The Peace Resource Center will observe the 50th anniversary of its founding at Wilmington College while recognizing five decades devoted to nuclear abolition through archival preservation, scholarship, awareness, activism and art, titled “Witnessing the Atomic Past: 50 Years of History, Memory and Art.”
Programming starts Wednesday (Aug. 6) with a 12-hour vigil, “80 Years After: Hibakusha Call Us to Remember,” from 8:15 a.m. to 8:15 p.m., in the Meriam R. Hare Quaker Heritage Center and Harcum Art galleries in Boyd Cultural Arts Center. The event marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.
It will feature a communal reading by some 80 readers, throughout the day, of hibakusha (atomic bombing sufferer) testimonials curated from the Peace Resource Center Barbara Reynolds Memorial Archives. Visitors can quietly come and go for any amount of time throughout the duration of the vigil.
Also that day, the integration Peace Masks Project is planned from 1 to 5 p.m., in Boyd Cultural Arts Center. Peace Mask founders Myong Hee Kim and Kya Kim will join the Peace Resource Center to collaborate with participants to create unique peace masks on traditional handmade washi papers made in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. “The collective masks serve as a reminder that the fate of humanity depends on allowing for and appreciating diversity while striving towards more meaningful cooperation,” said PRC Director Dr. Tanya Maus. Also, Quaker artist Peter Drake will be on hand to join the Peace Masks Project and lead related disarmament projects
The Quaker Heritage Center exhibit, “Memorializing the Hibakusha Experience,” will be available for viewing in the QHC Gallery during vigil activities on Aug. 6, but its formal opening reception will be held on Aug. 8, at 6 p.m., with music and refreshments. The major commemorative exhibition, curated by Dr. Claude Baillargeon, professor of art history, Oakland University, is devoted to the aftermath of the atomic bombings and is drawn from the original Hiroshima and Nagasaki Collection of the Barbara Reynolds Memorial Archives. The exhibit runs through Dec. 5.
The collection was assembled in the 1960s by Quaker nuclear abolitionist Barbara Reynolds (1915-1990), then a resident of Hiroshima, who dedicated herself to nuclear abolition by shining a light on the plight of the survivors known as hibakusha. The exhibition, which will bring together rare Japanese photographs, photobooks and artifacts, will also include works by contemporary artists committed to nuclear abolition. Normal gallery hours are weekdays, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and by special appointment arranged by Maus.
Additional 50th anniversary observance programming will be held in September.
The Peace Resource Center is the only academic center and archives in the United States wholly dedicated to the human experience of nuclear war as informed by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.