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Final Life Mask Exhibition Yokohama, Japan
The Peace Mask Project
Conflict Resolution Through Community Art Workshops and Exhibitions
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Final Life Mask Exhibition Yokohama, Japan
Overview
The Peace Mask Project is dedicated to creating bridges between cultures and across generations through community workshops and exhibitions of original Life Masks. Also known as Peace Masks, these unique and expressive facial impressions are made from traditional hand-made Japanese and Korean papers.
Individually, each life mask represents a serene symbol of peaceful spirit. Shown together in large wall murals, the collective masks also serve as a reminder that the fate of humankind depends on allowing for and appreciating diversity while striving towards more meaningful cooperation and peace.
In addition to the life masks, portrait photographs and peace statements of each model are recorded during the Peace Mask Workshops and become integral components of the exhibitions and the project record.
Working in conjunction with Korean, Japanese and international peace and environmental NGOs, the volunteers who contribute to the project are actively engaged in establishing, promoting, and exhibiting new pathways to inter-cultural harmony and peace in an increasingly more complex and fractured world.
Asia Pacific Peace Reasearch Association Conference,
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Japan-Korea Life Mask 2002
The Peace Mask Project originated with an endeavor known as Japan-Korea Life Mask 2002. This initial program was an effort with the peoples of Japan and Korea to celebrate their shared hosting of the 2002 World Cup Soccer Games. More importantly, the project was aimed at creating bridges of understanding and friendship among the peoples of Japan and Korea, whose shared histories include many periods of turbulent relations and tragic conflict. During the three years of the project (January 2000 to December 2002), lectures, workshops and exhibitions were held in 29 sites in both Japan and Korea - from large cities to small towns, and at diverse locations, such as city halls, educational institutions (from elementary schools to university campuses), peace museums, newspaper offices and local civic centers.
This grassroots effort involved citizens as volunteers in the creating and modeling of the Life Masks and brought together a wide range of individuals, from very young children (the youngest being three years old) to elderly citizens (the eldest being eighty-four), in both countries. During the project a special permanent installation of small childrens' Life Masks was created for the Himeji Children's Center in Himeji City, Japan in November of 2000. In the end, over 1,500 Life Masks were created during the three years of the project. These were shown together in final exhibitions in Yokohama, Japan (June 2002) and Seoul, Korea (December 2002). These final exhibitions were accompanied by musical and dance performances by noted artists from Korea and Japan.
Okayama Prefecture Art Museum, Okayama, Japan
The Peace Mask Project
The Peace Mask Project was inaugurated in January 2003 following the successful completion of Korea-Japan Life Mask 2002. Since then, workshops, lectures, and exhibitions have been conducted in the United States (The Institute for Reverential Ecology), Japan (The Kyoto Museum for World Peace with members of Israeli-Palestine Bereaved Families for Peace), Cambodia (The Asia Pacific Peace Research Association Conference), Korea (A Three Part Korean Conflict Series: The Cheju Massacre of 1948, The Kwangju Uprising and “Comfort Women” and a Living Korean Authors Series at the Korean Literary Museum) and India (The University of Delhi). Most recently, an attempt has been made to create a Peace Mask Project between the divided sections of the Korean peninsula. However, due to the prevailing political situation, this effort continues to be in the negotiating stages with hopes for an eventual agreement remaining strong.
Peace Masks and Early Childhood Education
1,001st Japanese Life Mask, Yokohama, Japan
The Peace Mask Project is particularly suited for early childhood peace education. It allows young children and their family members to create a visual message of human solidarity. Many young children find it a rewarding challenge to have an impression of their face made, itself an act of trust and sharing. Usually the child and one or both parents have their masks made at the same time adding a sense of family togetherness. When children are able to find their own Peace Mask on the exhibition wall, they immediately feel that they are a unique and special part of humankind. Children of communities, whether local or international, by participating in the Peace Mask Project as either models or volunteers are rewarded with a sense of belonging to the diverse yet harmonious world family.
Future Peace Mask Projects
The project organizers welcome any proposal for conducting workshops, lectures and exhibitions at any site of current or past conflict, or within emerging communities. The Peace Mask Project is a non-governmental, non-profit endeavor and is not connected to any political or religious organization. For further information on the project’s past, including numerous photographs, and more detailed information on the making of a peace mask, please refer to the project’s Internet web site: www.peacemask.com. Contact information can also be found on the web site or by writing directly to the Peace Mask Project director, Myong Hee Kim at peacemask@mac.com. All inquiries and comments are welcome.
