The Museum of San Ramon Valley
205 Railroad Ave, Danville
Saturday, March 12th, 2016 – Sunday, May 15th, 2016
$5The Art of Survival: Enduring the Turmoil of Tule Lake is coming to the Museum of the San Ramon Valley
This Exhibit Explores the Only Japanese American Segregation Center of WWII
The Art of Survival: Enduring the Turmoil of Tule Lake, an exhibit that explores the experiences and events at Tule Lake, the only Japanese American Segregation Center of WWII, will be at the Museum of the San Ramon Valley from March 12th to May 15th. The traveling exhibition probes the complexity of this unique Japanese American confinement site, which was located in Newell, CA.
Tule Lake became the only officially designated segregation center during WWII and was ruled under martial law. This location was the largest of the 10 confinement sites and, because anyone deemed a troublemaker by the federal government was relocated to Tule Lake, it ultimately housed people from all sites. Many of the people who were brought in under segregation were people who knew their rights had been egregiously undermined and were willing to stand up to the injustice. Accused of being disloyal, in their dissent, they were ironically acting in the most American way. The incarceration of 120,000 people of Japanese descent, most citizens of this nation, was a travesty; Tule Lake was exponentially disturbing.
Through haunting images of artifacts by fine art photographer Hiroshi Watanabe we glimpse into the lives of those who were held at Tule Lake and are encouraged to consider both the orchestration of life behind barbed wire and what it might have been like to live with constant turmoil and uncertainty. Oral histories allow us to hear varying views on some of the complex issues of Tule Lake in the voices of those held captive.