Maru: Immigration Stories
Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre
In 2020, Blue Rhino Design was engaged by the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) to design an exhibition to document the history of the Japanese Nikkei (people of the diaspora) in Canada and the rest of the Americas. Told through stories, images, and artifacts, the exhibit showcases the resilience and perseverance held by the immigrants in the face of prejudice and discrimination.
Our designers developed a series of wall-height graphic panels that referenced the visual language of Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending it with gold, to show how the Japanese diaspora, although dispersed, is also whole. To tell the stories, Blue Rhino Design drew from the rich archives of the JCCC, and integrated Japanese and English text throughout. We also provided interpretive writing and interior design services.
The exhibition opened in 2021.