Michi Itami: Akira’s Life: The Irony of Being American
Title:
- Akira’s Life: The Irony of Being American
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Exhibiting Artist(s):
Symposium:
- ISEA95: Sixth International Symposium on Electronic Art
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More artworks from ISEA95:
Venue(s):
Medium:
- Multimedia
Artist Statement:
This multimedia piece is about my father’s personal odyssey. Born in America, raised in Japan, he returned to America when he was nineteen. When the war began, we were all put in Manzanar, a “relocation camp”. A year later they asked internees if they would like to volunteer for the U.S. Army. They would not recognize your citizenship rights, but they would let you volunteer to serve the same country who had deprived you of those rights. Due to my father’s work for the U.S. Army’s Intelligence Unit, they awarded him the Legion of Merit, the highest non-combat medal in the service. He was then made Head of the Interpreters Unit for the Tokyo War Crimes Trials.
