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The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre invites artists, makers, and community members to participate in our 2026 community arts exhibition, Friendship through Culture (2026).
This year’s exhibition explores the evolving meanings of a phrase that has long shaped Japanese Canadian cultural life. What first emerged as a gentle expression of survival and resilience in the face of discrimination has shifted over time into an open, if complex, practice of belonging. Today, “friendship through culture (2026)” carries multiple potential interpretations - diasporic, generational, newly arrived, hybrid - and asks us how culture can both preserve memory and create new ways of living together.
We welcome submissions in all media (painting, photography, textiles, sculpture, installation, video, digital works, craft, etc.). Works may be offered for sale through a consignment agreement.
Deadline to submit: January 9, 2026 at 11:59pm
Exhibition runs: March 1 – May 29, 2026
More details and submission link in bio.
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𝗦𝗲𝗱𝗮𝗶 𝗢𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗶 𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘆
Time: September 28 at 2:30-5:30pm
Join us for a special off-site Sedai Oral History
Workshop!
This interactive workshop will be facilitated by Karen Suzuki, Sedai Outreach and Education Coordinator and a mixed race yonsei. Learn about interviewing skills, what kind of questions to ask, how to talk about consent and what equipment to use to record.
Oral histories are an invaluable addition to the historical record; filling the gaps by adding the voices of ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
Shintani Gallery opened in March 2023, holding multiple shows platforming Japanese Canadian artists. The gallery also hosts workshops, events, and other programming, with a focus on Japanese Canadians artists and creatives.
Please note that this workshop will be limited to participants who self-identify as Japanese Canadian or Nikkei.
Light refreshments will be provided. Free to attend.
Link in bio to register now✨
Photo 1: JCCC Original Photographic collection, 2001-5-40
Photo 2: Courtesy of Will Shintani – Exhibit: Revealed, Miya Turnball, October 2023
#oralhistory #archives #communityarchive #japanesecanadian #history #nikkei #storytelling #japandiaspora #interiews #interviewingelders
Thank you so much to everyone who came out to join us at our Grab Your Senbei launch event!! 🍘
It was so incredible to see everyone in person and on zoom. We hope you had as much fun as we did. If you weren’t able to make it, don’t worry —we’ll be posting the videos on our website in the coming days, so keep your eyes peeled!
We also want to extend a massive thank you to MOMOTea ( @momoteatoronto ) for graciously donating such a wonderful selection of teas for the event. If you enjoy sipping on Japanese teas, from traditional matchas to flavoured senchas, check out their online store! 🍵
✨Join the Japanese Canadian Arts and Activism project (JCAAP) — a research project led by Associate Professor Izumi Sakamoto — for the Launch of “Grab Your Senbei,” an educational video series about Japanese Canadian arts, culture and identity, while snacking on some senbei (Japanese rice cracker). This five-part video series uses stop-motion animation, live footage, and archival material to honour, investigate, and celebrate Nikkei culture in Canada.
📍Meet in the FIFSW Student Lounge (Room #320) at 2pm on March 7 to fill a popcorn box up with senbei and view the screening. 🎥
📍Event website with registration link:
https://socialwork.utoronto.ca/event/film-screening-grab-your-senbei/
