Kids' Guernica at Kubo Junior High School in Japan

October 26, 2014

All of the 2^nd grade students created a Kids’ Guernica peace painting at Kubo Junior High School in Kudamatsu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan and it was displayed at their School Culture Festival. At first, nine drafts which had gained more votes were selected among all the students. They composed a peace painting with these nine drafts and divided it into 150 parts. Each of the137 students and some teachers painted a peace image on each part. The whole painting expressed their strong wish for peace as well as each painting on all the parts of it. In the process of making the huge painting, they shared their own idea on peace. 

From the beginning, they thought and thought about peace and their ideas on peace were transformed into a huge peace painting. Finally, they could complete it and show it to many people on the day of School Culture Festival. Students and parents could appreciate not only the whole painting but also its each part. 

It was a good opportunity to understand other students’ opinions about peace. Some parts of the painting didn’t seem to match colors. However, this is exactly an interesting point of this project as each different painting by all the participants composes a huge image of peace.

Kids’ Guernica at Nagasaki Prefectural Isahaya Junior High School, Japan

September, 2014     The 9th grade students of Nagasaki Prefectural Isahaya Junior High School created a Kids’ Guernica peace painting. The Culture Committee and Art Club members made a draft drawing and all of the 121 students painted it. They elaborately completed this painting only in two weeks and it was displayed at their school cultural fair.

The painting expresses their peace message from Nagasaki, an atom‐bombed city. They wish peace prevail not only in Japan but also all over the world. While the right part of the painting shows a war in the past, the left side shows our peaceful present and future. 

A Huge Woodcut Print Kids’ Guernica in Saga, Japan

  A huge woodcut print Kids’ Guernica was created by 6th grade students of Higashiyoka Elementary School in Saga Prefecture, Japan. They visited Nagasaki as their school excursion and learned the sadness of war and the importance of peace at the nearest elementary school from the ground zero in Nagasaki.

  95 students of the 6^th grade drew their own images of peace and they made them together to create a huge woodcut print. They cut their images on 18 plywood panels elaborately and each 4-6 students printed their woodcut on a piece of paper. Finally, they put all the 18 woodcuts together. Their wonderful woodcut Kids’ Guernica was exhibited in Saga Prefectural Art Museum.

Peace Paintings from U.S.A., India and Martinique Exhibited in Nagasaki

August 09, 2014

Kids' Guernica paintings fromU.S.A., India and Mrtinique were displayed in Kids' Guernica Exhibition for the 69th Peace Memorial Day in Nagasaki, Japan.

From U.S.A.

"IMS for Peace"

The students at Indiantown Middle School completed this mural in the spring of 2010.  Every student enrolled in art classes worked on the mural as well as additional students, faculty and staff.  The mural was completed in a loose, style inspired by graffiti art.  Each student was encouraged to add words and images that they felt related to the idea of peace, which was then unified with a solid, yellow background.

Jennifer LoveGironda

From Bangalore, India

The peace painting was created by Indian Children who had experienced child labor and Japanese children from Fukushima. It was a good opportunity to know each other for both Indian and Japanese children through sharing their own hard experiences and creating a huge peace painting together.The workshop was organized by Born Free Art School and Born Free Art Japan.

From Martinique

Kids' Guernica in Martinique was coordinated by an Italian artist Savina Tarsitano as a part of her project Creativity in Motion for a social integration and a responsible transformation of the local community.  In 2007 the group of children and young people participated to Kids’Guernica project and they realized their own canvas entitled: “BREAKING THE CHAIN OF SLAVERY” a message of peace, tolerance, love and friendships.

The Italian artist Savina Tarsitano visited Nagasaki during the Kids' Guernica Exhibition for Peace Memorial day. She talked about her experience of Kids' Guernica in Martinique to children in Nagasaki. They were deeply impressed by her talk about Martinique emphasizing the importance of bringing hearts together and having a dream for the future.

