Gambatte! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit

GAMBATTE! Legacy of an Enduring Spirit is the first body of work devoted to capturing the past and the present of Executive Order 9066 through photographs and oral histories. Executive Order 9066 was issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, which led to the imprisonment of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Through the juxtaposition of historic images and contemporary portraits of the same individuals or their descendants, Kitagaki takes us on a visual exploration of the Japanese concept of Gambatte, or triumph over adversity.

In conjunction with GAMBATTE! the Museum will create an original exhibit, SITES OF INJUSTICE: Japanese Incarceration in Arizona, examining the federal internment facilities in our state: the large relocation centers at Poston and Gila River; the Leupp isolation camp, the Catalina prison camp; and a remote, hidden site housing Japanese diplomats from Hawaii. 

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website