INVISIBLE EMBRACE

Premiered in September 2021 at Spread Art in Detroit, MI as part of the Detroit Month of Design, presented by Design Core Detroit

‘Invisible Embrace’ is a sound installation / performance by AAPI performance collaborative IS/LAND and Knight Arts Challenge Detroit and Kresge Arts Fellowship recipient and sound innovator Joo Won Park. A meditation on intergenerational healing, this performance interweaves spoken testimonials by Japanese internment camp women survivors with the reflective movements of the IS/LAND dancers. These women’s stories of resilience and survival, in the face of anti-Asian bigotry and a restrictive patriarchal society, spotlight how far AAPI women’s roles in American society have both progressed and yet remained stagnant.

The restorative and healing properties through physical movement and storytelling are the central themes of ‘Invisible Embrace’, an experiential exploration of the connections between the dancers with each other, the audience, and the storytelling survivors.

Performed and Choreographed by Catherine Hepler, J Amber Kao, and Chih Hsien Lin
Sound Installation by Joo Won Park
Music by Jienan Yuan
Set Design by Chien-An Yuan

Oral life history interviews with Japanese American women survivors of Japanese Internment Camps courtesy of the Oregon Nikkei Endowment Collection and the Densho Digital Repository.