Exhibit: Before They Were Heroes: Sus Ito’s World War II Images @ Harvard Medical School Transit Gallery

Correction 5/31/17: Someone just pointed out to me that I had written the Saturday hours were on June 2nd. Saturday is actually June 3rd.


It is really unusual to have exhibits on the WWII Japanese American experience in the Boston area. The Transit Gallery at Harvard Medical School is currently exhibiting part of a very rare collection of photos from a Japanese American soldier who served in Europe in the segregated all Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team. I checked with the New England chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League and we believe this may be the first exhibit in the Boston area to focus on the 442nd. I'm not even sure if other photos like these exist.

Dr. Susumu Ito or Sus as he was known to those of us who knew him, took his 35mm Agfa Ansco to war against orders. In 2015 he told the Los Angeles Times, "I wanted to take [my camera] because we weren't allowed to. I like to break the rules."

Left & right: Japanese American soldiers in the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion
Center: Ito's family in incarceration at Rohwer War Relocation Center

Sus was 21 when he was drafted in 1940, prior to US entry into WWII. He served in a non-segregated Quartermaster truck and vehicle maintenance unit at Camp Haan near Riverside, California. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Sus was sent to Fort Sill in Oklahoma and restricted to civilian duty as a mechanic. In 1943 he was selected to join the 442nd and assigned to the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, the artillery unit of the 442nd. While Sus was stationed at Fort Shelby in Mississippi, his family was being unjustly incarcerated at the Rohwer War Relocation Center in Arkansas. He was able to visit them once before deploying to Europe and took photos of that visit. Cameras were initially banned inside War Relocation Authority incarceration camps and although restrictions were eventually lifted in the spring of 1943, few candid photos of camp life exist.

Photograph and note to Ito from Larry Lubetski, former Dachau Concentration Camp
prisoner. Lubetski was a Lithuanian Jew who was only a teenager when the
522nd Field Artillery Battalion helped to rescue him after the liberation of Dachau.

Sus and his camera went thousands of miles all over Europe. He documented everything he saw along the way – from Nazi soldiers and their prisoners (he helped to liberate Dachau) to the daily life of his fellow Japanese American soldiers between battles. Sus was a prolific photographer, taking thousands of photos, many of which he sent to his mom to let her know he was okay. The exhibit showcases just a fraction of the collection.

Silhouettes of six German soldiers retreating westward at dawn in Germany.
Spring 1945

After the war Sus continued his education with the help of the G. I. Bill and after receiving his PhD from Case Western Reserve University became a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell Medical School in the lab of Don W. Fawcett, Chair of the Department of Anatomy. When Dr. Fawcett was appointed Chair of the Department of Anatomy at Harvard Medical School in 1960, he brought Sus along with him as an associate professor. After retiring in 1990, Sus, as an Emeritus professor, remained active in the lab until 2014, happy to assist postdocs with electron microscopy, a field that he and Dr. Fawcett pioneered.

Ito on rest and recuperation, posing with his arm around the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
Summer 1945

The exhibit was first displayed at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California in the late summer of 2015. Sus passed away just a few weeks after the JANM exhibit closed. He was a beloved member of Boston's Japanese American community and of the Harvard Medical School community.

Before They Were Heroes: Sus Ito’s World War II Images

In 1994, the Japanese American National Museum received a donation of several dozen 35mm film canisters and their contents from World War II veteran Susumu "Sus" Ito. While serving in the all-Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team's 552nd Field Artillery Battalion, Ito took thousands of photographs and carried them nearly five thousand miles across Italy, France, and Germany during his wartime service.

In part, Ito took these photos to send to his mother, who was incarcerated at the Rohwer War Relocation Center. The snapshots depict a previously unseen and close-up view of the Nisei soldiers and their everyday experiences. Through the lens of Ito's camera, these young men are just that–young men, away from home and family, serving their country in a time of war. While some of the images capture the soldiers' heroism, most of the photographs show the smaller, human moments of daily life.

Unseen for over seventy years, Sus Ito's thousands of photographs provide a rare window into one person's extraordinary experience of everyday life as a soldier during World War II.

Ito's collection captures the iconic moments often associated with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team–from the rescue of the Lost Battalion to the liberation of two Dachau subcamps.

But these intense moments of war are punctuated by long periods of boredom and waiting. From Ito reading a Superman comic to soldiers stomping on grapes to make wine, the photos notably depict the more routine activities of wartime life. Ito purposefully captured and sent these snapshots to his mother as a way [to] reassure her of his safety.

Today, the collection of photographs stands as a unique record of an important period in American history.

This exhibit was organized by the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, and is sponsored by the Harvard Medical School Office of Human Resources, the New England Japanese American Citizens League, Dr. James Adelstein, Atsuko Fish, and May & Tetsuo Takayanagi.

