Craft objects made by Japanese Americans comprise one of the most significant categories of artifacts from the World War II concentration camps. This exhibition examines arts and crafts as an important outlet for Japanese Americans during World War II, and explores what these items mean today as we reflect on the legacy of the incarceration.

Crafting History: Arts and Crafts from America’s Concentration Camps will draw from the National Museum’s extensive and unrivaled collection of camp arts and crafts including: bird and shell pins, wooden vases and figurines, furniture, obutsudans, needlework including embroidered and crocheted items, as well as other fabric-based items such as textiles.