Crafting History: Arts and Crafts from America's Concentration Camps (exhibition)

2002 exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM). Crafting History highlighted some 400 objects from JANM's collection made by Japanese Americans held in American concentration camps during World War II, ranging from a five foot tall Buddhist altar carved in Heart Mountain to bird pins, clothing and other textiles, and furniture. Curated by Kristine Kim, the exhibition opened on November 16, 2002. A full slate of public programs took place during the six-month run of the exhibition, including many crafting workshops. Craft items from the camps were also the subject of The Art of Gaman , a lavishly illustrated book published in 2005 and an exhibition that traveled around the country and in Japan starting in 2010.

Authored by Brian Niiya , Densho

For More Information

Cheng, Scarlet. "Beauty from Bleakness." Los Angeles Times , December 5, 2002. http://articles.latimes.com/2002/dec/05/news/wk-museum5 .

Crafting History: Arts and Crafts from America's Concentration Camps on Japanese American National Museum website. http://www.janm.org/exhibits/crafting/ .

Last updated July 10, 2017, 9:24 p.m..