The original exhibit also contained artifacts and videos which due to space and equipment limitations are not included in the Transit Gallery's exhibit. Later this year the exhibit will travel to the Fullerton Arboretum in Fullerton, CA from September 11th to December 1st. If you are interested in booking the exhibit, please contact the Japanese American National Museum.


Hours
Open through Monday, June 26, 2017
Regular Hours: Monday-Friday, 9am - 5pm
Special hours: Saturday, June 3, 2017, 1pm - 5pm
Note: If you are not a member of the Harvard Medical School community, please contact Tania Rodriguez in advance to ensure access to Gordon Hall. 

Location
Transit Gallery at Gordon Hall, Harvard Medical School
25 Shattuck St., Boston, MA 02115

Admission
Free and open to the public.

Directions & Parking
Getting to Gordon Hall is a bit of a challenge. Taking the Green Line is your best option. The closest T stop is Brigham Circle on the E Line. You can access Shattuck St. by walking through the courtyard behind the Countway Library of Medicine (the entrance to the courtyard is between the Countway Library and Harvard School of Public Health).

There is some 2 hour metered parking along Huntington Ave. but not a lot. Most of the nearby parking garages are attached to hospitals and I'm not sure if they are open to the public. The closest garage that I believe is open to the public is the Longwood Galleria Garage at 350 Longwood Ave. See rates here.

---

Related Posts

• Sus Ito, 1919-2015
• Local Nisei veteran Sus Ito to appear in Rose Parade

Further Reading

• Japanese American National Museum: More About Sus Ito
• American Photo: 1000 Photos by a Japanese-American WWII Draftee 
• Los Angeles Times: Sus Ito's WWII photos reveal daily life of a little-known Japanese American unit 
• The American Society for Cell Biology: The Extraordinary Life of ASCB Founding Member Susumu Ito
• The Harvard Crimson: HMS Professor Awarded Congressional Gold Medal
• Densho: 522nd Field Artillery Battalion
• Wikipedia: Susumu Ito

Exhibit: Twisted Again: The New Kumihimo @ Wedeman Gallery in The Yamawaki Art Center

Obi braided by Makiko Tada, Japan
Original obi tie method by Matsuko Levin, US
Kimono on loan from the collection of Matsuko Levin

After attending the MFA panel on Kimono Wednesdays on Sunday I dashed off to Newton to the opening reception of Twisted Again: The New Kumihimo, an exhibit of kumihimo art. Kumihimo is a Japanese textile art that traditionally involves the braiding of silk strands to make a cord. The exhibit showcases the work of six female artists from Japan, the US, the UK, and Australia who work with a variety of materials from the more traditional silk to modern materials such as monofilament. The pieces were really diverse and beautiful. It's a little out of the way for those who live in the city, but well worth the trip.

Twisted Again: The New Kumihimo

Follow the tracks of the ancient caravans and nomadic peoples throughout the world and you will find braids – fiber interlaced on the bias to make strong bands, belts, and cords needed to make everyday life possible. Using natural fibers of different shades, wonderful patterns emerged.  When traders came to a natural stopping point, like the Island of Japan, various stands to make the braids were invented and perfected making possible more and more complex braids using dozens of bobbins of many colors in multiple layers. The Japanese word for making these complex braids is “Kumihimo”.

While there is no census, and there are many braiders and ways to braid, maybe only 100 or so people in the world work at the advanced levels of Kumihimo.  In the making, there is a great sense of connection with the past and pleasure in rediscovering and perfecting the traditional patterns and working with the silk made in Japan only for work in Kumihimo.   But for some, Kumihimo is also a path for innovation and personal expression.  It becomes not just a technique but an art medium.  We celebrate this group in this show.

Our show brings together the work of six artists using the Kumihimo braiding techniques, all of whom are innovators with a unique voice. This first in the US show combines work from four continents: Australia, Japan, the UK, and the US.  When you come to the show, you will have a unique opportunity to listen in on the conversation between individuals and cultures as seen through these works.  Some follow an engineering approach – inventing new braid structures to create never-before-seen patterns and effects. Others follow a more evolutionary approach, experimenting with the process to see what will emerge as a piece grows.  While the traditional silk is still much in evidence, all of the artists experiment with different materials and fibers including paper, monofilament, and wire. Some want some functionality in their work and so have gone in the direction of fashion applications, true wearable art.  Others have left functionality and focus on art expression. But no matter the direction of exploration, these works all exude the joy and delight of discovery.

Date & Time
Open through Saturday, February 20, 2016
(Note: Some sites and materials mistakenly show the exhibit as being open through the 22nd.)
Informal conversation with curator and artist, Lyn Christiansen, on Friday, February 12, 2016, 4:00 - 6:00pm.
Please see the exhibit website for hours.

