QUOTE
Helen Keller once said…
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.”
(American author)
CONCEPT
Gaman
Gaman is a Japanese concept describing the ability to endure difficult or seemingly unbearable circumstances with patience, dignity, and self-control.
This idea emphasizes maintaining composure and perseverance when circumstances are beyond our control. It encourages people to face hardship without allowing frustration, fear, or adversity to dictate their behavior.
It reflects the distinction between what happens to us and how we choose to respond. We cannot always control our circumstances, but we can exercise some control over our responses to them.
STORY
You Can Take the Man Out of the Art … but Not the Art Out of the Man
In 1942, the U.S. government forced a respected California art professor from his home and confined him to a former horse racetrack.
His name was Chiura Obata, a Japanese-born painter who taught at the University of California, Berkeley.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government ordered the forced removal and incarceration of roughly 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry. Obata and his family were sent to the Tanforan detention center near San Francisco, where approximately 7,800 people were confined in hastily converted horse stalls and barracks.
Rather than surrendering to despair, Obata decided to create something meaningful within the camp.
On May 25, 1942, less than a month after arriving, he opened an art school in one of the camp's mess halls. With the help of 16 instructors, he organized classes in painting, drawing, design, and other artistic disciplines.
The school eventually enrolled 636 students, ranging in age from five to 78, and offered 88 class sessions each week.
Obata described one of the school's primary objectives as maintaining "one spot of normalcy."
Despite tremendous adversity, Obata continued painting. He eventually returned to teaching at Berkeley in 1945.
His artwork from the incarceration camps remains an important historical record, capturing both the injustice of confinement and the humanity of those who endured it.