Meeting in Hiroshima

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On November 18, with the precious help of Michel and Miho CIBOT, Jean-Jacques and Marie-France SIRY, members of the board of the “Sentinels of Peace” Association, were received at the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation by Yoko MIYAMOTO, director of the Foundation’s secretariat, and Tomiro HIGAKI, director of the International Department for the Promotion of Peace of the city of Hiroshima, accompanied by several of their collaborators.
The main objective of this meeting was the delivery of a painting produced and offered by Didier Perthuison, artist in Livers-Cazelles in the Tarn (France) and member of our association.

This work had been created for the exhibition « Artists for Peace » organised in the town of Moissac on the occasion of the inauguration of the Sentinels of Peace garden.
It is now on display at the International Conference Centre of the city of Hiroshima.

During this meeting, we were also able to present the project of our association and our various actions and achievements. The exchanges were very interesting and facilitated by the presence of a member of the foundation who spoke French and served as an intermediary.
Our association will continue through its interventions its involvement in the fight for the abolition of nuclear weapons and a lasting peace.

Sentinels space in Didier Perthuison’s artistic garden (Livers Cazelles – Tarn)

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On 20 October, we created a « Sentinels of Peace » space in the artistic garden of Didier Perthuison, an artist committed to social and environmental themes.
In this garden there are many works dealing with overconsumption, pollution, abuse, women’s rights, war and peace…
This Sentinels space is located in a part of the garden where there is another version of the painting donated to the city of Hiroshima and a painting representing some of the personalities who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
With this space, the theme of the abolition of nuclear weapons is now present in connection with the approach of our association presented on the explanatory panel of this space (in French and English).
In the coming months we plan to organise activities on the site with schools and probably the secondary school of Cordes-sur-Ciel in collaboration with Catherine Manuel, elected representative of Cordes-sur-Ciel, a member of Mayors for Peace, which is only a few kilometres from the commune where Didier Perhuison’s garden is located (Livers-Cazelles).

The Sentinels of Peace in Hautecour (Savoie – France)

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The association Lez’Arts en Adrets is at the origin of the « art trail » project in Hautecour. Each year, artists create more or less ephemeral works on a given theme.

This year, the project of Alain Mila, « land art » artist and president of the Association les Sentinelles de la Paix (Sentinels of Peace Association) was selected.

It is a project for a permanent garden of sentinels of peace which, beyond its artistic dimension, wishes to deliver a message calling for peace. Building sentinels means marking the world with a symbol of peace. This concept of a permanent garden of sentinels of peace is at the heart of our association’s educational approach. A permanent garden located on a hiking trail, as in the commune of Lasseran in the Gers, or on an artistic trail, as is the case in Hautecour, allows us to deliver a message of appeal for peace throughout the year and not only on the occasion of a particular event.

This year, activities on the art trail were organised all day on 6 August 2022. This date is meaningful because we recall that exactly 77 years ago, on 6 August 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, followed three days later by the bomb on Nagasaki. For years, our association has wanted, through its actions, not only to launch an appeal for peace but also to call for the total and definitive abolition of nuclear weapons in the world, because this is the worst threat to humanity.

The people present on the art trail this year were very aware of the message we wanted to convey with the association Lez’Arts en Adrets and the participants, adults and children, have made sentinels of seace on the permanent garden as you can see on the pictures.

Finally, you will find attached the message of the president of the Association Lez’Arts en Adrets and the declaration of our association.

President’s message on the war in Ukraine

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To express our solidarity with those in Ukraine and Russia who do not want this war: Two « Sentinels of Peace » facing the cannon of shame!

Alain Mila President of the « Sentinels of Peace » (a stone placed is not thrown away): www.sentinellesdelapaix.com

Let’s participate in the worldwide appeal on February 26, 2022 against the violent deaths of the war in Ukraine.

« Sentinels of Peace » in Tromso (Norway)

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Jean-Jacques and Marie-France Siry, both members of our association, were in Tromso in November on a private trip. They were able to appreciate the beauty of this community, which has been a member of Mayors for Peace since April 2004.

During their stay, they did not have the opportunity to meet with the town’s elected officials to whom they could have presented our association’s project, as they had done during their visit to the town of Ishigaki in Japan. This is perhaps only a postponement, as a trip in the spring to discover Norway at another time of the year is on the agenda.

But they nevertheless wished to salute, in the manner of our association, the commitment of the city of Tromso in the fight for Peace by erecting a Sentinel of Peace on the summit overlooking the city of Tromso (the panoramic point of Fjellstua).

To be continued …

 

Tribute to Paul Quilès

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On 29 September, at the initiative of Catherine Manuel, the inhabitants of Cordes sur Ciel gathered in front of the monument to Peace, Place de la Bride in Cordes, to pay tribute to Paul Quilès, mayor of this commune in the Tarn region from 1995 to 2020, but also a tireless campaigner for the abolition of nuclear weapons within the IDN Association.

