MAKISHIMA Kenji
Born: 10 October 1871 – Died: 10 August 1945
Particulars:
Kenji was born in Japan and arrived in Lucinda Point, Queensland, Australia aboard the SS Ome in 1897. During his time in Australia, he spent three years in Lucinda Point, 13 years in Townsville, 28 years in Boulia, and never revisited Japan. He was a widower with one son living in Gifu Prefecture in Japan, and in Australia, lived with an Australian woman for six years. Kenji owned a four room house built on leasehold ground valued at 100 pounds, stock worth over 300 pounds and furniture worth 100 pounds. He had bought a house worth 40 pounds for the woman he had a relationship with. When the Pacific War began, he was working as a gardener.
After his arrest, he was taken to Hay Internment Camp in New South Wales. He was admitted to hospital later that year with a pneumonia affected heart condition. He was transferred to Loveday Internment Camp in South Australia and was again admitted to the camp hospital. He died of cardiac failure aged 73. His grave is in the Japanese Cemetery in Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.
–Hannah Attwood
More info:
Hannah Attwood
Artist/s Statement:
In ‘The Compassionate Care of Kenji Makishima’, I extend my hands across time to care for a man who died in internment far from home during World War II. Through my research in the National Archives of Australia database, I discovered heartbreaking letters written to the woman with whom he shared a life, asking for her to bring him home during his illness. The archives also reveal her denial of this request — a devastating moment that speaks to the profound personal tragedies hidden within the larger historical narrative of wartime internment. This piece explores the intimate connection that can form between strangers separated by history, asking how we might honour the dignity of those who suffered without a witness.
This altar serves as both memorial and imagined space of care, creating the homecoming that Kenji was denied. It embodies my desire to provide the comfort that was absent in his final moments. Each element has been chosen with intention – folded blankets offer rest and the care of home, a chair stands ready for the carer to keep watch, tea and warm water provide nourishment, and candles represent the warmth of love and care that should have surrounded him.
Through this altar, Kenji’s name is spoken again, not as a prisoner number or foreign alien, but as a person worthy of remembrance and care.
In creating this moment of meditation, I set an intention to provide retrospectively the compassionate care that was denied to Kenji Makishima in his final days. The photographic image documents the work itself – a process based composition of a contemporary altar of care drawn with items from my own home, the place where I care for my family and friends. This connection between personal domestic space and memorial creates a profound intimacy, suggesting that remembrance is not distant or abstract, but woven into our everyday acts of care. I invite viewers to join in this ritual of remembrance, to recognise our shared humanity, and to reflect on how acts of witnessing and caring might transcend the boundaries of time.
Artist Bio:
Hannah Attwood is a dedicated arts worker with a background in art history, curation, and high level arts administration. As the Director of Brisbane Multicultural Arts Centre (BEMAC) in Queensland, Australia, she leads initiatives supporting Queensland’s diverse communities through artistic expression. Drawing on her curatorial expertise, Hannah creates thoughtfully designed programs that bring marginalised narratives to the forefront of cultural discourse. As a hobbyist archivist, she brings a deep appreciation for historical research and documentation to her professional work.
Her work at BEMAC involves collaborating with intercultural artists to explore narratives of home, identity, migration, and the hybridised cultures that shape contemporary Australia. Through exhibitions, performances, and community arts projects, Hannah creates platforms for voices that have historically been marginalised in Australia’s cultural landscape.
Hannah is particularly drawn to projects that illuminate the intersection of personal and historical narratives. Her approach to ‘The Compassionate Care of Kenji Makishima’ exemplifies her belief that art can serve as a vehicle for retrospective justice and healing, bridging temporal and cultural divides through acts of empathy and witness.
Storytelling lies at the heart of Hannah’s work. Through her curatorial projects and program leadership, she reveals how individual and collective narratives can challenge dominant historical perspectives. By bringing together her professional work in intercultural arts facilitation with her personal passion for archival discovery, Hannah endeavours to present intimate reflections on Australia’s complex cultural history while inviting audiences to consider how our past continues to shape our present.
Originally from California, USA, Hannah has called Australia home for 25 years. She currently lives in Brisbane, Australia with her three lovely children.