SHIRAISHI Eijiro
Born: 11 February 1877 – Died: 26 March 1946
Particulars:
Eijiro was born in Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan. He was a widower, working on a farm in Kanaky / New Caledonia when the Pacific War broke out. He was taken to South Australia and was interned at Loveday Internment Camp. Throughout 1945 he was repeatedly admitted to hospital with swollen glands caused by cancer of the pharynx. He was transferred to Tatura Internment Camp in February 1946 and died there aged 69. His grave is in the Japanese Cemetery in Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.
–Mayu Kanamori
More info:
Michelle Belgiorno
Artist/s Statement:
In the late 19th century, around 1,000 Japanese went to New Caledonia, contracted to work in the nickel mines which were experiencing an increase in demand for their output. Some workers returned to Japan, and some stayed on, settling into island life. After France fell to the Nazis in 1940 and the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, it became important to the Allies that New Caledonia remain on the Allied side. With the support of the New Caledonian government, Japanese ‘enemy aliens’ living there were captured and transported to the internment camps in Australia for the duration of the war.
My paintings evoke the lives of three men born in Kyushu and living in New Caledonia, who were swept up unwillingly in the waves of war and human history. All three suffered poor health and died in Australia, perhaps caused by the stress and shame associated with their circumstances. Each image includes the individual’s name, profession, place of origin, and a spiritual symbol acknowledging their memory.
Shiraishi seems to have responded to several different first names – Eishira, Eijiro, and Eshiro – which makes me think he might have been a bit of a character. Thus, the bird challenging the authority of the surveillance tower. Loveday Internment Camp had a voluntary program of vegetable farming to feed internees, so I have portrayed him continuing his work as a farmer.
Artist Bio:
Michelle Belgiorno is a Sydney based artist working across various media including painting, sculpture, and collaborative fabric-based installations. A long term interest as an artist is the culture of Japan, drawing on a 50-year engagement with Japanese language, society, and aesthetics. She has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows and is represented by Art Atrium Gallery. Her work is held by the Australian War Memorial, the Cowra Regional Art Gallery and in several private collections. Michelle is Chair of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, which supports individual artists and arts institutions.