The Portland Assembly Center Project
Conceived by Chisao Hata
developed with Heath Hyun Houghton
Cast
Joni Kimoto
Viola DeVigal
Charlotte Bridgeman
Celia Ferrer
The Portland Assembly Center Project explores the lives of Japanese Americans who were subjected to the consequences of Executive Order 9066, including historic, economic loss, forced imprisonment, and cultural reckonings. Through this examination, the Project exposes the racial dynamics that continue to govern how we share the lands we call Portland, Oregon.
Featuring Senryu poetry from They Never Asked, by Shelley Baker-Gard, Michael Feiling, and Satsuki Takikawa. Written during the war by twenty two writers at the Portland Assembly Center, the poems were recently discovered by Duane Watari who found his grandfather’s journals from that time.
The Project will also welcome collaborations with Ken Yoshikawa, Toshiko Namioka and music by Joe Kye.
The Portland Assembly Center is made possible by The Japanese American Museum of Oregon, the Vanport Mosaic, Metro Placemaking, and the Regional Arts and Culture Council.
The Portland Assembly Center Project is part of the annual DAY OF REMEMBRANCE
Altar, pop-up exhibits, tours, screenings, performances, and activations on the Indigenous land where Vanport once stood and Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated.
June 1st, 12:30-5pm
Portland Expo Center, Hall A, 2060 N Marine Dr., Portland, OR
May 31, 2025
Preview starts at 3pm
June 1, 2025 3pm With Resonance Ensemble/We Are Still Here
Portland Expo Center, Hall A,
2060 N Marine Dr., Portland, OR
Free and open to the public
