Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum seeks to better convey reality of A-bombing with new display methods
May 14, 2017
by Kanako Noda, Staff Writer
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, located in Naka Ward, is in the process of revamping its permanent exhibitions. The museum’s east building, which reopened to the public after the completion of renovation work last month, has added new wrinkles to the methods it uses to display A-bombed artifacts, such as altering the angle of a display board or incorporating a life-sized panel of a child who died in the atomic bombing. In this year, which marks the 72nd anniversary of the bombing, the museum is continuing to make efforts to create exhibits that can deepen their impact on visitors’ hearts and mind.
One of these visitors, Sophia Gilbert, 34, wiped away tears at the temporary exhibition in the east building as she looked at a dress that a little girl was wearing at the time of the atomic bombing. Ms. Gilbert said that the child, whose small body was burned in the A-bomb blast, must have suffered terribly. People around the world, she said, must be made aware of the tragedy wrought by this nuclear weapon.
Visitors face artifacts directly in new displays
The display boards which show the tattered clothing of A-bomb victims are inclined at an angle of 40 degrees. A museum curator explained, “Visitors are able to get closer to the items than they could before so they can imagine, more vividly, the victims who were wearing these clothes.” The curators did several trials to identify the most effective angle for visitors to directly face the clothing without the unpinned items sliding down. To provide a more visualize sense of the clothes being worn, they are placed on the boards with the addition of certain wrinkles or bulges.
The museum seeks to convey what happened under the mushroom cloud on August 6, 1945 by having the two buildings of the facility serve different roles. The focus of the main building is on providing information on the actual conditions of the atomic bombing by making use of A-bombed artifacts, including personal effects of the victims, while the east building helps visitors gain greater knowledge of the atomic bomb and nuclear arms, stressing the inhumane nature of these weapons.
In 2014, the City of Hiroshima launched its work to renew the museum’s exhibits, with the goal of communicating its messages more effectively. On April 26, the east building reopened after renovations there were completed, and in turn, the main building was closed to begin the renovation process. Since fiscal year 2009, seven curators, which include four that were additionally hired to prepare for this project, have exchanged views and worked to improve the museum’s display methods.
During the period that the main building is closed, the special exhibition room in the east build is being used as a temporary exhibition space to display 52 A-bombed artifacts, including victims’ belongings. Given the limits of this smaller space, the curators have sought ways to convey the museum’s messages as powerfully as possible.
For example, the charred tricycle that was moved from the main building now includes a photo of the small boy and his older sister, enlarged to a life-sized panel and placed near the tricycle. The boy was riding this tricycle when he perished in the atomic bombing. The curators have also created a section where personal belongings of victims are displayed along with their owners’ last words, which the curators obtained by interviewing family members. The unique exhibits are designed to have visitors imagine the lives of the individual victims and feel the pain of their family members more keenly. Hironobu Ochiba, one of the curators, shared the intent behind this idea by saying, “We’ve placed the focus on human beings rather than data. We’ve tried to create conditions where visitors will face the exhibits thoughtfully and consider their own lives in the present by contrasting them with the lives of the victims.”
Items to be rotated on a more regular basis
In all, the museum holds about 20,000 items related to the atomic bombing, including the personal effects of victims. In fiscal year 2015, which marked the 70th anniversary of the bombing, an additional 857 items were donated to the museum, which is four times the figure of the previous year. The museum has accumulated an enormous amount of material related to the bombing, including accounts that the curators have heard from survivors or from family members who provided possessions of late loved ones. However, the contents of the permanent exhibition haven’t undergone any significant changes since they were revised in 1994 when the east building opened.
In connection with the start of the temporary exhibition in the east building, 40 additional items have been brought out of storage. The museum will now consider rotating display items on a regular basis.
In fiscal year 2016, the number of visitors to the museum hit a record high of 1,739,986. As more visitors, including visitors from abroad, come to the museum, its influence grows. Speaking about the main building, now undergoing renovation, museum director Kenji Shiga said, “We would like to create a place where the lives of the victims can be conveyed and visitors are able to touch the tragedy that the A-bomb survivors experienced.”
Keywords
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
The museum’s main building opened in 1955, and the east building opened in 1994. In March 2014, the City of Hiroshima began renovating the museum, considered an important cultural asset by the Japanese government, to fortify the main building against earthquakes and better convey the tragedy of the atomic bombing and the inhumanity of nuclear weapons. The exhibition space in the east building was closed for renovations in September 2014 then was reopened on April 26 of this year. The main building, which closed the same day, will now undergo renovation efforts and seismic reinforcement work and is scheduled to reopen in July 2018. The work to guard against earthquakes will continue until the end of July 2019. The budget for the entire project is 7 billion, 36 million yen.
