OSLO, Norway: The opening ceremony of a special exhibition commemorating the awarding of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, was held at the Nobel Peace Center in the Norwegian capital of Oslo on Wednesday.
Some Hidankyo members attended the opening ceremony, including co-chair Terumi Tanaka, who gave a speech at the prize award ceremony on Tuesday.
The exhibition, named “A Message to Humanity,” aims to convey to the world the wish for nuclear abolition through exhibits on the damage caused by the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It will run until November 2025.
On display are photographs of the devastation after the atomic bombings and those of Hidankyo members sharing their stories, as well as drawings by hibakusha atomic bomb survivors and notes by the late former Hidankyo co-chair Mikiso Iwasa about his experience of losing his mother trapped under their collapsed house right in front of his eyes.
There is also a special installation created by noted Japanese architect Kengo Kuma featuring 1,000 objects made from cedar wood from Hiroshima, which represent testimonies of 1,000 hibakusha.
The center has hosted special exhibitions related to the Nobel Peace Prize every year, attracting some 200,000 visitors annually.
Kjersti Flogstad, executive director of the center, said that the Peace Prize and related special exhibitions have the power to inspire people of various age groups and encourage them to take action.
JIJI Press