MASUDA Otota
Born: 9 June 1879 – Died: 5 July 1942
Particulars:
Otota, often known as Oto, was born in Japan and arrived in Australia in 1888. He spent most of his life in Sydney but visited Japan in 1935 and returned the following year. He was a laundryman living and working in Mary Street in Gympie in Queensland when the Pacific War broke out. When he was arrested, he owned two stretchers, blankets, one quilt, one clock mirror, and laundry plant equipment including a collar machine, washing tubs, and a copper boiler with an estimated total value was 12 pounds 10 shillings, all at his home address. He had 2 pounds in cash, which was handed over to the authorities in Meanjin / Brisbane. He was interned at Hay Internment Camp and died of congestive cardiac failure at the age of 62. His grave is in the Japanese Cemetery in Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.
–Mayu Kanamori
More info:
Christopher Bentley
Artist/s Statement:
Not much is known of Otota Masuda, a laundryman by trade, and the records from Hay Internment Camp held at New South Wales State Archives only detail his death. The white sheets in my artwork hang in quiet tribute, their starkness evoking both the domestic labour he likely performed, and the erasure enacted by the internment process. Masuda’s story, like many others, was shaped by racist wartime policies that targeted non-white Australians, stripping individuals of their rights, histories, and identities. The stamp in the corner, drawn from his coroner’s report, underscores the cold, administrative language that documented his death. His memory, and those of the other Queensland internees who died, lingers in the folds of the fabric, a reminder of the lives consigned to footnotes in the archives.
Artist Bio:
Christopher Bentley is a digital artist based in Ipswich in Queensland, Australia with a focus on digital preservation, obsolescence, the decay of information, and how to keep it safely for a long time. Christopher’s journey in digital preservation stems from a deep seated curiosity about the intersection of technology and memory. Through his work, he seeks to bridge the gaps between past, present, and future; advocating for the importance of preserving our digital legacy and finding new ways to work with obsolete tools and limitations.