Heart Mountain to Hold Opening Event for New Music Exhibit

May 11, 2019

Heart Mountain Interpretive Center will host an opening event for its newest exhibit, “Songs on the Wind,” at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 17. In addition to a viewing of the exhibit, the opening will feature a musical performance by guest curator Julian Saporiti. The event is free and open to the public.

“Songs on the Wind,” explores the role music played in the lives of Heart Mountain incarcerees. Supported in part by a grant from thinkWY/Wyoming Humanities, the exhibit blends film, music, art, and camp artifacts. The hope is to immerse audiences in this unique aspect of Heart Mountain’s history.

The exhibit is guest curated by Saporiti and Erin Aoyama, both doctoral students in American Studies at Brown University studying the Asian American experience and Japanese American incarceration. Aoyama and Saporiti have focused much of their research on the musical history of the camps and, in an effort to reach a broader audience, have turned their research into original folk songs and a multimedia storytelling performance, called “No-No Boy,” which they have shared with audiences around the country.

Saporiti will perform some of these songs at the Friday evening event, and will discuss some of his research. Attendees will also get a first look at the exhibit itself. Executive Director Dakota Russell says the exhibit covers a subject that doesn’t always get the credit its due. “Music is important during hard times,” Russell says. “For Japanese Americans coping with their incarceration, music was not only a way to mentally ‘escape’ from their daily stress, but also a reason to come together as a community.”