Relocation Luncheon, Joel Sanderson; Roger Shimomura

Relocation Luncheon is an installation created by Roger Shimomura for a 1996 exhibition at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis. In this recreation of the installation, videos remastered from original VHS tapes run on four TV monitors mounted on the walls surrounding a picnic table. Audio recordings of 31 entries from the diaries of Toku Shimomura, the artist’s grandmother, evoke the experience of living in Minidoka, the internment camp where Shimomura’s family was unconstitutionally imprisoned during WWII. The background in the videos changes to reflect the changing seasons. When installed in Minneapolis, Shimomura envisioned the installation as a place where local office workers could gather to eat lunch. The new version includes an image of the guard towers that surrounded the camp. Kimiko Yamamoto, KU professor emerita of East Asian languages and cultures, reads the diary entries. The original video was created by Mark Crabtree and Joel Sanderson, who also composed the accompanying audio and remastered the current version. This installation is meant to evoke the feeling of being in a Japanese internment camp. You are welcome to sit at the table as you experience this space.