hossack will be meeting us at the gallery and we’ll be able to talk to her about the project. This trip was conceived under the umbrella of HTA, and generously funded by SSAC Director Will Echard, but I hope that it will also be of interest to students in Art History, Canadian Studies, History and other disciplines. The first forty-seven people to sign up in the AVRC will have a seat in the bus, although more are welcome if they can transport themselves there. I’ll hope to see you there.