Submitted photo by John Einarsen
Peace Mask Project comes to Yellow Springs
- Published: August 11, 2025
Peace Mask Project is a community-led initiative based in Kyoto, Japan, that uses art — specifically, handmade facial impressions in washi paper from living models — as a tool for dialogue, conflict transformation and promoting peace.
Founded by artist Myong Hee Kim alongside her daughter, Kya Kim; husband, Robert Kowalczyk; and many other supporters and volunteers, the project has held workshops around the globe to foster understanding and shared visions for peace through cross-cultural exchange, creative collaboration, and public exhibitions.
From 2016 to 2017, in collaboration with the Nihon Hidankyo Association, Peace Mask Project made the Peace Masks of first- to fourth-generation nuclear bomb survivors, or hibakusha, during workshops in Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Kyoto, Japan, and in Korea, to honor their collective effort for peace. Hibakusha Peace Mask Project completed 100 Peace Masks of individual hibakusha and their descendants from Japan and a representative number of other countries, with the final event and exhibition taking place in Hiroshima. Peace Mask Project is a partner of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN.
To commemorate the 80th memorial of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Kim has traveled to Ohio to deliver on a promise she made to the hibakusha — to find an appropriate, respectful home for the 100 Hibakusha Peace Masks. The collection will be donated to the Peace Resource Center at Wilmington College.
In conjunction with this journey, and with the support of the Yellow Springs Community Foundation, Kim will spend Aug. 13–17 making Peace Masks of 50 Yellow Springs community members in recognition of the village’s legacy of dedication to peace and social justice. Workshops will be held at the Antioch College Sculpture Studio, where models will engage in a process of plaster mold-making and mask creation.
A final exhibition will be open to the public in the Herndon Gallery at Antioch College, Aug. 18–23, featuring the 50 YS community members’ masks alongside the 100 Hibakusha Peace Masks.
Yellow Springs community members are invited to sign up to take part in the exhibition by being among the 50 models. Spaces are limited, so interest should be communicated as soon as possible to peacemaskproject@gmail.com.
The Yellow Springs News encourages respectful discussion of this article.
You must login to post a comment.
Don't have a login? Register for a free YSNews.com account.
No comments yet for this article.