Short Poem for Friday

Below is Lawson Inada reciting one of his poems.

 

Opening Night

Last Friday the Rio Gallery hosted the inaugural  exhibit for Topaz: Artists in Internment. It was a successful showing despite the competition with the opening of the Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake City. Thanks to all who made this opening possible. Thanks to poet Lawson Inada who attracted quite the audience with his storytelling as part of the event. And a special thanks to all those who participated in the Jan Ken poems. Below are some pictures of the event:

Jan Ken Po-ems at the Topaz Exhibit

We want your thoughts and responses to the artwork created by artists, no longer alive, who visually recorded their lives behind a barbed-wire fence.

Come to the Rio Gallery tonight and throughout the Topaz exhibit's run (through February 10) and add your words. Begin with one of the pieces of paper provided at the front of the gallery. Each paper has three words written on it. Your words can come before one of the words or after. You may cross one out and add another to the list. You choose. If you wish, just begin with a blank piece of paper and write a Jan Ken Po-em.

In Japan, Shinto temples and, often, trees and bushes are places where individuals may leave a paper prayer. In our version, your poem may be a poem, a wish, a dream or a prayer.

Please post on the wall and read the thoughts others have left before you.

Topaz is UP at the Rio Gallery

Topaz: Artists in Internment is officially open at the Rio Gallery in Salt Lake City. The exhibit runs through February 10. The public reception will be this Friday, January 20th from 6-9 PM in conjunction with the Salt Lake Gallery Stroll, but it doesn't end there. A series of special activities are being held in conjunction with the exhibit.


Please note these dates if you are interested in attending any of the following events.

Jan. 19, 7:00 PM

Merrill-Cazier Library, Room 101

Utah State University, Logan

A reading and discussion will be held with former Oregon poet laureate Lawson Inada who was interned with his parents in camps in Fresno, Arkansas and Colorado. 

Jan. 20, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Rio Gallery

300 S Rio Grande St, Salt Lake City

The opening reception will include a screening of the short documentary Days of Waiting, a reading by poet Lawson Inada, recognition of survivors and descendants of the internment and an ikebana arrangement by Theresa Sueoka. Days of Waiting is about the experience of Estelle Peck Ishigo, a Caucasian woman who followed her husband into internment. This Steven Okazaki film received an Oscar for best documentary short subject. 

Feb. 3, 7:00 PM

Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

20 S West Temple, Salt Lake City

A screening of the documentary Unfinished Business, also by Okazaki and a best documentary feature Oscar nominee. It will be followed by a panel discussion with Lawson Inada and civil rights activist Mark Alvarez. Unfinished Business is about three young Japanese Americans who refused to obey Executive Order 9066, the Wartime Relocation Act. 

Feb. 4, 4:00 PM

Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

20 S West Temple, Salt Lake City

A screening will be held of American Pastime, a fictional account of the establishment of a baseball league in an internment camp based on the in-camp league started by Chiura Obata, who also founded the art school at Topaz. 

Feb. 4, 7:00 PM

Salt Lake Buddhist Temple

211 W 100 S, Salt Lake City

Plan-B will perform a reading of BLOCK 8, an original play about a young Japanese man struggling with the decision to enlist in the military to prove his loyalty to America and who befriends a librarian at Topaz whose son is fighting overseas. The production enjoyed a sold-out, world-premiere run at Plan-B in 2009 in conjunction with Day of Remembrance events. The reading features the original cast of Anita Booher (Ada) and Bryan Kido (Ken) directed by Jerry Rapier. The production will be followed by a post-show discussion with the cast, director, playwright Matthew Ivan Bennett and poet Lawson Inada. Online reservations are encouraged for the reading of BLOCK 8 and can be made by clicking Script-In-Hand Series at planbtheatre.org. 

The special events are free and open to the public. Stay tuned for additional events, updates and opportunities to join the conversation!