Artist: Yuko Taniguchi
The truth of mountains
The day the mountains move has come.
I speak, but no one believes me.
-Yosano Akiko
I was naive and believed that the mountains
are to be climbed when in truth,
mountains are to be moved.
Still, it's hard to imagine those mountains
moving, with solid soil soldered, stuck together so strongly.
Anything we gather, good or bad, becomes unmovable.
But our mountains are already moving-
Our eyes just can't see a grain of
soil, a butterfly, traveling
with the wind.
Artist Statement
Unlike the main character, Butterfly, in the colonial-era opera, Madame Butterfly, whose extoicism and submissiveness continue to exist as a stereotype of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women, real butterflies in nature resonate closer to the diversity and strength of AAPI women in the United States. Over 20,000 species of butterflies exist in the world. Many travel over 2000 miles and can carry 50 times their own body weight. The Truth of Mountains reflects real AAPI women who are moving forward and carrying various pieces in our society, moving what was once believed as unmovable in the world. --Yuko T.
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