Kids' Guernica for Peace Memorial Day in Nagasaki

August 9, 2014

Kids' Guernica Exhibition was held for the 69th Peace Memorial Day in Nagasaki Peace Park. Kids' Guernica peace paintings created by Nagasaki children were exhibited with other peace paintings by children in different places including some foreign countries. These paintings expressed their wish for peace not to repeat such a tragedy of atomic bombs.

”World Peace from Nagasaki Megami Bridge: Tamako and Maria” by 47 children of 175 members of Club Kids Peace in Tomachi Elementary School. This peace painting to represent a Tamako doll sent to U.S. from Nagasaki and a doll with blue eyes sent to their school.

   

"Future Home Town" by Children from Minami Sanrikucho and Minamai Shimabara Children's Association (2012) 
  When Minami Shimabara City suffered from Unzen Fugendake Volcano disaster twenty two years ago, the city received a lot of help from other parts of Japan. Now it is helping Minami Sanrikucho affected by the catastrophic earthquake in Eastern Japan. Minami Shimabara city invited some children from Minami Sanrikucho. This painting was a result of collaborative work by 22 children from Minami Shimabara and 33 children from Minami Sanrikucho.

   







"The Relay of Life" (2014) by Students of Nishi Isahaya Junior High School
One of the survivors of atomic bombing gave a lecture at the school. At the end of her lecture, she told the students that it was not a hand shake but a relay of life. She also added that survivors of atomic bombing would be disappeared in the near future and emphasized the necessity to relay the baton of life. The bridge symbolized their wish to be a bridge to connect us to the world.

"Flowers for Nuclear Boms" (2014) by Sakurababa Junior High School Art Club

An atomic bomb codenamed as "Fat Man" was demolished in the center of the painting. It was symbolized a wish to abolish nuclear weapons and a white pigeon from the atomic bomb showed a wish for the peaceful world without any war. Children who were born and grew up in Nagasaki should think seriously about the meaning of peace and covey it to the next generation. They would be happy if other people see their painting and think like them.

"Link to the World to Spread Peace" (2014) by 6th Grade Students of Ohura Elementary School
Each of them had been thinking seriously about the meaning of peace through listening to the speech of survivors from atomic bombing and visiting the atomic bombing museum in their school life. They thought it very important to connect to people in the world and expressed it through some symbols such as pigeons, a buffalo and a lotus flower. A peace statue in the center shows a message of peace from Nagasaki.

“Bring Our Hearts Together With Music” (2014) by 38 Children of Hirameki Kindergarten
This kindergarten focuses on music to nurture children’s rich sensitivities. they have many opportunities to play music through the year. Music is a common language across the different nations in the world. The painting shows a wish to our peaceful hearts together through playing and listening to beautiful music.

"Thanks for the Linkage of Life" (2014) by Children of Hirado Kindergarten
This kindergarten teaches the importance of life to younger children, planting and growing vegetables and fruits such as radishes and water melons. They can realize the linkage of life through these activities.  

Other peace paintings from other parts of Japan

"Smile of the Earth" by Students of Kagomachi Elementary School in Tokyo

　



Toyono Nursey Shool in Neyaga City, Osaka



   

Kids’ Guernica in Krakow, Poland

July 20, 2014  A beautiful Kids’ Guernica was created in Krakow, Poland, under the direction of artist Eve Marlewicz. The project involved 10 children aged 7-18 years, who worked during the summer holidays in 2014.

www.przegorzaly.dworek.eu    www.facebook.com/Przegorzaly

Kids’ Guernica at Calhoun Middle School Denton Texas in U.S.A.

May 01, 2014

A new Kids’ Guernica peace mural was created at Calhoun Middle School Denton Texas in the United States. Over 80 8th graders involved in this project led by Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Garcia and Mrs. Atkins.

