Popular Protest in Postwar Japan: The Antiwar Art of Shikoku GorōMain MenuOverviewThis exhibit explores the vibrant grassroots artistic culture of Hiroshima, known as the atomic bombed city. From 1949 through the 1990s, local artist Shikoku Gorō advanced a bold and democratic vision for cultural life by bringing poetry to the streets & mobilizing visual arts to represent the vitality, beauty, and complexity of Hiroshima. The exhibit explores a set of influential books, along with other examples of socially committed art. Shikoku and his circles of collaborators illuminated pathways to civic engagement for the citizens of Hiroshima—hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors), vets, & younger generations.Atomic Bomb Poetry CollectionThe Angry JizoHiroshima SketchesAnn Sherif99c9850c7ffbc663daa16feec7b9f1dd71ca3e2e
Hiroshima Dome
12019-08-26T17:32:35+00:00Maxwell Mitchell5fec7a6574d32fe574c01ba927cd57c749ceca69133plain2020-05-19T14:02:04+00:00Maxwell Mitchell5fec7a6574d32fe574c01ba927cd57c749ceca69Our Poems JournalShikoku Gorō would return to the Peace Park to sketch and paint the A-bomb Dome repeatedly throughout his lifetime. This site of memory rested over the bones of the dead from wartime, and was close to the hypocenter where the Hiroshima bomb marked the start of the nuclear age. The Dome also signified to Shikoku this period of struggle and creativity with Our Poems during his youth, an experience that fueled his imagination and political commitment for forty years.
1media/abomb_dome_photo_thumb.JPG2019-08-20T18:52:39+00:00A-Bomb Dome with Our Poems Circle Members1Our Poems Circle members in front of Hiroshima A-bomb dome, ca. 1951. Shikoku Gorō is first row, second from left, and Tōge Sankichi behind him.media/abomb_dome_photo.JPGplain2019-08-20T18:52:39+00:00TBDTBDTBDTBDTBD