Los Angeles, CA - A remarkable set of photographs of individuals of multiracial heritage and their responses to the most common question asked of people of mixed-race background--"What are you?"--comprises the heart of the thought-provoking art exhibition, kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% hapa, which opened at the Japanese American National Museum on June 8 and will run through October 29, 2006.

Three years ago, Fulbeck, who is an award-winning filmmaker and artist, began photographing multiracial individuals around the country. The photographs are all taken the same way -- from the collarbone up, without clothing, jewelry, glasses, makeup, or even purposeful expression. The images frame the subjects' heads and shoulders and, according to Fulbeck, play upon and critique the official photographs each person has taken for their driver's licenses, passports and other forms of identification. The twist is that each individual has the opportunity to respond in their own handwriting to the frequently asked question of all individuals of diverse racial backgrounds: "What are you?" The subjects vary in age, gender and background. Besides their statements, the subjects are only identified by their racial and/or ethnic background -- also designated by the subjects themselves.

The term hapa is a Hawai'ian word meaning "half" or "portion." Used in the phrase hapa haole, it originally referred to people who were half Hawaiian and half Caucasian -- usually in a derogatory way implying impurity. Over time, its pejorative connotation diminished and the word hapa came to be used both in Hawai'i and on the continent as an identifier for multiracial people of partial Asian/Pacific Islander ancestry. Now used as a term of pride by an ever-expanding hapa community, it fills a void intrinsic to a country that does not readily recognize multiraciality.

Fulbeck (who is a mix of Chinese, English, and Irish) was told by his full-blooded Chinese cousins when he was five years old that he was hapa. He never gave much thought to the term as a child, but as he got older and experienced the tremendous lack of knowledge relating to mixed-race identity (or worse, the negative connotations associated with it) he began thinking about ways to promote a more realistic and human portrayal of hapa identity. Integral to this process was utilizing the term hapa in a positive manner.

"I think part of that is the fact that it's a reclamation of a once-pejorative term," Fulbeck explained, "and part of it is it's the first label that wasn't put on us. 'Eurasian'? "AfroAsian?'? - these types of words always feel a bit scientific to me. 'Amerasian' has that whole 1975-Vietnamese-G.I. connotation in some people's minds. 'Hybrid' or 'half-breed' are problematic. 'Mixed blood' is okay, but when you get down to it, that's really just about everybody. Hapa feels a bit more fluid, less formal. Its use is still evolving."

Initially, Fulbeck began taking photographs for his web site, "The Hapa Project." He planned on making the photographs accessible through the site and put out a simple call for willing subjects. The response was immediate and exciting--so much so that Fulbeck proposed publishing a book using some of the photographs and the written responses as a way to help fund the project. The book, Part Asian, 100% Hapa, has just been released through Chronicle Books, and forms the basis of this exhibition.

"The Japanese American National Museum is honored to have kip fulbeck: part asian, 100% hapa presented at our institution," stated Irene Hirano, President and CEO of the National Museum. "As an artist's project, this exhibition delves into a subject of vital importance, not just to the Japanese American community, but to our nation and our world. According to the last Census in 2000, one in three Japanese Americans is of multiracial heritage and individuals who self-identify as multi-ethnic are a growing segment of our country. The Japanese American National Museum intends to examine this subject thoroughly and this exhibition is just the first of many upcoming programs."