Harmony For Peace For Atomic Bomb Awareness Day

Today marks the 70^th anniversary of the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima, and Sunday, the 9^th , Nagasaki. Through the destruction and devastation, perhaps there was a light of hope initiated as the United Nations was founded in effect. Today, this worldwide organization works continuously so that no other nation or people have to experience such travesty. Today is, under the United Nations Resolution, Atomic Bomb Awareness Day.

For us at Harmony For Peace Foundation, we advocate for a world where nuclear weapons are not used, for the safety of all our children and eventually their children.  In reaching out to people around the world to promote cross-cultural understanding, which leads to tolerance and further, friendship, we aim for a world where nuclear weapons are not needed.

Naohiko Okamura "Bombs"

For the past few weeks, we have been working with the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs in Vienna as they organized a special event to observe Atomic Bomb Awareness Day. Today, among many other exciting initiatives, we are exhibiting in their Rotunda a selection of artwork from our 2011 worldwide art competition, where artists from diverse cultures united to appeal to the world with their messages of peace and hope through visual expression. The artwork once exhibited at the Chelsea Museum in New York, and has now made a global statement in Vienna.

Harmony For Peace finds its inspiration in the power of music and the arts, how they can be vehicles of a universal language, understood by many around the world.

Worldwide peace and nonviolence, especially today, is a grand mission. Yet it is the continuous efforts and peace-minded initiatives that give hope to such a cause.  Let us sing, play, dance and paint our way to peace, for the sake of the happiness, security and lives of all the peoples of the world, regardless of background, faith or nationality.

Shoko Ueno "Black Rain"

Toshiyuki Wantanabe “No More Hiroshima. No More Nagasaki”

A Talk with "Art For Peace" Winner Haruka Shoji

In time for the launching of our "Peace Art Journey" Exhibit at the Former Bank of Japan in Hiroshima (Now Open!) and our Peace Concert in Hiroshima, we talked with Haruka Shoji, the first place winner for our Art For Peace Contest back in 2012. Haruka's work, "Someday," will be on display during the exhibit, along with 11 other works by peace-minded children around the world.

Check out the inspiration behind "Someday"

"Maybe it is your child, or your grandchild, or much more later one who says bye to nuclear weapons. Or, maybe, it's you."

What got you into art, when did you start?

I loved art ever since I had crayons in my hand. My parents probably bought them for me. So I learned to draw before I learned the word “art.”

What was the inspiration behind your artwork for the 2012 Art For Peace Contest?

At the time I was planning what to draw, I found the sky I see from a second floor of my house beautiful. In the evening, through the black-framed window, I could see the sky painted in rainbow colors and the trees becoming silhouettes by the bright sky. Until then, I've thought the evening sky as orange, but I found out that there are a whole lot of colors in it. I decided to draw this discovery in my work. 

  

The girl is a symbol of observers' descendant. She is a powerless girl; she has no weapon, and she can't run with such a dress on. She possibly won't survive a war, and thus, she is also a symbol of a innocent victim of war. 

If you wish her a happy life, then you have to make "someday" [a world free of nuclear weapons] closer for this scene become true.

What is your own definition of peace?

That I can eat, drink, work, laugh, and sleep without fear.

How can art share or send a message?

I believe that art does not send a message to anybody, but wakes up something in the beholder. Anything that people feel looking at an artwork is intrinsic. If you feel anger, an anger is inside you. If you feel sadness, you must be grieving over something. Art is a mirror to look into yourself. 

Have you continued you draw or create art after the contest?

Yes. I want to create even more work.

What’s next for you?

I am hoping to travel around the world and observe more things I've never seen.

 October 23, 2012 - Haruka Shoji, First Prize Winner of the Art For Peace worldwide contest was honored by the Harmony For Peace and the United Nations for her artwork "Someday."

We hope Haruka never stops channeling her artistic talent into peace-making, and as she travels worldwide, may she always remember that the desire for peace is universal. 

Let us Sing, Play, Draw, Paint our way to Peace.

We're Six Years Old!

My, does time really fly by – our organization was founded six years ago! We celebrate our anniversary in Spring, in time for the blossoming of the cherry trees - symbolic for a new start. While our mission has always been to promote peace and understanding through music and the arts, we've organized a unique array of concerts, events, competitions, exhibits and projects through the years. We are also now a fully accredited registered civil society with the United Nations.

Just this year we launched our Peace Project Japan 2015, a series of initiatives to bring cross-cultural music to Japan. We hosted our International Peace Concert at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, which brought together over 1,700 guests and performers. We selected our first Junior Peace and Music Ambassador Japan, who will continue to represent Harmony For Peace, spreading her message of peace through her musical performances and experiences. Also, our “Peace Art Journey” Exhibit went global, with stops in Vienna, Austria, and Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

Here’s a look back at some of our highlights these past six years!

2014 - Second Int'l Peace Day Concert
(over 1000 guests)

The annual International Peace Day Concert, held in 2013 and 2014 at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia to observe the United Nation’s International Day of Peace – bringing together cross-cultural musicians and young performers to celebrate peace, unity and friendship!

Disaster Relief to the Philippines

In November 2013, in collaboration with ABS-CBN TV Network, along with the Filipino communities in the United States, we successfully sent $1.5 million worth of emergency medical supplies to the Philippines after the Typhoon Yolanda Disaster. Supplies were donated by the Catholic Medical Mission Board and UPS organized the free shipment of 25 pallets worth of supplies.

First Place - "Someday"

Our 2012 “Art For Peace” international art contest, a joint project with the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs, called on young artists to “illustrate a world free of nuclear weapons.” Overwhelming Results! Close to 7,000 entries from 92 countries! Our award ceremony was held at the United Nations headquarters in New York and was indeed a proud moment for us!

Japan Benefit Concerts Logo

Benefit Concerts in New York and Philadelphia (June 2011) to raise aid for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan! What talented artists performing for a great cause!

Peace Art Judge Panel 

Our 2011 International Juried Peace Art Competition and Exhibition The competition resulted with overwhelming entries of fine artists from nine countries.  The fifty finalists were selected and invited to be exhibited at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York. From the finalists, our esteemed members of the jury panel chose five winning artworks. The collection of artworks depiction of world peace, global awareness or peace making is still online at http://harmonyforpeaceart.org/2011.html

Holiday Concert 2010

Our International Friendship Concert
at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fischer Hall in December 2010 was great display of holiday spirit; multicultural artists joining together for holiday songs and cheer! The concert was attended by the United Nations Secretary General and representatives from over 50 missions to the UN.

School Children receive Senbazuru.

Our Gift of 1,000 Cranes Project! Six schools from Japan folded origami cranes to create pieces of “senbazuru” to present to international artists, in hopes of bring their messages for peace back to their own countries.

Carnegie Hall, New York (May 16, 2010)

Our debut International Peace Concert in New York, what a grand and heartwarming event to start off our journey! Renowned Artists from six countries performed on the stage to achieve a common goal: one voice for international peace and nonviolence!

Like any six year old – we’re learning and growing! We're always inspired by the many who are continuously working together make this world a better place! 
Thanks for celebrating with us!

Welcome to Our New Blog!

Welcome to our new Harmony For Peace Blog and our first post! 

Here we will show you the inner workings of our foundation, including artist interviews, backstage looks at our concerts, events and projects, and interesting information on the cause we work for each day - peace and understanding in the world through music and the arts.

Enjoy this new blog, and we look forward to your comments and conversations!
Check out our website!

Join us in our mission - using music and the arts to cultural peace and understanding!