Santa Fe library exhibit explores dark side of history
Throughout November, Santa Fe’s Southside library, 6599 Jaguar Drive, will host an exhibition and ongoing talks themed around World War II-era Japanese internment in New Mexico.
The New Mexico Japanese American Citizens League’s (NMJACL) traveling exhibit, “Confinement in the Land of Enchantment,” includes artifacts and re-creations of spaces created to educate the public about what happened at internment camps in Santa Fe, Fort Stanton, Old Raton Ranch and Lordsburg.
The goal of the exhibit is to educate New Mexicans on the history of Japanese-American internment in the state and to inspire conversation about issues of citizenship, identity and civil liberties.
The NMJACL will present “Confinement in the Land of Enchantment: The Play” at noon-1:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, at the library. The multimedia performance will bring to life stories of the prisoners, guards and residents of Lordsburg and Santa Fe. Admission is free.
Scheduled events run through Nov. 27 and include talks and films on the Japanese experience, as well as on the internment of Navajo people at the Bosque Redondo in the 19th century. The Santa Fe’s Dreamers Project is also hosting talks about “past and present migrant detention camps.”
A full list of events is at santafelibrary.org.