In February 2007 the city of Hiroshima invites to a Peace symposium with lectures and exhibitions showing works from other parts of the world donated to Hiroshima. Our county, Aust Agder in Norway, will be represented through PeacefulBird - a peace installation made by children in the region. The peace birds will be exhibited at The Former Bank of Japan - a center for art exhibitions and other cultural activities in Hiroshima. The exhibition will open on the 12th of February 2007 and will be mounted by artist Finn Eirik Modahl.

PeacefulBird contains one thousand white peace birds made from paper. The first installation was exhibited at Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall in the autumn of 2005. The idea behind PeacefulBird was to create a commemoration for children in connection with the UN-day on the 24th of October 2005. The exhibition was opened by the leader of the Norwegian Nobel committee. He told the Japanese legend that says that one can please the gods by folding one thousand paper cranes, thereafter one wish will be fulfilled. The stairway at Bomuldsfabriken contained one thousand paper birds.

Through working with PeacefulBird we were familiarized with the story of Sadako, who was only 2 years old when the nuclear bomb was dropped over Hiroshima on the 6th of August 1945. 90 000 people died instantaneously, and as many died from the long-term effects. Sadako developed leukemia as a result of the radiation from the nuclear bomb. Her highest wish was to be healed. She had heard the old legend of the thousand paper cranes, and the wish that would be granted if she managed. She tried to fold the thousand birds, but only got to 644 before she died on the 25th of October 1955. Inspired by her story schools across the world fold paper cranes. The story of Sadako is an important reminder of the suffering innocent people are put through in times of war and unrest - the legend about the thousand cranes bear witness of hope and a wish for a better world. Fredfyltfugl er ikke lenger bundet til Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall og er i dag et Arendal kommune prosjekt.

Hilde Mjøs / Project manager Peacefulbird / hilde.mjos@gmail.com / Tel.: +47 91736368