NEVER AGAIN – a special 4-day event in Brisbane, 4 – 6 August, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, open to the public from 9am to 4pm each day.
Three Brisbane members of WILPF – Emma Beach, Barbara Hartley (also a member of Just Peace) and Wendy Flannery were on the planning committee for this very special eventx. Barbara was able to recruit Dr Donna Weeks, Professor of Political Science and Director (Dean) of International Relations at Musashino University in Tokyo, who had access to special photographic resources and online links to the commemorations in Japan.
Emma, who is also the Executive Officer of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, was able to secure free of charge the Hanly Room at St Stephen’s Cathedral. This enabled the planning group to set up a huge photographic exhibition focusing on the events and their aftermath in Japan up to the present. Donna Weeks conducted two sessions for interested visitors on the themes of the main section of the exhibition.
We were also able to exhibit images of peace-building activities in Brisbane by WILPF and other community organisations, and to make available WILPF information and information about ICAN’s work to promote the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Emma and a UQ student intern with Just Peace conducted peace focused workshops with students from 2 Brisbane high schools. We also had copies available of the special digital resource for schools produced by Leonnie Ebert of WILPF South Australia, which we had circulated to several local schools in advance.
Several WILPF members served as volunteer guides for visitors to the exhibition. Del Cuddihy contributed to a roundtable chaired by Wendy Flannery on peace-making and peace building, featuring contributions from a variety of perspectives. A highlight of the 4-days was the special ceremony on 6th August, at which the keynote address was given by the Consul General of Japan in Brisbane. WILPF’s Chris Henderson offered a short reflection as part of the ceremony.
Wendy Flannery had made efforts beforehand to encourage local political representatives to attend the ceremony but none were available. However, with our prompting, the Brisbane Lord Mayor passed a Motion on Condolence on 5th August and sent through a copy which we were able to share with both the Japanese Consulate and ICAN.
The event concluded with a very moving interfaith peace vigil on the evening of 7th August, with reflections by reflections by representatives of 9 diverse faith communities.
