Bank of Japan Hiroshima Branch

5-21 Fukuromachi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima City 730-0036

July 21-25, 2024　10amー6pm

Organized by the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection

Co-organized by Hiroshima Association for the Creation of a Peace Image of the World’s Children (Sekohei)

Supported by HAP
 

Keith Haring (1958-1990) was an artist who represented American art in the 1980s. While known for his cheerful and lively style, his work also deeply reflects his keen insight into society. This exhibition will be held as a pre-event for the Sekohei Museum of Art at the Former Hiroshima Branch of the Bank of Japan, and as a related event to the ongoing exhibition "Keith Haring: Into 2025" at the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture.

Since Haring's passing in 1990, his extensive body of work condensed into a decade-long period has been extensively investigated and researched by scholars worldwide. As the only Keith Haring museum in the world operated under the recognition of the Keith Haring Foundation in the United States, our institution has focused on researching Haring's connections with Japan. In light of commemorating 80 years since the end of World War II, we embarked on planning an exhibition themed around war, peace, and freedom. In July 1988, Haring's visit to Hiroshima caught our attention. Apart from entries in Haring's journals, there were scarce records of his visit to Hiroshima, with only posters he designed for a charity concert held in Hiroshima that year remaining. Upon revisiting his journal entries, it became evident that creating a mural was the purpose of Haring's trip to Hiroshima, although it did not come to fruition, leaving no Haring mural in Hiroshima.

In this exhibition, we will present materials that shed light on the relationship between Haring and Hiroshima, which Uyeda had kept as concert-related documents, as well as details of Haring's visit and endeavors during his stay in Hiroshima and subsequent events.