Kip Fulbeck posed the oft-asked question, ‘What are you?’ His exhibit shares the answers of people identifying as hapa 15 years apart and opens at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon on May 21
Artist Kip Fulbeck has often been asked, 'What are you?' by people who wonder about his race. He addresses the question in an art exhibit, “hapa.me” (“hapa dot me”), opening in Portland on May 21 during Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
The Japanese American Museum of Oregon, or JAMO, at 411 NW Flanders St. will host the exhibit through Aug. 13. The day the exhibit opens to the public, Fulbeck is slated to deliver a talk at 2 p.m. in Old Town at 220 NW Second Ave. on the eighth floor.
This exhibition tour is organized by the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, where “hapa.me” was on display in 2018. Portland is the first city to host the exhibit since the pandemic. However, the genesis of the exhibit dates back over two decades.
In 2006 Fulbeck shared a photo project with the intent to show the many faces of “hapa,” a Hawaiian term for “half.” Hapa comes from the Hawaiian term “hapa haole,” meaning “half white,” since the early 1800s. Hapa is now commonly used by multiracial Asian and Pacific Islanders who are American.
The exhibit
The original 2006 exhibit, based on Fulbeck’s book of the same name, was titled “kip fulbeck: part Asian, 100% hapa.” The exhibit consisted of color photographs of multiracial people with their handwritten answers to a question so often asked of people of color: ‘What are you?’
Today there is a new photo of each person 15 years later with their handwritten answer to the same question, again on a 7-square-inch paper.
The color photos and words, past and present, are displayed side by side in a large installation of 46 framed images under glass that measure 28 inches by 22 inches and take up 125 linear feet. The photos are accentuated by a plain white background. This is the result of Fulbeck’s attention to detail; he refers to himself as a "perfectionist" in his work.
Creating the project
Fulbeck grew up in a small rural town in unincorporated Los Angeles County. His mother was Chinese American, and his father, a teacher at Cal Poly, was white.
“I made the book I wish I'd had growing up,” Fulbeck said. “My brother was the first Asian kid in elementary school, and I was the second. Where I was coming from wasn’t a receptive place for ‘minorities,’ but I wouldn’t change where I grew up because that made me who I am.”
Fulbeck started the project in 2001 by traveling to Los Angeles, Seattle, Honolulu and Santa Barbara, California, photographing over 1,200 volunteers who identified as hapa. He also went to Madison, Wisconsin; New York City; San Francisco; San Jose, California; San Diego, California; Waimanalo, Hawai'i and Chicago.
He started in San Fransisco with the Hapa Issues Forum Conference, with about 60 people volunteering for photos. He started reaching out to others through Craigslist and other platforms and didn’t realize how big it would get.
“I’d show up, and there’d be like 30 people at the door,” Fulbeck said. “A lot of people said they’d been waiting for someone to do this.”
He took photos and showed them to the participants, often doing many retakes. Some people wrote several pages about themselves and their racial identity. They had to pare it down to fit on a seven-inch square paper.
“It's a real labor of love,” Fulbeck said. “Every person I take a shot of I talk to, and they have stories.”
The Hapa Project was aimed at raising awareness and acknowledging the millions of multiracial Americans and other previously ignored racial groups. Fulbeck also wanted the project to serve the purpose of encouraging acceptance of multiracial children while contributing to a positive sense of identity. It is unique in that it addresses hapa identity and myths about exoticism and racial homogeneity. Fulbeck said that he wanted to take the question ‘What are you?’ and let people answer in their own way.
Fulbeck said after 15 years, he found 135 people he had photographed the first time — many email accounts, phone numbers and addresses changed in the intervening years.
The new exhibit shows the changes over time for each individual in their appearance and their perspective on their racial identity.
A new entry from one woman reads, “I am a challenge for the simple mind to try to make sense of with labels, prejudice, & stereotypes.” When she was younger, she wrote, “I am a person of color. I am not half-‘white.’ I am not half-‘Asian.’ I am a whole ‘other.’”
Fulbeck said many interviews were iconic, adding he became friends with some interviewees. Outside of the interviewees, he’s heard from people about the impact of the project.
“... One of my former students, I knew him for almost two years before he told me when he was in high school, he cut out a 7-inch square and glued it into the book with a photo and statement because he so wanted to be part of this,” Fulbeck said. “He was always too embarrassed to tell me.”
Lucy Capehart, JAMO director of collections and exhibits, has been working with a small crew to prepare the exhibit, of which there’s an opening for “friends of JAMO” on May 20 with Fulbeck present.
The exhibit returning to JAMO is a full-circle moment, as the museum also hosted the first version of the exhibit in 2011. Capehart said it’s as relevant as ever.
“These issues of identity are much more in the news, and people are more aware these days,” Capehart said. “It will make many people feel welcome in the museum setting. The images and statements are really telling and fascinating. Part is interactive; people will come away feeling like they were a part of it.”
Visitors can have their portraits taken and write their own personal statements.
A 200-page, full-color catalog of the exhibit will be for sale at the museum store. The project started with a book which was then the impetus for the framed photos and narratives. Fulbeck has written six books, including “Part Asian, 100% Hapa” and “Mixed: Portraits of Multiracial Kids.”
Artist background
Fulbeck took a circuitous route to become an acclaimed artist.
“I went to five undergrad colleges and happened to end up at UCSD and ended up with some fantastic teachers, and it wasn’t until I started making art that I realized that this was fulfilling to me,” Fulbeck said.
He remembers when he decided to become an artist. He had been a pre-med student in a family of high achievers. It was during his senior year in college, and had been a tough time; his grandmother was going to a nursing home, he had lost his best friend since kindergarten and his swimming career was in upheaval.
“I had a project due that week, and I tossed it,” Fulbeck said. “I put slides and a recording together. I didn’t care, I just showed it. It was so freeing. Every one of my peers said it was the best work I had ever done. I can do work that’s important to me, and it affects other people. I realized that’s the power of art.”
In order to support his art career, Fulbeck is an art professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His honors include the university’s Distinguished Teaching Award. He has created several new classes over the years and said that his favorites to teach have been “Spoken Word,” “Intersection of Art and Life” and “Personal Narrative.” All incorporate creativity and self-expression.
“People love to define other people,” Fulbeck said. “People are complex and nuanced. There’s so much gray area. I tell students you have to define who you are. If you don’t define who you are, someone will do it for you.”
The brief narrative presented with each photo is part of someone defining themselves.
“It's an individual story,” Fulbeck said. “One person's story. You realize that one story is a grain of sand at the beach. If you don’t have that one story it’s just a beach.”
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