“Present Tense,” selections from “The A-Bomb and Humanity,” a set of 40 panels that depict photographs and drawings of the human suffering created when Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, were destroyed by atomic bombs, will be on view Aug. 10-19 at 914Works, 914 E. Genesee St., Syracuse. An opening reception will be held Thursday, Aug. 10, from 6-8 p.m.
Artwork from “Present Tense” exhibition
To promote peace and move public opinion toward the elimination of nuclear weapons, a survivors’ (Hibakusha) organization produced the panels, and Japanese consumer co-op unions have disseminated them throughout Japan and the world. Nihon Hidankyo is the Japanese national organization of A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Hibakusha); founded in 1956, it is dedicated to the elimination of nuclear weapons and prevention of a nuclear war.
The Japanese Consumers’ Co-operative Union gave the set of panels to Andrew Grimes, a professor who researched co-ops and visited Japan. The panels were shown in Lexington, Kentucky, in the 1990s; Grimes wanted them exhibited again in 2017, as their message is especially relevant. His daughter, Diane Grimes, an associate professor of communication and rhetorical studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies, brought the panels to Syracuse to be shown.
Regular exhibition hours are Tues.-Sat., 1-4 p.m. Email 914works@syr.edu for more information.
“Present Tense” is co-sponsored by the Syracuse Peace Council, 914Works, Bishop Harrison Center, and the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies. It is part of a larger Hiroshima and Nagasaki commemoration; for more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/pg/syracusepeacecouncil1936/events/.
