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Camouflage Net Project

By NAP

Camouflage net by artist Tara Tamaribuchi at Method Gallery Her studio is in Inscape Arts Cultural Center the first local site of Japanese American incarceration during WWII Photo Arielle Simmons

Artist Tara Tamaribuchi and dance choreographer Gabrielle Nomura Gainor join forces on an art+dance project based on the WWII camouflage nets made by Japanese Americans at the Manzanar incarceration camp, California. The nets entered history through the thoughtful photographs of Nisei making them by Dorothea Lange.

The 2023 artistic net — made from kimono fabric — and associated dance performances are anti-racism statements.

Tsuru Ko dancers Photo Joseph Lambert

Commissioned by the US government, Lange’s pro-JA perspective led the former to bury the photos in the National Archives, from which most would not emerge until 2006. In imposing the historical net-making on the Manzanar people, the government skirted Geneva Convention rules against employing POWs in defense work by coercing Nisei to do work which they did not want to.

“Our Asian communities continue to feel… invisible while simultaneously being targets of violence and racism. It feels… important to be visible as Asian artists right now.”
— Gabrielle Nomura Gainor

Event Details can be found here.

Method Gallery, 106 3rd Ave S, Seattle (Tashiro Kaplan All-Arts Bldg)
Info: methodgallery.com
Instagram: @methodgaller
@tara_tamaribuchi  @gabriellekazuko

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The North American Post is a community newspaper that celebrates Japanese culture in the Greater Seattle area. Founded by 1st generation Japanese-Americans in 1902, the publication is one of the oldest minority-owned newspapers in the region. Today, with bilingual articles in English and Japanese, the publication connects readers with diverse cultural backgrounds to Seattle’s Japanese community. Our articles include local news, event calendars, restaurant reviews, Japanese cooking recipes, community interviews, and more.