Skirball Cultural Center
November 7, 2015
Sepulveda Pass
We took Margaret to see two special and related exhibitions: Manzanar: The War Time Photographs of Ansel Adams, and Citizen 13660: The Art of Miné Okubo. Both exhibitions run through February 21, 2016.
The Manzanar exhibition, offered in association with the Japanese American National Museum, is centered on photographs taken by Ansel Adams during World War II at the Manzanar internment camp in the Owens Valley. The exhibit also features work of two other photographers, Dorothea Lange and Toyo Miyatake. We signed up for the docent led tour of the exhibit and learned a great deal about the background of all three photographers.
Lange’s work was commissioned by the government but turned out to be too stark and realistic for the authorities. Her photos were suppressed at the time, buried in government archives and only released several decades later. Adams went to the camp later and was given a better reception, in part perhaps because of his acquaintance with the camp commander. Also, his focus was more on the everyday life of the inhabitants, and less on the grim aspects of their life in the camp. Adams published a book of those photos in 1944 while the war was still going on, Born Free and Equal, and through it he criticized the government’s policy of relocating Japanese-Americans to the camps. The entire book can be seen online at the Library of Congress website. The third photographer whose work is displayed in the exhibit is Toyo Miyatake, a Japanese American who was himself incarcerated during the war. Although cameras were not allowed in the camp, he smuggled in a lens and film holder and managed to construct a camera which he used to document life inside the camp.
The exhibit also contains other artifacts from the time, including anti-Japanese propaganda, pamphlets put out by the Society of Friends protesting the relocation and internment policies, and everyday objects from the Manzanar camp, such as the camp newspaper and high school yearbook. Several videos and other displays explain the controversies that arose with the government questionnaires camp inhabitants were required to fill out, including key questions about whether they would fight for the United States and renounce loyalty to the Emperor of Japan.
We next went on to the exhibit Citizen 13660, featuring the art of Miné Okubo. She was a Japanese American artist who studied in Europe. She came home to the United States after World War II broke out and was soon caught up in the forced relocation and internment. She sketched scenes of her experience from throughout her journey: from Europe, back to the U.S. hearing the news of Pearl Harbor, then at the Tanforan transfer station in San Bruno, and then at the Topaz camp in Utah to which she and one of her brothers were sent. In 1946 she published a book, Citizen 13660, containing those sketches together with narrative explanations. Today we might call her book a graphic novel. It is an important first person witness to the entire relocation and camp experience. We bought a copy in the museum gift shop which Meredith is currently reading. She promised to pass it along to Margaret, who expressed interest in it.
We then spent a little time in the museum’s permanent collection, Vision and Values, about the Jewish experience through history and particularly in America. The area has been re-organized since we last visited it. We enjoyed the display cases on life stages and also on religious holidays.
We ate lunch at the museum restaurant, Zeidler’s. The food there is consistently excellent, and the prices are reasonable for what they serve. Margaret and Meredith each had cheese blintzes; Bob had the salmon burger. Both dishes were served with ample sides of fresh fruit.
The Skirball is just one of three museums in Los Angeles which participates in the Bank of America Museums on Us program. On the first full weekend of each month, Bank of America debit or credit card holders can get in for free. Regular adult admission is $10 for adults. Parking is free.
We skipped our usual Starbucks stop and had our coffee break at the Skirball’s snack bar, then took Margaret home and rushed back to San Diego. We wanted to get home early, to be there when our middle daughter brought us the latest addition to our household, Casey, a mellow and friendly cat whose foster owner felt he would be happier in a home where he is the only cat.
