DC Museumgoer

Out of a shameful chapter in U.S. history, moments of grace.

That pretty much sums up the remarkable collection of handmade objects on view at the Renwick Gallery exhibit, The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946.

I knew about the camps, of course, thanks to my AP American History teacher, but the experience of internees seems underreported even today.

The 120,000 ethnic Japanese who were forcibly relocated during the war– a shocking two-thirds of whom were American citizens by birth–evidently found ways to make art amid the misery. Paintings, Buddhist shrines, carved teapots, hand-sewn baseball jerseys: they’re all testament to years spent waiting, creating objects of beauty as the California desert sent clouds of dust rolling through the barracks.

The exhibit’s most unforgettable items are the small, carved bird pins, painted in painstaking detail. Based on photographs from back issues of National Geographic, the pins were particularly popular in the arts and crafts classes offered throughout the camps. Japanese love of craftsmanship aside, it’s easy to imagine the artists taking mental flight.

The Art of Gaman runs through January 30, 2011.