Popular Protest in Post War Japan: The Antiwar Art of Shikoku GorōMain MenuOverviewThis exhibit explores the vibrant grassroots artistic culture of Hiroshima, known as the atomic bombed city. From 1949 through the 1990s, local artist Shikoku Gorō advanced a bold and democratic vision for cultural life by bringing poetry to the streets & mobilizing visual arts to represent the vitality, beauty, and complexity of Hiroshima. The exhibit explores a set of influential books, along with other examples of socially committed art. Shikoku and his circles of collaborators illuminated pathways to civic engagement for the citizens of Hiroshima—hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors), vets, & younger generations.Atom Bomb Poetry CollectionThe Angry JizoHiroshima SketchesGlossaryResourcesAcknowledgmentsAnn Sherif99c9850c7ffbc663daa16feec7b9f1dd71ca3e2e
12020-05-26T15:13:27+00:00Expressing Hiroshima6plain29542020-06-25T12:05:07+00:00Shikoku described his daily habits as including art: “I always carry a sketchbook with me so I can draw places that catch my eye. The images in this book are mostly a product of that habit of mine. A few are studies for oil paintings.” The works in Hiroshima Sketches date from 1962 to 1985. In his 1975 A Hundred Bridges of Hiroshima (Hiroshima hyakkyō), a larger format hardcover book, Shikoku included multiple sketches of individual bridges from different angles. While Shikoku intended his Hiroshima drawings as a means of exploration of the city rather than as static objects for “artistic appreciation,” he proposes that if he trains and composes them to “appeal to the senses” the images might have some artistic merit (Hiroshima Sketches, pp. 158-159).
