Love, Etty

Julia Ward Howe

Encounters

Hibakusha  Project

In 
Remembrance
 of the 60th Anniversary 
of the Bombing of Hiroshima-
Read Jane's Words

Death and Resurrection

Woman Playing Koto
Fuki Takata
A Bomb Survivors' Nursing Home 
 Hiroshima Japan

The Hibakusha Peace Project is an opportunity to reflect on the memory of Hiroshima with the hope of transformation. It is a series 
of collage portraits of A-Bomb survivors by  Jane Smith Bernhardt, accompanied by their stories and poems. 
 

In August of 2003,  Jane  spent two weeks in Hiroshima, interviewing survivors and capturing their likenesses on paper.

Opening events feature live multimedia performances including slides, stories and featuring music by Greta Bro / Peter Meyer and dance by Minori Ishikawa.   
The experience offers an invitation for meditation and messages to be returned to the survivors ... to be ceremonially released into one of the rivers of Hiroshima, that were clogged with bodies many years ago.

Jane with Tadatoshi Akiba
Mayor, City of Hiroshima

Hiromu Morishita 

A poem by
Hiromu Morishita 
Hiroshima A Bomb Survivor
Executive Director of
The World Friendship Center
Hiroshima

Click to read a News article about the Hibakusha Peace Project written by reporter J.C. Lockwood  Merrimack River Current, February 20, 2004

THE FIRST AID STATION - Fragment

The woman, fearing a
shock might come
upon me due to my
monster-like
changed features,
would not let me
have a mirror.

Unable to go through
the streets too hot
from embers
after blazing, 
I crossed over an
iron-bridge,
feeling uneasiness at
every cross-tie
smoldering.

Following advice on
how to reach the
first-aid station,
which, in reality,
is a bank-building,
I just caught sight of
numberless corpses
behind the pillars.

Bewildered to stand
in front of my
house-site,
I found nothing
reminding me of the
house which I left
only this morning.

Auntie is said to have
died vomiting a black
sort of foam,
after just a few days.
She had come to see
me of my suffering
from a burn.

In desperation of
self-scorn and
self-abandonment
I have been doing
nothing but to wait for
the nearing death,
watching the burning
of the corpses on the
river beach almost
everyday.

Shizuko Okimoto

Fumiko Sora

Toshie Suetomo

These photos are from an exhibit of giclee reproductions of the portraits
and stories of the Hibakusha Peace Project Exhibit in
Hiroshima's International House on August 7, 2010.



The event was a memorial program to commemorate
the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima City,
which also featured the premiere of
David Rothauser's film: Hibakusha, Our Life to Live.



Now a permanent copy of the exhibit resides at the
World Friendship Center in Hiroshima, along with translated messages
from Americans who have viewed the portraits and stories
and responded with their heartfelt wishes and prayers.


Photo of Hiromu Morishita standing
beside his portrait.

Jane (center)
Lecture / Presentation ~ Dec 1, 2006
Muslim University
Ahigarh India

For  information on exhibits, prints and performances, 
or to become a Sponsor of Hibakusha Peace Project
please contact:
 Jane Smith Bernhardt at 
(603) 793-9789
 or e-mail Jane
 Donations in any amount are gratefully accepted to help with the
 Hibakusha Peace Project production costs.

 

Read some comments from ~ The Hibakusha Peace Project Guest Book: "Great rendering in your art - the stories of those affected are very sad." "Breathtaking." "Thank you for having the courage to create beauty out of such horror." "You have touched me deeply - thank you." "awakening to our own sin." "beauty in agony" "never again" "puts everything in perspective - the work is overwhelming." "exquisite art reminding us of diplomacy. Reminding us of the tortures of war." "awakening" "gut wrenching" "It's amazing to observe the affects of weapons of mass destruction as seen in the artwork." "history beyond imagination" "complete" "So sad that it had to happen. So thankful that because of it - we had thousands of Americans come home - my husband was one of them." "I was in Tokyo two weeks after the bombing" "moved me to tears" "Thank you for bringing this to all of us. We will try to share your message." "Thank you for bringing/sharing. We all have to say in unison - NEVER AGAIN!!" "Thank you for the gift of showing my children how to set their conviction to work." "Powerful - Faces for the ages and generations to come" "Both beautiful and terrifying, but grace abounds"  (You....  I like this one!) "Amazing - thank you - moving. We must stop war and nuclear weapons!!" "Lord have mercy upon us. Thank you for this exhibit."

Jane teaches and lectures on a variety of topics including spiritual guidance, portraiture, resistance and social transformation. Contact Jane for details.