From across the fenceline, stabbed into this land

(Sanctuary is a practice series)
Weston Teruya & Grace Rosario Perkins
green calcite, tar paper, papier mâché, acrylic, cardboard, and scrap fabric from a piece created by Perkins & her grandmother
sculpture: 32″ x 13″ x 13″  // print: 68″ x 47.25″
2018

During World War II, some of the internment camps used to incarcerate Japanese American citizens—like the Gila River Camp–were built on Native American tribal lands. In the case of Gila River, this was built on Akimel O’odham and Piipaash lands under pressure and promises that incarcerated Japanese Americans, many of whom were skilled farmers, would make agricultural improvements (which did not materialize because the infrastructure left behind made the land challenging to use). There are stories from Japanese American families held there about O’otham folks in the area who recognized the violent injustice of internment and sometimes snuck food across the fence line or made other small gestures of support.

This object was created through a collaboration between Teruya (Japanese & Okinawan American) and Perkins (Diné & Akimel O’odham) in recognition of this intertwined history. Elements from the piece like the (faux) wood carving, particularly birds, references the craftwork done by many incarcerated Japanese Americans as a means of maintaining avenues for cultural practice and expression.

For more information see: Denshō, “Gila River Concentration Camp: Intersecting Japanese American and Indigenous Histories” (2015).

Sanctuary is a Practice is a series of objects that explore the histories of communities who have had to self-organize or create alliances with other groups to build their own sanctuaries, systems of mutual aid, and resilient cultures in the face of injustice and xenophobia. These pieces take the form of imagined talismans that invoke a sense of protection and resistance to adverse forces by combining cultural references and archival materials to tell a story about the practice of collective survival.

The series was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission – Public Art Program‘s Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series (a project co-funded by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency). The artists selected for 2018 were asked to create work exploring the theme of “sanctuary” and San Francisco’s role as a Sanctuary City.

sculpture photograph by Kija Lucas, street installation photos by WT