As part of the 9th Vanport Mosaic Festival
May 18-June 1
Festival Program Here
AN AFTERNOON FOR ROOTING & RE-STORYING
SATURDAY June 1, 12-4pm
Free and open to the public
Delta Park/Assembly Center Portland Expo Center, Hall A, 2060 N Marine Dr., Portland, OR
Pop-up exhibits, tours, performances, singing, a community altar on the Indigenous land where Vanport once stood and Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated.
Bring a cup for lemonade/tea, your voice to sing along with a Threshold Choir, and an open heart to transmute pain, celebrate survivance, and everything in between.
We will root into this place through various stories of place curated over the nine years of this festival. We will re-story our intentions and imaginations for this place, and the numerous people impacted.
SOME OF THE OFFERINGS:
Remember Us: a temporary memorial created by Chisao Hata.
Force Lake Birdwatching and Historical Walking Tour: Led by historian Marti Clemmons and BIRDHERS Han Lyons.
Vanport Walking Tours of historic sites led by survivors, descendants, and educators.
Drumming by Native artist John Edmo
Portland Taiko
History Is Now - memory activism displays that amplify community histories - a Vanport Mosaic exhibit in collaboration with Design As Protest, Maxville Heritage Center, Latino Roots in Oregon, Afro Village, This IS Kalapuya Land/Five Oaks Museum, Oregon Black Pioneers, Oregon Jewish Museum, Japanese American Museum, Portland Chinatown Museum, Portland Black Panthers, People 4 Mutual Education, The Immigrant Story, Fair Housing Council
The Japanese American Museum of Oregon will display history boards, signage, photos, and memorabilia of the Portland Assembly Center.
Vanport: Story Lived. Story Told: Vanport Mosaic pop-up exhibit
Video Altar by Joemil Santos (content curation: Story Midwife Laura Lo Forti)- A container for our converging stories: past, present, and future; a space to enter willingly, contemplate quietly, and love unconditionally; an altar for the land and its people; a place to amplify, honor, present, and preserve the silenced histories that surround us; an opportunity to be in a circle, to be present, to witness, and ultimately, to choose: How will these stories live on? How and what will you add to these stories? What action will you take to make sure these stories never repeat themselves?
Vanport and Albina Murals by Alex Chiu created as part of Vanport Mosaic story circle
First We Remember, and Then? traveling installation launched during the 8th Vanport Mosaic Festival May 2023. Participants respond to prompts such as; What does it mean when a place is sacred? What does repair look like? The public is invited to bring items or offerings that symbolize remembrance and healing.
THE PORTLAND ASSEMBLY CENTER PROJECT Conceived by Chisao Hata and developed with Heath Hyun Houghton
Featuring: Joni Kimoto, Viola DeVigal, Charlotte Bridgeman. Celia Ferrer
Reading starts at 1pm - followed by community conversations
The Portland Assembly Center Project explores the lives of Japanese Americans who were subjected to the consequences of Executive Order 9066, including historic, economic loss, forced imprisonment, and cultural reckonings. Through this examination, the Project exposes the racial dynamics that continue to govern how we share the lands we call Portland, Oregon.
Featuring Senryu poetry from They Never Asked, by Shelley Baker-Gard, Michael Feiling, and Satsuki Takikawa. Written during the war by twenty two writers at the Portland Assembly Center, the poems were recently discovered by Duane Watari who found his grandfather’s journals from that time.
The Project will also welcome collaborations with Ken Yoshikawa, Toshiko Namioka and music by Joe Kye.
The Portland Assembly Center Project is made possible by the generous support of Metro Placemaking initiative, Japanese American Museum of Oregon, and the Regional Arts and Culture Council.