We wanted to take part in this small ceremony because we have never forgotten our meeting with Mr Paul Quilès at the very beginning of our association’s project in memory of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was on the occasion of the screening of the film « La bombe et nous » in Albi.

During the debate that followed, we were able to discover a man of conviction, of great sincerity and of a very strong commitment to the fight for the abolition of nuclear weapons. We have not met him since, but we regularly follow his blog and all the articles he has written on this fight. We will not forget either that it was he who allowed us to meet Michel Cibot of the AFCDRP with whom we worked on the project of our association.
Through his books and writings, Mr Paul Quilès will remain in our memories and it is up to all of us, with our means, to ensure that his struggle continues.

 

The « Tree of Life » in Nagasaki

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Donation to Nagasaki Peace Park – 18 April 2016: Exactly five years ago today, the Yalata Anangu Aboriginal community in South Australia donated a sculpture entitled « The Tree of Life » to be installed in Nagasaki City Peace Park in recognition of the atomic test survivor communities around the world.

This donation is a contribution by members of an Australian community affected by the British atomic tests in Australia. 

Through this gesture, members of the Yalata Annagu Aboriginal community wanted to pay tribute to the victims and survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings (Hibakusha) but also to raise awareness of the history of Australia’s nuclear test survivor communities and the forward-looking initiatives they have undertaken to engage, in particular, the younger generation in discourse and action for peace. It is a call for hope and peace between generations and across borders.

A more detailed article can be found at this link

This article is there to remind us that beyond the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we must not forget the consequences on the civilian (but also military) populations of the numerous nuclear tests since 1945. We invite you to watch the video created by the Japanese artist Iso Hashimoto which presents a time lapse of the « 2053 » nuclear tests from 1945 to 1998.

Entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)

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22 January 2021 marks the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW): A new historic step towards the abolition of nuclear weapons. Today, 76 years after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 51 countries (with the exception of France and the other nuclear powers and their allies) have signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The Sentinels of Peace Association supports this treaty and calls for a collective mobilisation in favour of the TPNW. 

The Sentinels of Peace at the Cordes Sur Ciel Peace Days

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On 9 August, Jean-Jacques and Marie-France, members of the association’s board, took part in the last action day for peace organised in Cordes-sur-Ciel in the Tarn from 6 to 9 August 2020.

These dates are of course not a coincidence since they correspond to the anniversaries of the bombings of the cities of Hiroshima (06/08) and Nagasaki (09/08) 75 years ago.

First of all, we attended the « readings for peace ». The following texts were read, among others: Sufi poems: Rumi, Attav and Ibn Arabi; Relation: Meeting the Other in oneself and the Self in the Other…; An original text from the Indian chief Seattle to the President of the United States (1854) in « Sower of Hope » by Pierre RABHI; ERASMUS « Complaint for Peace everywhere so much decried » 1517.

On this occasion, Jean-Jacques, secretary of our association, read the poem “We Shall Bring Forth New Life (Umashimenkana)”  by Sadako Kurihara written in 1946 after the bombing of Hiroshima and translated by Miho Cibot-Shimma.

These readings were followed by an artistic performance danced by Salud Lopez and Fabienne Larroque.

In the room were also presented works by Françoise Segonds, a visual artist.

Then we took part in a silent march for Peace.

A very interesting phenomenon was the curiosity of the tourists from Cordes-sur-Ciel who came to ask us what we were doing, which allowed us to recall this dramatic historical event of 6 and 9 August 1945 and to pass on a message calling for peace.

And at the end of the day, we left after a very convivial dance finale.

On the occasion of this day we were able to exchange with Mrs Catherine Manuel of the municipal team of Cordes and we have already made a date for next year’s edition for which our association is ready to participate in the preparation. To be continued … 

 

Visit of a schoolteacher from the Paris region in Lasséran and Moissac

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On Tuesday 28th July, Valérie S., a teacher in Seine-et-Marne, met Mr Soriano, Mayor of Lasseran and the headmistress of the village school in order to discuss the possibility of a project on the theme of peace that she would like to set up in her school. Accompanied by her children, Justine and Erwan, we all together visited the achievements of the commune of Lasseran and in particular the Garden of Peace with its Sentinels area.

She was also able to discuss at length with the school director about the projects to be set up with the children. On this occasion, the children of Valérie S. were able to pick back up fallen sentinels of peace in the garden.

At the end of the day, we went to Moissac where she was able to discover the other garden of sentinels of peace. On this occasion, stones could be lifted again. We will of course follow and if necessary accompany Valérie in her project. To be continued …