Pacific Voices: Keeping Our Cultures Alive

The groundbreaking Pacific Voices exhibit grew out of a five-year collaborative process that brought together members of Washington State’s diverse Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native American communities. The exhibition became a vehicle for the expression of a variety of voices exploring sources of cultural identity: objects, rituals, ceremonies, and traditions that both anchor and showcase the ways of life of Pacific Rim communities.

Each of the seventeen chapters highlights a unique cultural object: Rose Dang and Thuy Vu see the Vietnamese incense burner as a vehicle for carrying prayers; ‘Iwalani Christian calls the Hawaiian pahu the voice of the gods ; the Reverend Dean Koyama describes the Japanese obutsudan as an altar for remembering loved ones; and Vi Hilbert presents the Coast Salish river canoe as a place to learn patience. Each vibrant narrative is accompanied by colorful photographs and illustrations, and helpful sidebars provide historical and contextual information. Taken together, the stories in Pacific Voices provide a fresh perspective on the multicultural world in which we live, as well asvaluable insights into the diverse cultures of the Pacific Rim.

For more information visit:http://www.burkemuseum.org/exhibits/pacific-voices-0