4.9 (Sat) – 4.13 (Wed)

Hafu Photo Exhibit

What does it mean to be mixed-race in modern day Japan? The Hafu Project is a visual and sociological study & representation of half Japanese people or hafus(*). The work provides an unfolding journey of discovery into the intricacies of what it is to be a “hafu” in modern day Japan as well as on a global scale in a time where culture, nationhood and identity are increasingly fluid.

*The word hafu, with its origins in the English word “half”, is a term coined in Japan to refer to mixed race Japanese people, which is most widely used in Japan right now.

“I’m treated as a foreigner both in Japan and in Germany. I feel that maybe from the Japanese people’s point of view I am not Japanese. And I’m not German in the eye of a German person either. I feel that being a hafu in Japan has been favourable. There are good-looking hafu models and athletes so people take an interest in me. In Japan people have a good image of hafus. It is nice to be able to have that international-ness too. People don’t notice that I’m a hafu because I think I look quite Japanese. I’ve had them say that I looked Filipino and Russian. Maybe because these are countries in between Germany and Japan.” – Maya Christ Sakuma (Mother: Japanese | Father: German)

Gallery Hours
Sunday, April 10th – Wednesday, April 13th
Noon – 6pm Daily. Admission is Free.

★ Launch Evening & Reception
Saturday, April 9th, 7pm – 10pm
SOLD OUT! THANK YOU!
For more information please email cjs-events@berkeley.edu.

The launch evening of The Hafu Project Photo Exhibit will celebrate its US debut with a kick-start featuring a curator’s talk by The Hafu Project duo Natalie and Marcia! This is followed by Dr. Duncan Ryûken Williams’ (UC Berkeley) presentation on the Hapa Japan Database. The evening also features commentator Kip Fulbeck (UC Santa Barbara), author of the book 100% Hapa.

To top it off, the evening will screen the documentary film “One Big Hapa Family” (2010) with a conversation with film director, Jeff Chiba Stearns. Food is catered for by Peko Peko Owner, Sylvan Mishima Brackett, former Creative Director at Chez Panisse. Music by DJ Saul Kato.

★ Curators’ Tour
Sunday, April 10, 3pm-5pm
Free – no reservation required

You will tour the Hafu Project exhibition along with the curator duo who will give you an insight into the making of the project, and talk through some of the key themes to the project – cultural, national and racial identities. There will be ample time to ask questions regarding the project and on the topic.

★ Social Evening
Sunday, April 10, 8pm
at RYE
Free entry – drinks available to purchase at bar

This is a social evening for anybody and everybody. Come and celebrate diversity and meet the Hafu Project duo. We hope to gather San Francisco’s hafu community but also anybody else who wants to meet and greet us!

★ Curators
Natalie Maya Willer
Photographer

Natalie was born in Munich, Germany to a Japanese mother and German father. She moved to London
in 1997 where she studied photography at the University of Westminster and completed an MA in
Communication Art & Design at the Royal College of Art in 2004. Natalie’s current art practice deals with
the subjects of cultural diversity and mixed ethnic heritage. Being half Japanese and half German, she
likes to look into issues surrounding identity and appearance, exoticism and orientalism.

Marcia Yumi Lise
Social Researcher

Marcia was born in a suburban town in Kanagawa, Japan to a Japanese mother (Oita) and an Americanfather (NY). After living in Kanagawa, Tokyo, Nagoya, she moved to London in the year 2001, aged 19. She studied sociology at London Guildhall University (BA) and at Goldsmiths College, University of London (MA) and is now residing back in Japan. Marcia’s quest for an exploration of the experiences of hafus stems from her own experience of being a hafu in Japan. Her research interest lies in the area of race, ethnicity, identity and nationalism/nationhood.

For more information, visit http://www.hafujapanese.org/index.html

Artists Representation:
Exhibitions may end, but we still represent artists for a duration of time. Please contact us anytime to see artwork images and price lists. info@superfroggallery.com