Floating Clouds by Hisako Hibi

In today’s episode we look at “Floating Clouds” by Hisako Hibi, one of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans incarcerated in prison camps on the West Coast during WWII. Paintings like this served as the only visual record of life in the camps as well as a way for prisoners to deal with the harsh conditions.

We’ll find out how she and her family were able to build a new life after the war and how she persevered through her art and with the help of fellow immigrants. 

SHOW NOTES  “A Long Look” themes are "Easy" by Ron Gelinas https://youtu.be/2QGe6skVzSs and “At the Cafe with You” by Onion All Stars https://pixabay.com/users/onion_all_stars-33331904/

EPISODE MUSIC “Timeless One” by Solas Composer https://soundcloud.com/solas_composer/timeless-one

“Eastern Thought” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/music.html

Artwork information Hisako Hibi https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/floating-clouds-119617

Detention camp paintings https://janm.emuseum.com/groups/hisako-hibi-collection/results

Hisako Hibi info https://americanart.si.edu/artist/hisako-hibi-33445

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hisako_Hibi

https://americanart.si.edu/blog/japanese-american-artists-hibi

https://www.becomingvisible.si.edu/stories/hisako-hibi

https://womenshistory.si.edu/blog/hisako-hibis-work-artist-was-almost-lost

Exhibition info Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo

Transcript available at https://alonglookpodcast.com/floating-clouds