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Hiroshima Document: Photographs by Mark McLoughlin
August 13 – September 27, 2009
From 1987 to 1990, Mark McLoughlin was living and working in Japan, first in Tokyo and later in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture. During that time, he made three trips south to Hiroshima, twice to participate in the memorial for the atomic bombing of the city on August 6, 1945.
The intent of the artist was to recreate a loose narrative of the day of the memorial, culminating at dusk with the ceremony of the lanterns, during which the names of the deceased and messages of peace are inscribed on paper lanterns. The lanterns are lighted and placed into the Sumida River, where they are gently carried out to sea, a metaphor for the transcendence of the soul.