Experience the exhibition by Na Omi Judy Shintani 'Dream Refuge for Children Imprisoned,' where art breathes life into the silent struggles of imprisoned children. Come visit the exhibition at Asian Arts Gallery, Center for the Arts, Towson University.
Artist Statement by Na Omi Judy Shintani:
“I began this installation process with “The Innocent Dreamer” the first sleeping child I drew in honor of the Japanese American children imprisoned at Tanforan Racetrack in San Bruno, California after the Pearl Harbor attack. I stuffed the girl’s mattress with hay and was instantly transported to that time, experiencing the smell and itchiness, and the insult of having to make my bed to sleep in a horse stable. The life size child drawing elicited tearful memories of those who were children in American concentration camps. She touched all kinds of people’s hearts and souls. She brought home the horror of imprisoning children as terrorists in our country.
Then the shock of the treatment of Central American children at our borders bombarded me, and I did what I always do - express my activism through art. I expanded the project to include more sleeping children to connect the US history of incarcerating children to the atrocities happening to children being imprisoned and separated from their families today. While the children safely slumber in the Dream Refuge, one can hear the realities of their experienced trauma, and know that it may still affect them now. The drawings represent Japanese American children that were incarcerated for years in American concentration camps during WWII (my own father being one of them), American Indian boarding school children who were denied their culture and were taken from their communities, and the Central American children who are imprisoned, separated from their families, and living in squalid, unsafe conditions at the border.”
Date and Time: April 19 – May 18 (closed March 17-24)
Monday – Saturday 11 am – 4 pm
Asian Arts Gallery, Center for the Arts, Towson University
1 Fine Arts Drive, Towson, MD 21204
For more info: bit.ly/aacc-events