Featuring: Christina Caputo Damien Davis Laura DePeters Charles Harlan Wing Sze Ho James Huntley Rebecca Kolsrud Anne Kyle Dana Liebermann Tom Louie Kiersten Lukason Michael Miritello Renee Rivas Noura Al-Salem Amelia Saul Masanori Sugiura Susannah Tisue

In the spring of 2004, Professor Hiroshi Sunairi, a native of Hiroshima, Japan, taught a class entitled “Peace By Piece.” The idea for the class came from the peace education that Sunairi received as an elementary school student in Hiroshima. Sunairi hoped that by giving his own version of peace education, he would open the students’ minds to discuss peaceful perspectives and alternative interpretations of current events. The students read Barefoot Gen, a graphic novel about a Japanese family during World War II, and examined images and films of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Students from New York University, under the guidance of Hiroshi Sunairi, participated in Peace by Piece 2005 to open a dialogue amongst themselves and the audience. The works are individual visions of peace and interpretations of war.

The exhibition uses the story of Sadako, a legend of folding One Thousand Cranes, as a point of departure. One thousand cranes that students folded together, with the community of NYU, will be on display, as well as art works. This summer, these cranes will be contributed to the statue of Sadako/The Child of Peace in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings in 2005.

After the exhibition in New York, this show will travel to Hiroshima, Japan. It will be held from August 13 through August 20, 2005 at Old Japan Bank at Hiroshima Branch, one of the surviving buildings from the time of the atomic bombing.

James Wagner on the exhibit.