The bronze reproduction of a tricycle found in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 after the atomic explosion now sits in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum in Geneva. The Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) gave it to him.
The object is not surrounded by protection, leaving the possibility for curious visitors to have a tactile experience. “This was intentional,” the museum’s director, Pascal Hufschmid, told the press.
Positioned in the entrance hall, the tricycle will be one of the first components of the new permanent exhibition, expected in four years. It reminds us that behind each conflict, ‘there are stories of individuals, families, people’, insists the director.
The tricycle had been recovered near a three-year-old child, Shinichi Tetsutani. Injured and burned, he died a few hours later. Now, Shinichi’s family is talking to the new generation at home and in Japan at large about the importance of living together in peace.
And the tricycle is a symbol that should be shared with people around the world. “It’s a common object. It can be found in every family,” said Hitomi Hasebe, a representative of the Tetsutani, five members of three generations of whom were in Geneva on Thursday. One of Shinichi’s brothers was too old and had to stay in Japan.
Several other objects
The object, exhibited in the Japanese city, had been digitized in 2021 in Japan. The reproduction by artists Akira Fujimoto and Cannon Hersey was then relayed to ICAN in 2022 in Geneva. The organization offered it on Thursday to the Museum and the City of Geneva. ‘The Red Cross was one of the first international organizations to go to Hiroshima after the atomic bombing,’ notes its executive director Melissa Parke.
For artists, it is necessary to ensure that the suffering of Hiroshima is not forgotten. For the day when no survivor of the atomic explosion is left, insists Cannon Hersey, whose grandfather was one of the first to reveal to the world the effects of Hiroshima.
A month ago, the artist was with his three children in the Japanese city. And with the family of his colleague Akiro Fujimoto. ‘Our grandfathers were at war and our children play together,’ he says. According to him, the American-Japanese relationship can inspire the Middle East or even Russia and Ukraine towards peace.
“It is for the future that we are working,” he said. About 30 other objects from Hiroshima have been digitized and will be reproduced to be shown in all regions of the world.
For the City of Geneva, this donation is also an instrument for a more political message. This work ‘reminds us that we must work tirelessly’ for the abolition of nuclear weapons, believes administrative councillor Sami Kanaan.
Initiative launched by ICAN
Switzerland has still not joined the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, which entered into force in 2021, despite a motion approved in the Federal Parliament. Nobel Peace Prize winner ICAN launched a popular initiative in July to address this situation.
The attack on Hiroshima left nearly 150,000 victims. The survivors, the Hibakusha, are still suffering the effects of this explosion.
“We hope the work will inspire Switzerland and Japan” to join the treaty, “at a time when the threat of renewed use of nuclear weapons has never been greater,” Parke said. Nearly half of the states have ratified the agreement, signed it or said they would join it.
/ATS
