5th “Peace Is…” Event
2017/11/13
On November 13th, the Permanent Mission of Japan held the fifth “Peace Is…” event at the United Nations Visitors Lobby. The “Peace Is…” event series was designed to have each event feature a Japanese artist based in New York who would use art and culture as a gateway to allow anyone to casually think about what peace means to them. The Permanent Mission of Japan hosts these events in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Information (UN DPI) and the Permanent Missions of other like-minded member states.
This “Peace Is…” event was an official side event of the World Assembly for Women (WAW!), which was held on November 1st – 3rd in Tokyo, and was co-hosted by the Permanent Missions of Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Germany, Costa Rica, and Belgium. It featured performances by the all-female Japanese Taiko Group “COBU” led by Yako Miyamoto, who was a member of the Off-Broadway musical “STOMP” for 10 years.
Additionally, the 570 postcards with messages of peace written on them that were collected from previous “Peace Is…” events were displayed on an installation called the “HUG”. The “HUG” is modeled after a traditional Japanese folding screen and was specially designed by architect Masayuki Sono and CLOUDS AO to be a collapsible wooden structure that symbolizes the image of a mother embracing her child, hence the name “HUG”.
Following COBU’s performances, they held a workshop in which guests could try drumming to the same rhythm together on the taiko drums. Participants of the workshop received preserved flowers that were provided by the IFA (Promotional Association for Towns with Flowers), who have previously cooperated with the Permanent Mission of Japan for special events commemorating the 60th anniversary of Japan’s accession to the United Nations.
This “Peace Is…” event was an official side event of the World Assembly for Women (WAW!), which was held on November 1st – 3rd in Tokyo, and was co-hosted by the Permanent Missions of Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Germany, Costa Rica, and Belgium. It featured performances by the all-female Japanese Taiko Group “COBU” led by Yako Miyamoto, who was a member of the Off-Broadway musical “STOMP” for 10 years.
Additionally, the 570 postcards with messages of peace written on them that were collected from previous “Peace Is…” events were displayed on an installation called the “HUG”. The “HUG” is modeled after a traditional Japanese folding screen and was specially designed by architect Masayuki Sono and CLOUDS AO to be a collapsible wooden structure that symbolizes the image of a mother embracing her child, hence the name “HUG”.
Following COBU’s performances, they held a workshop in which guests could try drumming to the same rhythm together on the taiko drums. Participants of the workshop received preserved flowers that were provided by the IFA (Promotional Association for Towns with Flowers), who have previously cooperated with the Permanent Mission of Japan for special events commemorating the 60th anniversary of Japan’s accession to the United Nations.
Photo Credit: Tokio Kuniyoshi