Topaz Internment Camp

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Topaz Internment Camp
48 in
x
52 in
(122 cm x 132 cm)
Year
2021
Photo Credit
Mark Harvey
Price
$0.00
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My mother was a teacher at the WWII Japanese concentration camp at Topaz, Utah. This piece is from a map that details how the Topaz camp was divided into blocks which held 250-300 people in 12 barracks, with a mess hall and latrine. The camp was surrounded by barbed wire fences and watch towers.

The red lines reference the Japanese idea of kintsugi, which treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than as something to disguise. The red lines represent how the Japanese internees’ lives were indelibly shattered when they were imprisoned in the camps, and their resilience in the struggle to put their lives back together after they were released.
Materials
Vintage kimono fabrics, raw edge appliquéd, machine quilted