In the presence of the Japanese ambassador, the National Archives inaugurated, Friday, December 8, the exhibition in memory of the nuclear bombings of August 6 and 9, 1945 which caused the death of 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki.
A unique exhibition in Paris
The exhibition will be presented from December 8, 2017 to March 31, 2018, on the website of the Archives des Nationales de Pierrefitte-sur-Seine. This exhibition is organized in partnership with the Joël Bousquet et son temps center based in Carcassonne and which had already hosted an exhibition on hibakusha. Outside Japan, the drawings have been presented in the United States, but never in France or even in Europe except for the premiere in Carcassonne last summer. The exhibition will allow the general public to discover 150 reproductions of drawings made by hibakusha, a word that designates in Japan the survivors of the two bombings.
It was not until 1974, the time of a generation, to free memories and speech. After receiving a drawing from a 74-year-old man wishing to express what he had experienced during the bombing, the NHK television channel had the idea of launching a call for testimonies from the survivors of the tragedy, the hibakusha. The 3,600 recovered drawings, the most recent of which date from 2002, 57 years after the events, are on display at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Because of their inestimable value, these originals cannot leave Japanese soil. The exhibition, as presented at the National Archives, will offer visitors more than 200 reproductions of the originals kept in Hiroshima.
The purpose of the exhibition and the drawings is, of course, the tribute paid to all the survivors. Their drawings are above all turned in our direction with the hope of a better future. The National Archives present us here a poignant testimony of great pedagogical value for the younger generations. While North Korean leader Kim Jong-un regularly threatens stability and peace in this region of the globe, the fear of another nuclear catastrophe remains more than ever a story of our time.
The layout of the exhibition
The sobriety of the scenography tinged with modesty and modesty leaves the drawings all the place they deserve. The layout of the works and the graphics are therefore neutral, favoring gray and white allowing the colors of the drawings to express themselves fully.
The route is divided according to themes that evoke the moving journey of the survivors.
"Hiroshima and Nagasaki before" which traces the daily life of the inhabitants before the bombing.
"Under the atomic mushroom" which represents the fateful moment of the "Pika-don" (onomatopoeia by which the Japanese designate the lightning, followed by the blast of the explosion).
"What I saw that day" recounts what the hibakusha experienced during the day and night that followed.
"Life" evokes the long wandering of survivors and the care of the wounded in ruined cities.
"Hope" symbolized by the origami of cranes to evoke the story of Sadako Sasaki.
An old Japanese belief says that in order to have his wish granted, a person must make a thousand origami cranes. In the hope of recovery, Sadako, who was affected by nuclear radiation, set about this long task, hoping that the gods would answer his prayers. Unfortunately, she could never reach the thousand origami, Sadako died on October 25, 1955 at the age of twelve leaving behind 644 paper cranes.
"These paintings have voices, they bring the reader inside, the human dimension is restored. Their strength is to make us aware of this infernal universe without any morbidity."
John Dower, American historian specializing in Japan during World War II
Scientific partners
The Joël Bousquet et son temps center is located in Carcassonne, Aude. It was in this house that the surrealist poet Joël Bousquet lived.
This exhibition also benefits from the participation of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, NHK, Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and Nagasaki Municipal Archives.