Kids' Guernica at Shimada Elementary School, Osaka, Japan

March 2014
Sixth grade students learned a lot about peace during their school excursion in May and they expressed their message of peace in paintings for International Peace Poster Contest in July. And then they decided to participate in Kids’ Guernica project to send their message of peace to all over the world and chose a few paintings among all of their peace poster paintings for the project. From November seven candidates were selected as executive committee members and they initiated to make a draft painting for Kids’ Guernica. The committee members pasted drawing papers together to make the preliminary drawing during break time and after school. Each of all the sixth grade students a painting of balloon, clover or white swan on a sheet of drawing paper and cut it out during art class. 
In January, all the sixth graders painted the huge preliminary drawing and pasted their paintings of balloon, clover and white swan on it. The executive committee worked elaborately to modify it independently during break time and after school. As the final finishing, they added three dimensional big ribbon and woolen strings to connect each balloon and completed their Kids’ Guernica in the end of February. 
The peace painting was displayed in their gymnasium for teachers and parents as well as other students of the school and in March. The impressive painting was used for the front cover of their graduation album. 
All of the 45 sixth grade students worked together enthusiastically for this project without any senior students guidance. Especially, the committee member students created the first rough drawing and painted it even during break time and after school independently with little help of class teachers. The students’ strong will of creating their own peace painting and their collaborative commitment for the final event of their elementary school life really moved the two class teachers. This unforgettable experience will remain as a very important part of their mind and definitely be a base for the better future.
Message
This peace painting consists of a huge rainbow, hearts, many balloons, clovers, big hands and white swans. National flags, tasty foods and smiling faces in various countries in the pictures of balloons express a happy world with a huge beautiful rainbow for the background. The balloons on the right and left upper corners show something undesirable such as a sad face and a weapon, which white swans with hearts, “love”, are trying to take out. The lower part of the painting is covered with many four-leaf clovers symbolized happiness. Each clover and balloon has different shapes and it shows individual differences. All the strings from balloons are tied with a ribbon on a huge heart “love” represents a wish for one world and also the strings are gripped by hands of different ethnic groups. This big peace painting is created by participant students ’various wishes for peace.
Sixth Grade Class Teachers: Hidetaka Okui and Tomomi Oka

Kids' Guernica at Nishikio Elementary School in Japan

March 2014

Nishikio Elementary School in Nabari City, Mie Prefecture of Japan was closed in the end of March 2014.  To commemorate the closing of this school, the last sixth grade students created a Kids’ Guernica peace painting. It shows their school life, and the nature and history of their locality as well as their message of peace.

Kids' Guernica at Kanaike Elementary School in Japan

 

The sixth graders of Kanaike elementary school had a year of “Sending a Message of Peace” in 2013. The first semester, they visited Nagasaki as a school excursion and this experience motivated them to discuss how they could send a message of peace in their school life as the leading grade of the school.

They realized the importance to accept other friends’ ideas in their daily school life and organized a committee to create a Kids’ Guernica peace painting. Finally, they exhibited it in front of their school gymnasium for the memory of their graduation.

They collected each idea of peace painting among them and discussed how they could express their wish for peace in a painting again and again. Then, they decided to make a painting to show the birth of peace through connecting their hearts and resonating them. A phoenix was composed as a symbol of peace flying from their school with a paper folding crane to connect all living things. They decided who colored which part of the painting by themselves and worked together to complete it. 

The painting was displayed as a stage curtain on the day of their graduation ceremony. Their families and many participants from their community really appreciated it with a big applause.

The sixth graders’ hearts became one through all the process of this Kids’ Guernica project from the planning to the finishing by themselves and they could send a message of peace to many people.  

Kids' Guernica at Hartstern Elementary in Louisville

A wonderful peace painting was created by 60 fifth grade students at Hartstern Elementary in Louisville, KY, U.S.A.

Kids' Guernica in Bangalore, India

December 28, 2013-January 04, 2014

A Kids’ Guernica workshop was held in Bangalore, India. The new peace painting was created by Indian Children who had experienced child labor and Japanese children from Fukushima. It was a good opportunity to know each other for both Indian and Japanese children through the process of creating a huge peace painting. Indian children knew the serious situation of the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima and Japanese children realized the hardship of child labor. The workshop was organized by Born Free Art School and Born Free Art Japan.

Kids' Guernica in Barquisimeto, Venezuela