The Kaki Tree Project took part in the “Donaiyanen” exhibition in Paris in 1998 and “Akimahen” exhibition in Lille in 2004. Mr. Eric Mezil was the person who organized these exhibitions. He is now the director of the Collection Lambert and the museum took a lead in finding another foster parent within the city for the seedling, and they decided Ecole Primaire Saint-Gabriel to be the planting site as well. The school has been active in peace movement for 7 years and continues to be engaged in the movement together with local NPOs.
Prior to tree planting, children sent us at the secretariat their messages and the recordings of the workshops. Artworks created during the workshops that had been conducted since a few months ago are displayed inside the school. All over the school, artworks on persimmon tree, conflict and communication are displayed, and photos of children’s performance that they did in pairs are pasted on the persimmon tree drawing on the wall. These photos are also displayed outside and they decorated with many cloths with words on peace and the bomb survived persimmon tree written on them just like the museum of the Collection Lambert.
About 200 people including children, their parents and neighbors attended the ceremony. A large gray curtain that represented the mushroom cloud of the atomic bomb was dropped and they did the performance on “death,” which was brought by the mushroom cloud, and “revival.” During the performance, children handed out the persimmon origami pieces containing soil to visitors. Afterward, all the children put a large white cloth over their heads and marched to the planting site. Children carried out the tree planting and then a picture-card show of “Sadako’s Story” was performed. It was a wonderful ceremony for these children were preparing for this occasion for many months and they have learned well from this opportunity.
