Mako Kikuchi – In Shadows 陰で
In Shadows, produced in part through the Jack Straw Artist Support Program, is a multi-generational collaborative composition between composer Mako Kikuchi and the Omoide Project, a collective of Seattle-based writers whose work remembers and preserves the wartime experiences and legacies of Japanese America. The creation of this album began in remembrance of the 80th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 by Franklin D. Roosevelt. While not explicitly naming the Japanese community, this order authorized the forced removal of all individuals deemed a threat to national security. In total, over 125,000 individuals of Japanese ancestry were incarcerated, approximately two-thirds of whom were American citizens. Kikuchi and the Omoide writers bring the sounds, memories, and emotions of this experience into the present. In Shadows bears witness to the deep trauma that resides in those who experienced and those who are descended from this incarceration.
