NaOmi
Shintani
public art
Oyster Purifying Mandala
12th International Forest Art Path 2024 and Art Nature Water
Artist Symposium in Darmstadt, Germany, permanent
This oyster-shell sculpture highlights the environmental benefits of oysters.
They act as water purifiers by filtering and removing pollutants from the sea. One large oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day. They also remove excess nitrogen from water by absorbing it into their shells and tissue as they mature.
Oysters are called “ecosystem engineers” because they create large reefs of thousands of individual oysters. These reefs play an essential role in the nearshore coastal environment, providing habitat for many other species. They also serve as natural breakwaters – since their physical structure absorbs the force of waves, creating calmer waters on the shoreline side of the reef and reducing the impacts of erosion.
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The blue, transparent center of the Oyster Purifying Mandala connects to sunlight filtering through the trees and transmits a beautiful blue light along the forest path. If visitors catch the Oyster Purifying Mandala at the right time, they can experience this magical occurrence.
Tanforan Incarceration 1942,
Resilience Behind Barbed Wire
permanent public art exhibition located in the San Bruno BART station (Bay Area Rapid Transit), California
8,000 people were imprisoned due to their ethnicity from April 28-October 13, 1942 at the site of the 1942 Tanforan temporary detention center. They were Bay Area children, parents, adults, and elders. Now a transit station and a shopping mall, Tanforan was the largest Northern California facility to incarcerate people of Japanese descent, 64% who were American citizens by birthright. Upon its closure most of the inmates were moved to Topaz concentration camp in Utah.
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I curated this permanent exhibition to honor and acknowledge these prisoners. Many lived in smelly and dirty horse stables of the repurposed Tanforan racetrack, which was commandeered for this purpose in early April 1942.
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My desire is that the exhibition inspires dialogue about racial discrimination, identity, and civil liberties. Understanding the histories and traumas of the past can lead to equitable and humane treatment of all people.
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More information can be found at https://www.bart.gov/about/planning/art-program/exhibit
augmented reality, Hidden Histories of San Jose Japantown
Through augmented reality (AR) technology, your mobile device becomes a gateway to visions inspired by the milestones that shaped Japantown. You will see and interact with the art, which is overlaid on current-day Japantown. Learn more here: https://hiddenhistoriesjtown.org/
Generations Transform the Issei Memorial Building
LOCATION: Issei Memorial Building, 565 North 5th Street, San Jose, CA
DESCRIPTION: The Issei Memorial Building (IMB) has been a landmark in Japantown since 1910. The San Jose Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is the steward of the IMB and maintains the legacy of this living monument. The four images that will surround you in this AR depict various facets from the IMB’s history: Kuwabara Hospital, San Jose Taiko, hostel for released incarcerees, and J-Town Community TV.
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ARTIST’S STATEMENT: My goal is to infuse pride and understanding about this important site and San Jose Japantown history through focusing on the groups that have called it home and their activities.
I incorporated images created with transparent washes of watercolor in the style of Artist William Kentridge — to express the fluid and transformative nature of the Issei Memorial Building. Animation, sound, video, and hand painted text bring the augmented reality to life.
The building is unique in that it continues to transform by being the location for generations of important groups that keep the community evolving and responding to current issues that affect its residents and others touched by injustice and prejudice in our country.
augmented reality, Tanforan Incarceration 1942,
Resilience Behind Barbed Wire
augmented reality, permanent public art exhibition located in the San Bruno BART station (Bay Area Rapid Transit), California
Augmented reality (AR) is the integration of digital information with the user's environment in real time. AR users experience a real-world environment with generated perceptual information overlaid on top of it.
Soon you will be able to see the sleep girl in a horse stable, hear her story and experience animation in the BART station. Thank you to artist and activist Lucien Kubo who provided her mother's Tanforan story. Created by artist Na Omi Shintani with support of Colin Wright.
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Historic background
8,000 people were imprisoned due to their ethnicity from April 28-October 13, 1942 at the site of the 1942 Tanforan temporary detention center. They were Bay Area children, parents, adults, and elders. Now a transit station and a shopping mall, Tanforan was the largest Northern California facility to incarcerate people of Japanese descent, 64% who were American citizens by birthright. Upon its closure most of the inmates were moved to Topaz concentration camp in Utah.
​
I curated this permanent exhibition to honor and acknowledge these prisoners. Many lived in smelly and dirty horse stables of the repurposed Tanforan racetrack, which was commandeered for this purpose in early April 1942.
​
My desire is that the exhibition inspires dialogue about racial discrimination, identity, and civil liberties. Understanding the histories and traumas of the past can lead to equitable and humane treatment of all people.
​
More information can be found at https://www.bart.gov/about/planning/art-program/exhibit