Greetings from the Maruki Gallery! We have some exciting news today!
Hiroshima Panels Part 1: Ghosts is back!
On 19 July, Ghosts, Part I of The Hiroshima Panels returned to the Maruki Gallery following the completion of restoration work on the painting. Director Shimizu Yoshiro and researcher Isogai Akiko of the Institute for Conservation of Cultural Property at Aichi University of the Arts where the restoration work was carried out visited the gallery to see the painting returned. The work took place over a period of about 18 months beginning in January 2022. You can learn more about the restoration work in this article.
With the work on Ghosts completed,Part II of the Hiroshima Panels, Fire, will now be sent to Aichi University of the Arts for restoration which is expected to continue until 2025. In the meantime, a full-size copy of the painting will be on display at the Maruki Gallery.
The conservation and restoration of the Hiroshima Panels is being carried out by the Preservation Fund for the Hiroshima Panels and it is thanks to your generous support that we have been able to restore Part I, Ghosts. We would like to express our gratitude to all those who have supported this vital work and look forward to your continued support for the conservation and restoration of Part II: Fire, as well as the third and subsequent parts.
Hiroshima Memorial Event – 78th Anniversary
This year to commemorate the anniversary of atomic bombing, the Maruki Gallery will hold a live concert and a memorial service in front of the Hiroshima Panels on August 6. This will be the first a large number of people will gather for the memorial since the Covid-19 pandemic. Information about the day's events will be posted on our social media channel. Please follow us to find out more!
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!
Maruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels
On May 5, the Maruki Gallery celebrated its 56th anniversary. We held an anniversary event for the first time in three years since the pandemic began. Many people gathered at the gallery and enjoyed spending time together. We were so happy to see everyone again.
We are able to continue our activities at the gallery because of our supporters. We are truly grateful for your support.
On this special occasion, we are pleased to share with you a video message from the curator, Mr. Okamura.
Please click here to watch the video.
As you may know, the G7 summit was held in Hiroshima in May. During the summit, civil society groups held a series of online events. At the closing of the program, third-generation A-bomb survivor and dancer Tominaga Yuki gave a dance performance in front of the Hiroshima Panels Part VIII Relief.
She wanted to pass on the thoughts of her grandmother, who had testified about the atomic bombing. After struggling with whether she was qualified to tell her grandmother’s story, as Yuki herself had not experienced the atomic bombing, she decided to use her passion, dance, to tell her grandma's story.
This short video (5:50) is in Japanese, but the performance begins around 3:10.
Please click here to watch the performance.
This year, we will move forward with concrete plans for the renovation of the gallery building. We will aim for a building that will enable us to preserve and pass on the Hiroshima Panels to future generations.
Recently, we have received more visitors from various countries and have had an increasing number of inquiries from overseas researchers. If you could continue to tell your friends and family about the Hiroshima Panels and the Maruki Gallery, we would be so grateful.
Thank you again for your continued support.
Maruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels
Links:
Greetings from the Maruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels!
Today, we would like to share an NHK World news program that reported on the restoration of the Hiroshima Panels I: Ghost.
Timeless Message of Atomic Paintings
“As fears escalate over Russia's possible use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, efforts are underway in Japan to restore a series of paintings that powerfully captures the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima. This report explores the story behind the paintings and their timeless message”. (4 min. video)
The painting is now scheduled to return to the gallery this summer. We will keep you updated.
Thank you very much for all your support!
Maruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels
As the year draws to a close, we would like to thank all of our supporters for your enthusiasm and generosity throughout the year. Your support has helped us keep our doors open this year, too, and we are truly grateful. This year also saw various difficulties, both globally and in Japan. In spite of it all, many people continued to visit the Maruki Gallery. Also, there have been exhibits overseas that featured the works of the Marukis. We sincerely thank you for your support to make it possible, and for visiting us virtually by watching our online events and videos.
Today, we would like to take this opportunity to share with you the activities of the Maruki Gallery in 2022.
Due to the pandemic, it still was difficult to hold public events this year. However, we continued to keep our doors open throughout the year again, and carried out the following special exhibitions.