(Originally published on May 14, 2017)
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, located in Naka Ward, is in the process of revamping its permanent exhibitions. The museum’s east building, which reopened to the public after the completion of renovation work last month, has added new wrinkles to the methods it uses to display A-bombed artifacts, such as altering the angle of a display board or incorporating a life-sized panel of a child who died in the atomic bombing. In this year, which marks the 72nd anniversary of the bombing, the museum is continuing to make efforts to create exhibits that can deepen their impact on visitors’ hearts and mind.
One of these visitors, Sophia Gilbert, 34, wiped away tears at the temporary exhibition in the east building as she looked at a dress that a little girl was wearing at the time of the atomic bombing. Ms. Gilbert said that the child, whose small body was burned in the A-bomb blast, must have suffered terribly. People around the world, she said, must be made aware of the tragedy wrought by this nuclear weapon.
Visitors face artifacts directly in new displays
The display boards which show the tattered clothing of A-bomb victims are inclined at an angle of 40 degrees. A museum curator explained, “Visitors are able to get closer to the items than they could before so they can imagine, more vividly, the victims who were wearing these clothes.” The curators did several trials to identify the most effective angle for visitors to directly face the clothing without the unpinned items sliding down. To provide a more visualize sense of the clothes being worn, they are placed on the boards with the addition of certain wrinkles or bulges.
The museum seeks to convey what happened under the mushroom cloud on August 6, 1945 by having the two buildings of the facility serve different roles. The focus of the main building is on providing information on the actual conditions of the atomic bombing by making use of A-bombed artifacts, including personal effects of the victims, while the east building helps visitors gain greater knowledge of the atomic bomb and nuclear arms, stressing the inhumane nature of these weapons.
In 2014, the City of Hiroshima launched its work to renew the museum’s exhibits, with the goal of communicating its messages more effectively. On April 26, the east building reopened after renovations there were completed, and in turn, the main building was closed to begin the renovation process. Since fiscal year 2009, seven curators, which include four that were additionally hired to prepare for this project, have exchanged views and worked to improve the museum’s display methods.
During the period that the main building is closed, the special exhibition room in the east build is being used as a temporary exhibition space to display 52 A-bombed artifacts, including victims’ belongings. Given the limits of this smaller space, the curators have sought ways to convey the museum’s messages as powerfully as possible.
For example, the charred tricycle that was moved from the main building now includes a photo of the small boy and his older sister, enlarged to a life-sized panel and placed near the tricycle. The boy was riding this tricycle when he perished in the atomic bombing. The curators have also created a section where personal belongings of victims are displayed along with their owners’ last words, which the curators obtained by interviewing family members. The unique exhibits are designed to have visitors imagine the lives of the individual victims and feel the pain of their family members more keenly. Hironobu Ochiba, one of the curators, shared the intent behind this idea by saying, “We’ve placed the focus on human beings rather than data. We’ve tried to create conditions where visitors will face the exhibits thoughtfully and consider their own lives in the present by contrasting them with the lives of the victims.”
Items to be rotated on a more regular basis
In all, the museum holds about 20,000 items related to the atomic bombing, including the personal effects of victims. In fiscal year 2015, which marked the 70th anniversary of the bombing, an additional 857 items were donated to the museum, which is four times the figure of the previous year. The museum has accumulated an enormous amount of material related to the bombing, including accounts that the curators have heard from survivors or from family members who provided possessions of late loved ones. However, the contents of the permanent exhibition haven’t undergone any significant changes since they were revised in 1994 when the east building opened.
In connection with the start of the temporary exhibition in the east building, 40 additional items have been brought out of storage. The museum will now consider rotating display items on a regular basis.
In fiscal year 2016, the number of visitors to the museum hit a record high of 1,739,986. As more visitors, including visitors from abroad, come to the museum, its influence grows. Speaking about the main building, now undergoing renovation, museum director Kenji Shiga said, “We would like to create a place where the lives of the victims can be conveyed and visitors are able to touch the tragedy that the A-bomb survivors experienced.”
Keywords
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
The museum’s main building opened in 1955, and the east building opened in 1994. In March 2014, the City of Hiroshima began renovating the museum, considered an important cultural asset by the Japanese government, to fortify the main building against earthquakes and better convey the tragedy of the atomic bombing and the inhumanity of nuclear weapons. The exhibition space in the east building was closed for renovations in September 2014 then was reopened on April 26 of this year. The main building, which closed the same day, will now undergo renovation efforts and seismic reinforcement work and is scheduled to reopen in July 2018. The work to guard against earthquakes will continue until the end of July 2019. The budget for the entire project is 7 billion, 36 million yen.
(Originally published on May 14, 2017)
