The Nobel Peace Prize Exhibition Sets Sail

Yokohama, 23 April: A unique international collaboration is now bringing the Nobel Peace Center's exhibition about last year's peace prize laureate around the world. Today, the cruise ship Peace Boat sailed from Yokohama with an outreach version of the exhibition about Nihon Hidankyo, the Japanese organization for survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, onboard.

The ship will sail via Kobe to Shenzhen, China and visit 23 ports in 19 countries in the coming months. Peace Boat is a Japanese organization working for a more peaceful world by organizing around-the-world trips for people who want to learn about issues related to war, peace, and social inequality. Approximately 1,800 people participate in each trip, which lasts about three months.

A global audience

"The collaboration with Peace Boat is a unique opportunity to spread the message of peace and hope widely and to raise awareness about the devastating consequences of nuclear weapons, while also highlighting the strength and resilience of the survivors," said Nobel Peace Center's Director of Communications and Marketing, Kim Reksten Grønneberg, as he took part in the exhibition opening in Yokohama yesterday.

Fukushima Tomiko, a survivor of the bombing of Nagasaki 9 August 1945, was also present at the exhibition opening. She said the collaboration between Peace Boat and the Nobel Peace Center will help the stories of the survivors reach a global audience. “I am so thankful for this collaboration and the exhibition is very moving. The fact that it will now be carried across the world is a unique opportunity for others to learn more”, she said.

Survivors will be onboard

The original exhibition "A Message to Humanity" was opened by representatives from the 2024 peace prize laureate, Nihon Hidankyo, at the Nobel Peace Center in December 2024 and will be displayed at the center until November 2025. The version shown on Peace Boat is curated by Asle Olsen from the Nobel Peace Center. On board, photographs of the destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the history of the organization for the survivors, and portraits of the members of Nihon Hidankyo, photographed by the renowned French Magnum photographer Antoine d’Agata, will be shown. Several of the survivors are participating in the voyage to share their testimonies, and in some of the visited ports, local students, civil society groups, and UN staff are invited to experience the exhibition.

Over the next three months, the Peace Prize Exhibition "A Message to Humanity" will call to Viet Nam, Singapore, Mauritius and South Africa, before heading to Europe, the United States, and Latin America. The first journey will conclude in Japan in August, and the exhibition will stay onboard for the next three years.