Location
Wedeman Gallery at the Yamawaki Art and Cultural Center at Lasell College
47 Myrtle Ave., Newton, MA 02466

Admission
Free

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers
Hiroko Ojima, Japan

Pieces by Jacqui Carey, UK

Wheel of Fortune
Lyn Christiansen, US

A nice feature of the exhibit is that there's a "Touch Table" with examples of most of the work in the exhibit. As a fiber artist I always want to touch textile arts, but it's a rarity to be able to do so. This was a great idea.

This was a completely unexpected find. Apparently Lasell College has owned this Japanese temple bell from Myokoku (outside Kyoto) since the 1800s when it was bought by Milton S. Vail, a friend of Lasell's principal, Dr. Charles C. Bragdon. This is not the only Japanese temple bell in the area. There is another Edo era Japanese temple bell in the Back Bay Fens. The Emerald Necklace Conservancy offers docent-led tours to see it.

Japanese Temple Bell
early 1800s, Edo period

Additional photos here.

Exhibit: Made in the Americas @ MFA

I had intended to write something much longer about this exhibit but I've run out of time. This is the last week of the MFA's Made in the Americas: The New World Discovers Asia. Made in the Americas showcases the work of artists from North and South America, including indigenous artists, who were influenced by goods coming in from Asia. Some of the objects in this exhibit come from the MFA's own collection and some were loaned from The Hispanic Society of America in New York and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In some cases they copied motifs (shown with a Peruvian tapestry that included Chinese mythological creatures and was clearly copied from imported Chinese textiles) and in others, came up with new techniques to replicate the look of Asian art (as with japanning). These days many of these artists would likely be accused cultural appropriation. It was incredible to see the way Asian art had inspired them to create art that was similar but uniquely their own. If you have time to see it before it closes on Monday, February 15th, I highly recommend it.

Made in the Americas: The New World Discovers Asia

Within decades of the “discovery” of America by Spain in 1492, goods from Asia traversed the globe via Spanish and Portuguese traders. The Americas became a major destination for Asian objects and Mexico became an international hub of commerce. The impact of the importation of these goods was immediate and widespread, both among the European colonizers and the indigenous populations, who readily adapted their own artistic traditions to the new fashion for Asian imports.

“Made in the Americas” is the first large-scale, Pan-American exhibition to examine the profound influence of Asia on the arts of the colonial Americas. Featuring nearly 100 of the most extraordinary objects produced in the colonies, this exhibition explores the rich, complex story of how craftsmen throughout the hemisphere adapted Asian styles in a range of materials—from furniture to silverwork, textiles, ceramics, and painting. Exquisite objects from Mexico City, Lima, Quito, Quebec City, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, dating from the 17th to the early 19th centuries, include blue-and-white talavera ceramics copied from imported Chinese porcelains, elaborately decorated furniture inspired by imported Japanese lacquer, and luxuriously woven textiles made to replicate fine silks and cottons imported from China and India.

The timing of the exhibition marks the 450th anniversary of the beginning of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade between the Philippines and Mexico, which was inaugurated in 1565 and ended in 1815, two and a half centuries later.

Date & Time
Through Monday, February 15, 2016
See MFA's website for hours.

Related talk: The Role of Religious Orders and the Introduction of Asian Arts to the Americas, Saturday, February 13, 2:00 - 3:00pm

Location
Museum of Fine Arts, Lois B. and Michael K. Torf Gallery (Gallery 184)
465 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115

The Southern Barbarians Come to Trader
Kanō Naizen

A Peruvian Cover is on display alongside a Chinese embroidered tapestry (on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art) that was made for export. Such tapestries have never been found in South America but were known to have been exported to Europe and the Americas. The MFA notes in the label that the Peruvian artisans "closely cop[ied] their format, style, and iconography." You can see how similar the motifs are, in particular, the mythical xieshi. The Chinese embroidery is believed to be from the Guangzhou region and was probably exported to Japan in the 17th century. It has been heavily re-embroidered, most likely in Japan in the 19th century. (Additional information provided by Pamela Parmal, Curator of Textiles and Fashion Arts.)

Left: Peruvian Cover, late 17th to early 18th century
Right: Panel with flowers, birds, and animals, 17th century

Description of Chinese motifs that were copied in Peruvian Cover

High chest of drawers, about 1730-40
Japanned butternut, maple, white pine

They also showed that the influence was not one-way, with this interesting panel by an unknown Japanese artist.

European King and Members of His Court
泰西王候図屏風 (Taisei ôkô zu byôbu)
Momoyama period 1601-14

Updates:

• 2/11/15: Added information about Panel with flowers, birds, and animals.