ETO Hiromu
Born: 1 May 1895 – Died: 20 December 1945
Particulars:
Eto Hiromu was born in Kumamoto Prefecture in southern Japan in the year of the wood sheep. He immigrated to Kanaky / New Caledonia. He was a Christian, and when ‘captured’ was working as a carpenter. He was single, without children, and had a brother in Kumamoto. Shortly after the breakout of the Pacific War, he was shipped to Eora / Sydney, Australia on the Cap des Palmes. He surrendered 25-30 francs to authorities at Hay Internment Camp in New South Wales. He was then transferred between camps in South Australia until his death at age 50 from peritonitis, at 5pm on 20 December 1945, 16 weeks after the war ended. He was buried in Ngawadj Country / Barmera in South Australia and later, his remains were relocated to the Japanese Cemetery in Wiradjuri Country / Cowra, New South Wales, Australia, where he rests to this day.
–Maira Shimada
More info:
Maira Shimada
Artist/s Statement:
Sing-Song (2025) Digital video, 5min
Of all the facts one can unearth it was his character I wanted to know, which of course survives official documentation but isn’t straightforwardly found. I sought every divine and astrological reading of him possible, but the websites wouldn’t let me search further back than 1900. In the end I picture him singing, telling stories. He had no kids – I picture him playing with other kids in Nouméa. He had no kids – there was no one to look for him. ‘Sing-Song’ reworks the identity as recorded by the government’s bleak description into Eto’s own wordplay. Who gets to tell about the cut on his left hand? What kind of voice is it? Who thinks of him now?
Artist Bio:
Maira Shimada is a Japanese-Australian artist based in Eora / Sydney. Foundations in Western and Japanese music form root to all other artforms she rooms with, be it dance, cinema, theatre or poetry. Everything is an experiment. Maira holds up mirrors and bounces light at odd angles. Simultaneously fascinated by and rejective of technological advancement, she has either utilised or abandoned technology to access other worlds in her work. Media range across video, ink, bread, sound, textile, and installation. She has presented in Eora group exhibitions at Darren Knight Gallery and Tiles Lewisham, with a 2023 solo exhibition at Kitchen Gallery.