Traveling Exhibit- Then They Came for Me

Then They Came for Me presents this historical event from multiple perspectives. Drawing upon the powerful images uncovered from the National Archives for the book Un-American: The Incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II by Chicago-based photo historians Richard Cahan and Michael Williams, the exhibition features works documenting the eviction of Japanese Americans from their homes and their subsequent lives in the incarceration camps. Among the commissioned works, the exhibition also presents images of daily life in the camps by artists and inmates Toyo Miyatake and Miné Okubo. Also included are photographs by contemporary photographer Paul Kitagaki Jr., whose work on this subject was recently published in National Geographic.

Combined with additional artifacts made by incarcerees, historical documents, videos and a rich array of cultural, historical, curatorial and political programs the exhibition illuminates this historical event from several vantage points that includes the rise of state-sanctioned anti-Japanese sentiment in the late 19th century, conditions within the camps, the irreplaceable loss of many Japanese Americans’ homes and personal property, the resettlement process, and Japanese American postwar activism fueled by the experience of wartime incarceration.

Then They Came for Me will host a robust series of programs including events featuring author Duncan Williams with the musician scholars No No Boy, Kambara + Dancers, and a discussion about tracking down the subjects of Dorothea Lange’s photographs with photo historians Richard Cahan and Michael Williams and Lange’s official biographer, Elizabeth Partridge. Additional programming will include discussions on the current state of U.S. immigrant detention camps, the Muslim Ban and rise of Islamophobic hate crimes, film screenings, music, family activities and more.

Then They Came for Me travels from its second showing at The International Center of Photography in New York (2017-18) following its debut at Alphawood Gallery in Chicago (2017). The upcoming third iteration will offer a look at the incarceration specific to the West Coast.

The exhibition is designed by Tomomi Itakura of i-k design, formerly the Director of Exhibition Design at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Senior Designer at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.