Finding Forgiveness at the Museum of Vancouver

Image courtesy of the Museum of Vancouver / Projection design by Cindy Mochizuki

Join us on January 6, 2023, for an illuminating discussion panel on World War II Japanese Canadian Internment, presented by the Museum of Vancouver (MOV), and produced in collaboration with UBC Library, the Arts Club Theatre Company and the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre.

Inspired by Finding Forgiveness, a stage adaptation of Mark Sakomoto’s “Forgiveness,“ on now at the Arts Club Theatre, the event will include a special preview of the play followed by a moderated panel. The panel will feature: Forgiveness playwright Hiro Kanagawa; playwright and museum educator Carolyn Nakagawa; community elder and educator Vivian Rygnestad; and community elder, writer, curator, and activist Grace Eiko Thomson. A Q&A will follow where attendees may ask questions to the panelists and the actors.

This event is supported by UBC Community Engagement through the UBC Partnership Recognition and Exploration Fund, which was awarded to UBC Library thanks to the efforts of Allan Cho, Community Engagement Librarian at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and Tomoko Kitayama Yen, Japanese Studies Librarian at the Asian Library.

Earlier this year, UBC Library provided public programming around the Joan Gillis Fonds , a collection of letters written by Japanese Canadian youth during WWII, which was added to the Canadian Commission for UNESCO’s Canada Memory of the World Register in recognition of its historical value. The library also created a digital exhibit of select letters from the Joan Gillis Fonds by engaging with family members and descendants of the Japanese Canadian letter writers, who granted permission to digitize the letters and make them accessible online as an open access resource.

“Part of UBC Library’s role in this partnership is to invite these family members to attend this panel event at the MOV,” says Cho. “This unique collaborative event builds on UBC’s commitment to building its relationship with the Japanese Canadian community.”