Published February 5 2025
Day of Remembrance (Feb. 19) unveiling at Bellevue Library
The City of Bellevue, in partnership with the King County Library System, is proud to present Emerging Radiance, an art installation and audiovisual experience created by Michelle Kumata and Tani Ikeda.
The city will host an opening event at the Bellevue Library, 5:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, the Day of Remembrance for Japanese American Incarceration.
“We are honored to partner with the Bellevue Library to share this amazing piece of art and history with our community,” said Mayor Lynne Robinson. “The City of Bellevue purchased Emerging Radiance to offer public access and engagement with our history in a unique and beautiful way. We thank the artists Tani Ikeda and Michelle Kumata for creating this work and the library for housing it.”
Two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Executive Order 9066 was signed on Feb. 19, 1942, which resulted in the forced removal and incarceration of 125,000 people of Japanese descent, including 60 Japanese American farm families living in Bellevue.
Emerging Radiance – originally commissioned through the Meta Open Arts program – is a small house with murals featuring Bellevue residents on each side. The installation uses augmented reality technology to allow visitors to hear recordings and watch animated illustrations of real Bellevue farmers from the first half of the 20th century Toshio Ito, Rae Matsuoka Takekawa and Mitsuko Hashiguchi as they share their connections to the land before the war, during incarceration and post-World War II. These first-person accounts were created and preserved by the Densho Project.
“The skin tones are shades of gold and yellow to convey reverence and honor for these individuals and the Japanese American farmer community,” said Kumata.“The color also represents how these people were viewed and targeted at that time, and also how we – Asian Americans – continue to be viewed and targeted as yellow people and forever foreigners. Yellow represents how we own our unique cultures, heritage and history and embrace the beauty of being different.”
An interactive website will offer the augmented reality experience of Emerging Radiance starting Feb 19. A documentary film about the artwork is currently available on the site. The art installation itself will be at the Bellevue Library at least through 2027.
“At our core, libraries are about opening doors to insight, inspiration and learning. Emerging Radiance is a beautiful expression of history and perspectives and how they intertwine with the communities we serve here in Bellevue,” said Heidi Daniel, executive director of the King County Library System. “Our partnership with the City of Bellevue made this possible, and I want to commend the artists Michelle Kumata and Tani Ikeda for sharing their work with everyone in the community.”
To register for the opening celebration, visit KCLS.