Concept
In 1983, the Japan Graphic Designers Association (JAGDA) and the Hiroshima International Cultural Foundation announced their collaboration on a project centered around the theme The Spirit of Hiroshima and launched a poster campaign aimed at promoting peace.
The project, conducted annually from 1983 to 1989, was reinstated in 2005 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, and this year it will be exhibited from September 24 at the ADI Design Museum in Milan, which promotes design culture both nationally and internationally. The museum showcases the historic Compasso d’Oro collection and organizes exhibitions on contemporary design, which are also displayed abroad in Europe, Asia, and the United States.
The Hiroshima Appeals exhibition presents posters created by 28 Japanese graphic designers, united by a single message: a call for peace. Each year, a new poster is created to commemorate the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to support the idea of peace. The first poster, titled Burning Butterflies, was created by Yusaku Kamekura, then president of JAGDA. Since then, JAGDA-affiliated designers have produced a new poster each year. The posters are sold to the public and displayed in a traveling exhibition called the Peace Poster Exhibition.
