Common Ground: The Japanese American National Museum and the Culture of Collaborations

3. Creating Community One Voice at a Time: Traveling Exhibition Programs That Help Create Community

CREATING COMMUNITY ONE VOICE AT A TIME 43 3 3 Creating Community One Voice at a Time Cayleen Nakamura TRAVELING EXHIBITION PROGRAMS THAT HELP CREATE COMMUNITY FROM ITS INCEPTION, THE JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM (National Museum ) has been committed to sharing the Japanese American experience as a uniquely American institution with local, national, and international audiences. The Japanese American community is defined in broad terms as the culmination of many individual stories and histories. Although significant populations of Japanese Americans reside in certain cities in the United States, particularly on the West Coast and in Hawai‘i, their forced dispersal during World War II has made this population a community without geographic boundaries. Common issues of identity, cultural traditions, language, and life experiences are shared whether one is from California, New York, or Hawai‘i. And in some cases, even if one is not of Japanese ancestry, one can claim a connection and find a comfortable, familiar place in the Japanese American community because of shared experiences. The National Museum accepts the challenge of defining and creating a sense of community among Japanese Americans by finding ways to involve members of CAYLEEN NAKAMURA 44 the community in fulfilling its mission. This notion is rooted in the belief that the best way to share this story is by using the authentic voice—the first-person narrative. The National Museum has an obligation as a national institution to find local stories and histories and connect them to the larger narrative that is Japanese American history. Working with individuals, organizations, and communities; involving them in the decision-making process; giving them ownership of materials presented; and helping them express their story within the broader Japanese American experience are rarely easy and often complex. Creating connections and relationships among local Japanese American communities, host partner sites, and the National Museum entails an investment of time, resources, and energy. Results can be measured in immediate, tangible ways such as through attendance, media visibility, and revenue. More often, however, results are measured over the long term. Individuals are transformed by their involvement, history is documented and shared, and communities are defined and strengthened and individuals transformed through their participation. This chapter highlights one of the National Museum’s traveling exhibition projects and focuses on how it utilized key opinion makers and local individuals to help create, define, and sustain a community identity that exceeds geographic borders. It also touches on some of the challenges involved. BACKGROUND In 1995 the Japanese American National Museum was invited to bring one of its traveling exhibitions to the greater New York/New Jersey area. The exhibition, America’s Concentration Camps: Remembering the Japanese American Experience , became the centerpiece of a larger community collaboration among the National Museum, the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, and the greater New York Japanese American community. It was also the latest effort in a long-standing commitment by the National Museum to work with the greater New York– area Japanese American community, an effort that started in the early 1990s. The National Museum had three goals regarding the collaboration: 1. To tell the Japanese American World War II experience to as broad an audience as possible; 2. To involve the local Japanese American community in the interpretation and sharing of this story, thereby ensuring that the “first-person” voice would be represented; 3. To continue and strengthen the relationships between the National Museum and the New York Japanese American community that had begun years earlier. CREATING COMMUNITY ONE VOICE AT A TIME 45 As with any community collaborative process, there was a need to understand the dynamics of community history and to create a base of trust and support. Some of the challenges facing the National Museum in this collaboration were: 1. Distance—The staff of the National Museum was located in Los Angeles, and the actual project was being implemented in New York City. Not only did the geographic distance make personal meetings time- and cost-prohibitive, but the time difference made telephone communication difficult at best. 2. Out of sight, out of mind—The lack of a physical presence in New York made it difficult to have a pulse on the community. The National Museum relied heavily on its leadership and Advisory Council members to provide critical feedback and advice on how to proceed with each step of the project. 3. No central meeting place—Historically, the Japanese American community in New...