Special Exhibitions in 2022
Special Exhibition – 110th Anniversary of Toshi Maruki’s Birth: Depicting People
Is it possible to create Tohoku paintings? – Myriad Sceneries
Motai Toshiya: Soul-Body, and light taKKeiTAGEMBAKZU (Current exhibition)
Thanks to your contributions, we also created some videos (available on our YouTube channel) and held online events so that anyone can learn about the gallery, even from a distance.
Online Programs in 2021 (Some programs are available in English)
Special Exhibition Hikaru Fujii: Record of Bombing
Preserving Maruki Iri and Maruki Toshi ’s Art for Future Generations
The Hiroshima Panels (I): Ghosts The Necessity of Restoration and What Lies Ahead
Ri Jong Ok: SIMULATED WINDOW (Introduction to the exhibition)
The Hiroshima Panels x Sakata Akira - Saxophone resonates with the memory of Hiroshima
Maruki Gallery Annual Report Session for FY2021
Gaku Tsutaja: Warp Drive Opening Talk
Gaku Tsutaja: Warp Drive (Introduction to the exhibition)
What Warps from Hawaii to Japan
Pieces of Changes - Findings from the survey of the current Maruki Gallery architecture
Motai Toshiya: Soul-Body, and light (Introduction to the exhibition)
While we are delighted to reach more people and to stay connected with our long-time supporters through the online programs, we look forward to the day when you can come to the gallery and stand in front of the Hiroshima Panels once again.
Fundraising Update
We have received generous contributions from so many people this year, too, bringing our total conservation fund to about 188 million yen (approx. 1.6 million USD) as of December 15, 2021. We still have much work to do to achieve our goal, but we are encouraged every day by all the messages we receive from our supporters. Thank you for the support you have given us.
We would be very grateful if you could continue to share Save the Hiroshima Panels – Preservation Fund with your friends and family.
Update on Restoration and Construction Plan
Last but not least, we would like to share an update on our restoration and construction plan.
Thanks to your support, The Hiroshima Panels (I): Ghosts is undergoing restoration work. The work is planned to be completed in March 2023. We are excited to have the original panel back in the gallery for display after a long restoration process.
As for the construction plan, we are currently reviewing our plans for constructing a new gallery building. Throughout this year, we have been conducting a thorough survey of the current gallery architecture.
This research has revealed that the Marukis valued the "renovation of the building without destroying it." There are many seemingly inexplicable structures and parts of the building that emerged from repeated renovations, which may be considered part of the history and value preserved by the Maruki Gallery.
By thinking of the building itself as another work of the Marukis, we have decided to modify our plans: We will renovate the building to create an appropriate environment for preserving the paintings while preserving as much of the building's history as possible. Therefore, the architectural plan, the architect, and the renovation schedule will be adjusted accordingly. We sincerely ask for your understanding.
We are in the process of developing a new plan along with the building survey. We hope to make concrete announcements on the new plan from the coming April onward.
Thank you for your support this year!
We wish you a Happy New Year!
Maruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels
Greetings from the Maruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels! We hope this finds you well.
We would like to give you an update on the Maruki Gallery. Although Covid restrictions are gradually easing in Japan, our activities such as in-person events are still limited, and the number of visitors has not fully recovered.
Also, due to the recent rise in the cost of construction materials, we expect the cost of the new gallery to increase. We are now reviewing our construction plan to adjust our budget, steps, and timing. The architectural design is likely to change from our original plan, but our priority has not. We want to make sure that the Hiroshima Panels will be stored and exhibited in a high-quality facility, so that they can be passed down to future generations.
We hope to share the details on our new plan by the end of this year. We will keep you informed.
On a side note, we would like to share an online program released on May 5, 2022: “The Hiroshima Panels x Sakata Akira - Saxophone resonates with the memory of Hiroshima.” The Maruki Gallery celebrated its 55th anniversary that day, with a special program featuring jazz saxophonist Mr. Sakata Akira.
Mr. Sakata, who was born in Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture, in 1945, the year of the atomic bombing, gave a performance in front of the Hiroshima Panels. He also shared his thoughts on the war in Ukraine. The performance was breathtaking and spectacular. We invite you to listen to his performance with your best speakers or headphones!
We will send you another report once the new construction plan is released.
Thank you very much for your support!
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