Join us for the second annual Artist Showcase! Celebrate our amazing community of Asian Canadian artists and help raise funds for the National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Centre. This showcase of Asian Canadian artists is guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser, featuring gorgeous pieces by a diverse group of contemporary and traditional artists and artisans who have generously donated work in all media, including painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, mixed media, jewelry, and much more. Continue reading ASIAN CANADIAN ARTIST SHOWCASE & ART AUCTION (Apr 9) – tickets on sale now!

Film Screening
Friday, March 26, 2010, 7pm
Special Events Hall
This new film is a biographical portrait of one of Canada’s greatest painters. Tanabe was born near Prince Rupert, interned in the Slocan area, then began painting in the early days of the abstract expressionism in the late 1940’s. Now in his early 80s, Tanabe is still avidly painting and continues to push boundaries in art. Director Catharine Chesterman will be in attendance. A Q&A session and refreshments will follow.

A Tragedy of Democracy: Japanese Confinement in North America

Tuesday, March 9, 7pm
Intergenerational Room 105

Greg Robinson will present a talk on his recent book A Tragedy of Democracy. This is the first book to analyze official policy toward West Coast Japanese Americans within a North American context. Approaching Japanese confinement as a continental and international phenomenon, Robinson offers a truly kaleidoscopic understanding of its genesis and outcomes.

Join us for an afternoon for two Ohanashi screenings this Saturday February 13 at 2pm. Kazue Oye and Alfie Kamitakahara will be in attendance.
See here for more information.

Saturday, February 27, 2pm

Copyright: Leonard Frank by Director Eli Gorn
Leonard Frank came from Germany to Canada in 1892. Overwhelmed by the beauty and grandeur of his new homeland, he started carrying a camera with him into the back country. Leonard Frank became one of Canada’s greatest photographers. 23 minutes.

Pilgrimage by Tadashi Nakamura
With a hip music track, never-before-seen archival footage and a story-telling style that features both old and new pilgrims, PILGRIMAGE is the first film to show how the WWII camps were reclaimed by the children of its victims. The Manzanar Pilgrimage now has fresh meaning for diverse generations of people.  It was failure of democracy that would affect all Americans. This film brings new and much-needed insight to the lessons of the past for our post-9/11 world. 22 minutes.

A public screening of Ohanashi: The Story of Our Elders, a 10 part series of life stories of Japanese Canadian elders, directed by Susanne Tabata and produced by the Japanese Canadian National Museum.
Some screenings will be followed by a discussion about the Japanese Canadian internment lead by Leslie Komori.  Leslie Komori is a third generation Vancouverite. She is active in the Japanese Canadian community, creator of the Lemon Creek Map Project, and a member of several Taiko groups.

Continue reading OHANASHI (5 part series)

Two Views: Photographs by Ansel Adams and Leonard Frank
This compelling collection of photographs by renowned photographers Ansel Adams and Leonard Frank presents two views of Japanese American and Canadian internment and incarceration in the early 1940s. Opening reception January 16, 4-6pm. Exhibition continues until March 13, 2010.