Curator Talk: Noguchi and Japanese American Internment During World War II

Curator and scholar Christina Hiromi Hobbs examines Isamu Noguchi’s decision to voluntarily enter the Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona during World War II. The talk will consider Noguchi’s motivations, the effect of his incarceration on his life and artistic work, and the broader history of art created during the incarceration of Japanese Americans.

The program also places Noguchi’s experience in the context of the more than 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated in U.S. camps after the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. The event is supported by the Lowell Institute.

When: Saturday, November 14, 2026

Showtimes: 1:00–2:00 pm

Run time: Approximately one hour

Venue: Peabody Essex Museum, Morse Auditorium

Tickets: Free with preregistration

Registration: Preregistration is required.

Speaker: Christina Hiromi Hobbs, a Bay Area curator, writer, and art historian

About the speaker: Hobbs is a Ph.D. candidate in Art History at Stanford University, where she studies modern and contemporary art of the Asian diaspora and the history of photography. Her recent work includes curating *In the Presence Of: Collective Histories of the Asian American Women Artists Association* at Berkeley Art Center in 2024 and co-curating *No Monument: In the Wake of the Japanese American Incarceration* at the Noguchi Museum in Queens in 2022. She also serves on the boards of the Toshiko Takaezu Foundation, Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages, and Poston Community Alliance.

Historical context: The talk addresses the Poston camp in Arizona and the experiences of Japanese Americans incarcerated there during World War II. The event page directs audiences to the Densho documentation project and Poston Preservation for additional stories and historical information.

Support: The program is supported by the Lowell Institute.