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GR: Tell me about the Brazil art or photography scene? LK: The Brazilian art is growing up. We have a lot of nice artists here showing their artwork abroad (Europe and USA). But it's hard to live just doing art. So many artists have jobs or teach in school of arts. GR: How large are your photos displayed and what kind of reaction do people give, especially at the openings? LK: My newest pictures are 1.00x80 cm. People have several reactions, it's funny. When the exhibition opens, I like to walk around hearing the comments, principally if people aren't friends of mine. I come closer asking, "What do you think about this picture?" And I have all kinds of response like, "Oh, it's nice, poetic..." or "It's horrible, I didn't understand" and we start to talk about it. Also it's interesting when someone don't recognize me in the pictures. They ask "is this person your friend?" And I say "yes, she is a very close friend... it's me in the photo," and they get surprised looking at me in a strange face... |
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GR: Why are people's name spelled with 'R' always with a silent 'R' like Ralph sounds Halph? LK: Are you asking about the sound of letter 'r' in Portuguese? If so, is just a phonetic spelling. It's hard to answer this question because all cultures have different spellings for the same letter. However, in Brazil there are many spellings for 'r'. If 'r' comes before a consonant and next a vowel in the word, the sound is more like 'r' English spelling. If 'r' is the first letter of the word, the sound is more like Halph and so on. GR: Tell me about your parents (or grandparents) came to Brazil from Japan? And why they came? LK: My grandfather knew something about Brazil in a documentary movie in Japan. I think this movie was a kind of publicity made by the Japanese government about other countries. He was an adventurer and curious man (as my mother says) so he got interested about this country. In fact I think it was a kind of deal between Brazil and Japan, because my grandfather and other Japanese people got a lot of land from the Brazilian government when they came here. It was early 30's and the ship he came was called "Kasato-maru". He met my grandmother here, got married and had children in Brazil. |
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GR: What's like being Asian Brazilian? LK: I didn't grow up into the Japanese culture so it's a little strange to think about. My education was more non-Asian, even tough I speak Japanese a little, and I like Asian culture. We're very different than other Japanese-Brazilian families, I suppose, where kids go to Japanese school early. Anyway, I feel good living between two different cultures, having two nationalities inside me. I never had problems being Asian Brazilian. GR: Are you considered a second class citizen? Do people respect you? Is there racial tension of any sort? LK: No, I'm considered as any Brazilian citizen. Because Brazil, you know, has several nationalities living together. We are all descendents of immigrants, and people don't care much about the race you are. But for black people, it's tough. They have problems, and for this reason, Brazil has laws against racial prejudice (even tough laws don't work and mean nothing around here...). Also, the principal tension is not racial but economical. People who have less money than others are treated bad, and are humiliated by stupid persons. These are our historical and social situation and this shit makes me real sick of humans sometimes. |
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GR: Are there other Asian Brazilian artists we should know about? LK: There's a lady named Tomie Ohtake, she is a famous painter here. And a male artist name Tomoshige. In my generation, there is a nice girl Marie Iwaikiri, she lives in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro. Key Sawao does experimental works in contemporary dance. And music there is Ricardo (I don't remember his last name), he plays his guitar really nice in "The Gasolines," an indie rock band. GR: Are there any other Asian Brazilians we should know about? LK: Not a person, but a neighborhood called Liberdade, a piece of Japan in Sao Paulo. Good restaurants and small stores there. GR: Is Lincoln Ueda a hero? LK: Well, skateboarding isn't a popular sport here so... but for me he is a hero! |