Ken Okiishi: A Model Childhood

September 20, 2021 - April 10, 2022
Mānoa Campus, The Art Gallery, Art Building

The Art Gallery, University of Hawaii at Manoa, is proud to present "Ken Okiishi: A Model Childhood." In this exhibition, Okiishi meditates on the fraught legacy of Japanese-American history and the model minority myth in the larger contexts of American, global and continuously rewritten fragments of Asian-American history.

Originally planned for The Art Gallery for spring 2021, this major exhibition looks at the artist’s family history as Japanese Americans in Honolulu in the 1940s, including the impact of the Japanese-American internment on their lives. A history of objects, it also puts on display a video, a photographic slideshow, and all the objects from Okiishi’s childhood home. Together, the components of the exhibition interrogate notions of American identity and speak to what it means to grow up queer and between cultures. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue with an essay by Negar Azimi.

Open from September 20 - December 9 for fall 2021, this exhibition will close during the winter break, and reopen from Jan. 10 – April 10, 2022 for the spring semester.

Events & Programs (free and open to the public)

Sunday, February 20, 2022, 2:00 – 3:15 p.m.

Public gallery walk-through with Ken Okiishi

Tuesday, March 1, 12:00 – 1:15 p.m.

Zoom talk with Ken Okiishi

(info is subject to change)

Admission is free. Following current covid-19 protocols. Gallery hours: Sun. – Thur. 12:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Closed Fri., Sat.; Veterans Day, Nov. 11, and Thanksgiving, Nov. 25 & 26; Examination period Dec. 10 – 17; Winter Break, Dec. 10 – Jan. 9; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Jan. 17; Presidents Day, Feb. 15; Spring Break, Mar. 14 – 18; Prince Kuhio Day, Mar. 25; Good Friday, Apr. 15; Easter, April 17.

Image: Courtesy of the artist.


Ticket Information
Admission is free. Following current covid-19 protocols. Gallery hours: Sun.–Thur. 12:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.; Closed Fri., Sat.; see additional closed dates above.

Event Sponsor
Art & Art History, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Sharon Tasaka, 808-956-8364, gallery@hawaii.edu, https://hawaii.edu/art/ken-okiishi/

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