JAPANESE PROBLEM

THE AWARD-WINNING, SITE-RESPONSIVE EXPERIENCE ABOUT THE JAPANESE CANADIAN INCARCERATION AT HASTINGS PARK

JAPANESE PROBLEM is a title derived from the nomenclature of WWII, but containing in it the understanding that the citizens affected at the time were neither Japanese--they were overwhelmingly legal residents/citizens of Canada, nor problematic--with zero verifiable connections to activities against Canada. 

JAPANESE PROBLEM invites an audience into a stall, which residents have turned into a temporary home and place of wonder, as they are filled with the uncertainty of their next destination.

The piece exists in the contemporary moment simultaneously, where evidence of Hastings Parks’s former tenants has been erased, where survivors are uncertain if they want their names included in a memorial; and where refugees to North America are being treated in a fashion that is terrifyingly familiar.

We acknowledge this area as the unceded and traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səlil̓wətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation). We are fortunate to live, work and create on these stolen lands, and only hope to work toward a better future here.