Lois Harada: Wish You Were Here

WISH YOU WERE HERE is a suite of screenprints inspired by WPA (Works Progress Administration) posters. Instead of highlighting National Parks or tourist destinations in the United States, these prints are based on Japanese American incarceration sites. The prints are accompanied by a run of letterpress postcards and a penny press offering souvenir takeaways.  The exhibition will open on August 11, 2022 just a few days after Victory Day in Rhode Island. In 2019, Harada started a poster campaign to encourage residents to rethink the naming of the holiday which many Rhode Island residents refer to as Victory over Japan Day or VJ Day. This holiday has long felt exclusionary for Asian American residents. In 2020, the project expanded to a banner towing plane carrying the message #RENAMEVICTORYDAY over the beaches of Rhode Island on the day. 

 

WISH YOU WERE HERE is supported by Interlace Grant Fund's 2021 Project Grants for Providence-area visual artists. Interlace is co-administered by Dirt Palace Public Projects and Providence College Galleries with underwriting from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.